Lot Essay
This case of pistols was awarded a silver medal at the ninth Exposition Nationale held in Paris in 1839
Details
A FINE CASED PAIR OF 38-BORE FRENCH PERCUSSION DUELLING PISTOLS MADE FOR THE PARIS EXPOSITION NATIONALE OF 1839
BY GASTINNE RENETTE, NO.S 287 AND 288, DATED 1839
With sighted partly fluted octagonal rifled barrels inlaid at the muzzle and breech with scrolls, leaves and strapwork in two-colour gold (some missing), and between the flutes with the inscriptions 'Gastinne Renette Brevété à Paris' and 'Exposition 1839' in gold gothic lettering, the underside of each serial numbered and dated, and stamped with Irish registration number, patent breeches numbered '1' and '2' in gold and engraved with scrollwork on a hatched ground, the underside stamped with the barrelsmith's mark of Albert Renette (Neue Støckel 8127), shaped tangs en suite and each incorporating the back-sight, shaped locks en suite and each signed in gold gothic letters in front of the hammer, ebony half-stocks with carved fluted butts, the fore-end tips each carved with a satyr-mask in relief, iron mounts en suite with the locks, and gold barrel-bolt escutcheons: in original fitted case of dark wood with lighter wood corners and edges of the lid, lined in tooled red velvet (faded) with ivory loading and cleaning rods (one incomplete), mallet and two boxes, engraved iron powder ladle, and etched iron powder-flask with Boche nozzle (the other accessories missing), the lid with tooled and gilt leather maker's label, the exterior of the case inlaid with brass pierced and engraved with foliage (minor damage), enclosing on the centre of the lid, the owner's initials 'WAA' surmounted by a crest, a mallet between the horns of a crescent, inlaid in mother-of-pearl (lock mechanism removed)
16½in. (41.9cm.)
BY GASTINNE RENETTE, NO.S 287 AND 288, DATED 1839
With sighted partly fluted octagonal rifled barrels inlaid at the muzzle and breech with scrolls, leaves and strapwork in two-colour gold (some missing), and between the flutes with the inscriptions 'Gastinne Renette Brevété à Paris' and 'Exposition 1839' in gold gothic lettering, the underside of each serial numbered and dated, and stamped with Irish registration number, patent breeches numbered '1' and '2' in gold and engraved with scrollwork on a hatched ground, the underside stamped with the barrelsmith's mark of Albert Renette (Neue Støckel 8127), shaped tangs en suite and each incorporating the back-sight, shaped locks en suite and each signed in gold gothic letters in front of the hammer, ebony half-stocks with carved fluted butts, the fore-end tips each carved with a satyr-mask in relief, iron mounts en suite with the locks, and gold barrel-bolt escutcheons: in original fitted case of dark wood with lighter wood corners and edges of the lid, lined in tooled red velvet (faded) with ivory loading and cleaning rods (one incomplete), mallet and two boxes, engraved iron powder ladle, and etched iron powder-flask with Boche nozzle (the other accessories missing), the lid with tooled and gilt leather maker's label, the exterior of the case inlaid with brass pierced and engraved with foliage (minor damage), enclosing on the centre of the lid, the owner's initials 'WAA' surmounted by a crest, a mallet between the horns of a crescent, inlaid in mother-of-pearl (lock mechanism removed)
16½in. (41.9cm.)
Literature
A.N. Kennard, French Pistols and Sporting Guns, p. 55