ROULETTE HUNTING ARQUEBUS PISTOL, CONVERTIBLE. - Lot 8

Lot n° 8
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Estimation :
8000 - 12000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 9 750EUR
ROULETTE HUNTING ARQUEBUS PISTOL, CONVERTIBLE. - Lot 8
ROULETTE HUNTING ARQUEBUS PISTOL, CONVERTIBLE. A fine, elegant pistol that converts into a long, slender arquebus, in two parts, with barrel and buttstock that can be screwed together to lengthen the pistol. Thunder barrel with grooved rear sight and moon-shaped punch, which can be screwed onto a rifled barrel with rear sight. This barrel is fitted on the side with a flap to secure it for conversion. Flat-bodied, flanged lock, chased at the tail, with a large external sprocket held by a notch under the bassoon and, on the side, by a small fork-type claw chased with a winged sphinx-headed animal. Basin with sliding lid. Engraved dog in the shape of a fantastic animal. Round dog foot with chased spring held together by a two-screw clamp. Iron trigger guard representing a saddlebag or tied bag suspended by a lace from a small hook on the front. Wooden ramrod with engraved deer antler tip. Fruitwood frame, richly decorated with bone, antler and mother-of-pearl inlays. Triangular stock, tapering towards the top and widening towards the bottom, worked on the sides, edged with deer antler fillets and decorated with inlaid foliage and florets, enriched on the sides with two mother-of-pearl medallions engraved with two emperor portraits. The lock side is decorated with fantastic animals, foliage, branches and masks, adorned with a constellation of engraved small round and square mother-of-pearl pieces. The unscrewable barrel is decorated in sequence with fantastical animals, a shield with the numeral "L" under a royal crown, diamond-shaped lozenges engraved with flowers, and end caps decorated in sequence. Overall length: 144 cm. Fine workmanship, the pistol part circa 1650-1680. The n°94 is engraved later under the pistol. Subsequent trigger guard, barrel extension and barrel added later. History: The n°94 inscribed on the frame is intended to refer back to the arms cabinet of King Louis XIII to the description of the said piece: "A two-foot long harquebus, which extends by the barrel to four feet 4 inches, the barrel with eight uny sides, with wheel of the same, mounted on cormier wood, enriched with ornamentation of yvoir and pearl mother-of-pearl, and on the stock are two heads of Emperor." Provenance: -Former Alain Serpette collection.
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