Lot Essay
The decoration is based on the pattern books of Jean Bérain and Thuraine et Le Hollandois
Des Granges was one of the leading Parisian gunmakers of the third quarter of the 17th Century, and worked for Louis XIV. His name appears amongst the twenty-six Paris gunsmiths listed in the introductory pages of the Thuraine et Le Hollandois pattern book engraved by Jacquinet
The following flintlock firearms by Des Granges are recorded:-
Two pairs of pistols of Charles XI of Sweden in Stockholm (Lenk, pls.66 and 68)
A gun and a pair of pistols in the Bielke armoury at Sturefors
A pair of pistols of Frederick III of Denmark in Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen (Hayward, vol.II, pl.1)
A pair of pistols (very similar to the present pair) exhibited at Williamsburg in 1977 (Gusler and Lavin, pp.30-31), formerly in the collection of Edward H. Litchfield (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 5 December, 1951, lot 49)
For further information see Hayward, vol.II, pp.36-39
Des Granges was one of the leading Parisian gunmakers of the third quarter of the 17th Century, and worked for Louis XIV. His name appears amongst the twenty-six Paris gunsmiths listed in the introductory pages of the Thuraine et Le Hollandois pattern book engraved by Jacquinet
The following flintlock firearms by Des Granges are recorded:-
Two pairs of pistols of Charles XI of Sweden in Stockholm (Lenk, pls.66 and 68)
A gun and a pair of pistols in the Bielke armoury at Sturefors
A pair of pistols of Frederick III of Denmark in Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen (Hayward, vol.II, pl.1)
A pair of pistols (very similar to the present pair) exhibited at Williamsburg in 1977 (Gusler and Lavin, pp.30-31), formerly in the collection of Edward H. Litchfield (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 5 December, 1951, lot 49)
For further information see Hayward, vol.II, pp.36-39