Manufactured in circa 1801 and steeped with Classical symbolism, the heavy cast and chased silver mounts of this gun are a spectacular reminder of Napoleon’s desire for the French Empire to be seen as the heir to the ancient Roman Empire with similar ambitions for dominance in matters military, political, and cultural. Beginning with the ramrod entry pipe we are presented with a mask of the messenger god Mercury with distinctive winged helmet above the caduceus, a rod entwined with snakes representing commerce and negotiation. Moving down the gun the large pierced finial above the trigger guard depicts the Goat of Mendes or Baphomet, an Egyptian deity and a symbol no doubt adopted by Napoleon following the ultimately unsuccessful campaigns in Egypt and Syria between 1798 and 1801. The trigger guard itself has a large and highly detailed portrait mask of Jupiter, the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in Roman mythology, the portrait mask surmounted by Napoleon’s eagle, the eagle itself being symbolic of Jupiter in Roman mythology. Finally the buttplate has two mythical griffins each resting a foot on a laurel wreath, a Roman symbol of victory. The underside of the buttplate has a spear with a bound shaft possibly representing the spear of destiny or lance of Longinus. Each of these symbols is surrounded by fine flowers, foliage, and wreaths. The barrels are of two stages, octagonal to round, and respectively signed “BOUTET DIRECTEUR” and “MANUF.RE A VERSAILLES”, struck with maker’s and inspection marks including those of Bouyssavy and Boutet at the breeches, respectively signed “MANU” and “V LLES” on the underside of each breech, struck with the maker’s mark of Denis Brouilly on the side of the right barrel, and decorated with gilt flower heads and foliage. The silver blade front sight is surrounded by a gilt web motif, and the muzzles have further engraved gilt decoration. The false breech has an engraved grooved tang forming a rear sight. The flat burnished steel locks are respectively signed “BOUTET” and “A VERSAILLES” and have silver lined priming pans. Figured walnut half stock with fine point checkered shaped panels to the grip and forearm, carved foliate band to the upper edges of the forearm, and butt with sculptured cheekpiece carved on the left side with a rosette. The stock is inset with two vacant shield shaped silver escutcheons, and the barrel key has further shield shaped escutcheon plates. Behind the trigger guard is a pierced hardwood finial finely carved in relief with foliage and a ram’s head. A sling mount is fitted to the underside of the butt and also to the middle ramrod pipe. The front baluster ramrod pipe is of silver and cast and chased with a banded design including foliage and beads, and with steel tipped whalebone ramrod. Nicolas-Noél Boutet (1761-1833), perhaps the most famous of all French gunsmiths, had been involved with the Versailles arms factories from their opening in 1792. Boutet was made Directeur Artiste at Versailles, he already being a highly regarded maker of armes de luxe having been court gunmaker to King Louis XVI, a position inherited from his father-in-law Pierre Desainte. Napoleon gave Boutet overall control of the Manufacture de Versailles in 1800, a position he held until 1818 when the factories closed. Boutet was joined by his son Pierre-Nicolas in 1804, and following the closure of the Versailles factories until 1831 they traded from 87 rue de Richelieu in Paris. Ironically Boutet, the maker of some of the most opulent arms of the flintlock period, died in poverty in 1833, his career having survived the turmoil of no less than six French political regimes. The consignor states that when the silver mounts were removed from the stock for cleaning, each one was faintly inscribed with the signature of Denis Brouilly who was the inspector of garnitures at Versailles. A Boutet shotgun with similar silver mounts is retained in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession No. 36.58a-e). A further double barrel shotgun with silver mounts was presented to Paul Barras, a central figure of the French Revolution and supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte who became one of the five leaders of the Directory, the ruling government prior to Napoleon establishing the Consulate.

Very good plus. The barrels have a dull grey patina and retain some gilding at the breech and muzzles, with the front sight thinning, but remains nearly fully intact. The maker’s signatures are clear but the remaining marks are obscured and there is some rubbing to the engraved decoration. Engraved decoration to the false breech is worn through. The locks bright polished with some loss of definition to the decoration and some light corrosion spotting. The cast and chased silver furniture are very good with crisp detailing and only slight wear through cleaning. The stock has an old repair insert on the underside of the wrist, the checkering is worn smooth, the comb is an old replacement which matches the color and grain of the remainder of the stock, and there are scattered age related storage and handling marks, bruises and blemishes throughout. Despite the gun having the appearance of an active working life, itself a rare occurrence for a high grade Boutet gun, the magnificent silver furniture remains a fine testimony to the art of the armes de luxe gunmaker.