Details
- Object type
flintlock pistol
- Artist/Maker
- Place Associated
France, Versailles (place of manufacture)
- Date
early 19th century
- Materials
steel, wood, silver, horn
- Description
-
Pair of presentation pistols made by Nicolas-Noël Boutet of Versailles, about 1802–10.
An arms factory was set up at Versailles after the French revolution to make weapons for the defence of the new regime. The director of this factory was Nicolas-Noël Boutet (1761–1833). He was the son, and son-in-law, of royal gunmakers. One of the products made at the factory were armes de luxe. These were beautifully crafted weapons made from the finest materials to be presented by the government – and later Emperor Napoleon – to important generals and foreign allies. We know from the factory’s own records that 55 pairs of pistols were presented to men of the rank of general between 1802 and 1810. One general received a pair that cost 500 francs - at a time when an ordinary pair was worth only 30 francs.
Boutet has used walnut, blued steel, gold, and silver to decorate this pair. For the decoration he has drawn on the imagery of the ancient past. There is the club and lionskin of the heroic Hercules, lightning bolts of Zeus and, on the butt-caps, the head of Medusa. This unlucky girl had compared her beauty to a goddess and, as punishment, had her hair turned into snakes, and even worse, just one glance at her eyes could turn a man to stone! Boutet made this monster beautiful again both on his guns and on the gatehouse of his factory. He crafted some of the finest guns ever to come from Europe, but with the defeat of France the factory was first looted and then taken over by others. This talented craftsman died penniless in 1833.
- Credit Line/Donor
Bequeathed by R L Scott, 1939
- Collection
R L Scott Collection
- ID Number
E.1939.65.bab.1
- Location
Kelvingrove Glasgow Stories