Lot 141
141
A Fine Pair Of 21-Bore German Over-And-Under Flintlock Fowling-Pieces
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus bu… Read more Jagdschloß Kranichstein
A Fine Pair Of 21-Bore German Over-And-Under Flintlock Fowling-Pieces

BY HERMANN (ARMAND) BONGARDE, DÜSSELDORF, CIRCA 1720

Details
A Fine Pair Of 21-Bore German Over-And-Under Flintlock Fowling-Pieces
By Hermann (Armand) Bongarde, Düsseldorf, circa 1720
Each with sighted upper barrel signed 'Bongarde' on the sighting rib, engraved with strapwork and foliage on the breech and with mouldings at the rear, the lower barrel engraved on the breech and inscribed 'A Dusseldorp (sic)' on the short flat, tangs engraved with strapwork and foliage, signed shaped flat back-action locks (one action worn) engraved with monsters, a serpent, and foliage and each with stepped tail, moulded figured walnut full stocks (minor bruises) each carved in relief with acanthus foliage behind the barrel tang, iron mounts engraved with masks, foliage, and strapwork, and with chiselled foliate finials, the butt-plates engraved respectively 'No 22' and 'No 23', engraved ramrod-pipes, and original horn-tipped ramrods
44½in. (113cm.) barrels (2)
Provenance
W.G. Renwick, Sotheby & Co., London, 19 March 1973, lot 42 (one gun)
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Hermann Bongarde was the leading German gunmaker working in the Classical French style. He is first documented in 1678, then recorded in Düsseldorf as armourer (Rüstmeister) and court gunmaker (Kurfürstlicher Hofbüchsenmacher) to Johann Wilhelm of Neuburg, Elector Palatine and Duke of Jülich-Berg. He continued as maker to the electoral court until his death in 1727. Famed especially for his iron-chiselling, his finest arms comprise two garnitures, the first a fowling-piece and a pair of pistols made before 1690 for Charles V Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (1643-90), now in the Hofjagd- und Leibrüstkammer, Vienna (inv. nos. A 1636-38), the second a fowling-piece, two pistols, a small-sword and a cane (the last now lost) made about 1690 for the Elector Palatine, now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (inv. nos. 13/583, 1031-32, 129)

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