Page 264 - 83-BOOK1

262
Nicolas- Noel Boutet at His Finest
LOT 1319
Extraordinary Nicolas-Noel Boutet Presentation Cased Pair of Engraved, Gold Inlaid, and Relief Carved Flintlock Dueling Pistols -A) Boutet Dueling Pistol - Serial no. 103, 52 cal., 9 inch octagon bbl., blue/gold/bright finish, walnut
stock. This cased set is a beautiful example of what the finest arms of Nicolas-Noel Boutet (1761-1833) looked like when they left his shop in Paris between 1818-1833, subsequent to the downfall of Napoleon following the Battle of Waterloo. They demonstrate Boutet’s immense talents as a gunmaker designing firearms that were equally high quality weapons and works of art. Boutet came to prominence shortly before the French Revolution when he became gunmaker-in-ordinary to King Louis XVI in 1788 through his marriage to Leonie-Emilie Desainte. During the revolution, he was appointed the directeur-artiste of the arms factory at Versailles in 1792, the same year that King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were arrested.