When it comes to “armes de luxe” Parisian gunmakers have received near universal acclaim. French artistry in arms began to grow in prominence in the early 17th century. Even the smug English critics during the early World’s Fairs could not avoid giving the French their due.

French gunmakers have been producing incredibly ornate fine arms for centuries, both for the royal court and international exhibitions. Their beautiful works of art have remained among the most desirable antique arms in both museum and private collections, exemplified by this incredible shotgun from Le Page-Moutier in Rock Island Auction Company’s upcoming May 17-19 Premier Auction. The pair of pistols pictured alongside the Le Page-Moutier shotgun are by Gastinne-Renette that sold in RIAC’s December 2023 Premier Auction for $411,250.

In “Masterpieces of Industrial Art & Sculpture at the International Exhibition, 1862 Vol. 1" it was written: "For 'Armes de luxe' Paris has long maintained supremacy over all competitors: the names of Devisme and Le Page-Moutier are of world-wide note; to which follow worthily in suit Gastinne-Renette, Gaudin, Brun, Perrin, and Thomas, all of whom obtained the highest commendation of the Jury in Class 11..."

The jury wrote, "The sporting guns and pistols exhibited by the Paris makers are chiefly remarkable for the extreme artistic beauty of their decorations, which are designed and executed with the greatest skill and taste, the ornamental parts of the gun being highly valued in France, and in other countries, to which the French gunmakers export largely, especially South America." Similarly, Record of the International Exhibition, 1862 states: "An adequate notice of the various specimens of artistic firearms in the French court would far exceed the limits of this article and would indeed come more properly under the department of fine arts.”

French Art is `Armes de Luxe'

Rock Island Auction Company has had the pleasure and privilege of cataloging and bringing to market many of the finest works of these French “armes de luxe,” and one particular firm continues to impress time after time: Le Page of Paris. The Le Page shop remains active today as a luxury leather goods maker, stemming from their past production of gun leather, dating back to 1717 when the shop was opened by Louis Pigny, gunmaker to Louis XV. He passed the shop onto his niece's husband, Pierre Le Page, and the shop passed from generation to generation, producing fine arms for successive French kings on to today.

The shop at 13 de Richelieu near the royal palace passed on to Gilles Michel Louis Moutier-Le Page in 1842, just in time for the increasingly popular French national expositions of the 1840s that predated the World’s Fairs. Styled Le Page-Moutier, the company under his leadership - and then of Emile Henry Faure Le Page - won numerous accolades and awards for their fine exhibition firearms. The awards include the International Exhibition in Paris in 1855 (1st Class Medal), 1867 (Silver Medal), 1878 (Gold Medal) 1889 (Grand Prix), in London in 1851 and 1862 (Prize Medals) and in Vienna 1873 (Medal of Progress).

By this period, carved ebony stocks, elaborately relief-chiseled and engraved metalwork, and beautifully crafted cases and accouterments all decorated with complimentary patterns were essentially standard for French exhibition arms, and the array of patterns executed in ebony and steel held their own in the world of French art.

The Great Exhibition in London in 1851 is recognized as the first World’s Fair, but it was inspired by the national expositions held by the French. France continued to host World’s Fairs or “Expositions Universelle” where their fine arms continued to win distinction on the international stage and to delight both the millions of visitors and royal patrons. This extraordinary cased pair of pistols by Brun of Paris was displayed at the World’s Fair in 1862. Rock Island Auction Company sold this set in September, 2020 for $373,750.

The example in Rock Island Auction Company’s upcoming May Premier Auction is unquestionably one of the finest exhibition arms ever produced by the famous Parisian firm and a true piece of French art. This famous double barrel shotgun with ornamentation covering essentially all of the visible surfaces was presented by President Jules Grevy of France to President Manuel Gonzales Flores of Mexico. Given this extraordinary shotgun's completion in 1860, it may have been first displayed at the Exposition Universelle in Metz, France, in 1861 and was likely displayed at subsequent exhibitions such as the 1862 International Exhibition in London. During the London exhibition, the company is noted as displaying "Sporting guns, carbines, revolvers, etc."

A somewhat similar shotgun from the firm is also shown in Masterpieces of Industrial Art & Sculpture at the International Exhibition, 1862 Vol. 1 in Plate 6: "French Ornamented Fire-Arms." The shotgun illustrated in the book is now in the Royal Armouries (object number: XII.4751), and their description notes: "The gun was exhibited at the 1862 International Exhibition in South Kensington and was awarded a medal. A similar gun was presented to the President of Mexico, Don Manuel Gonzales, by M. Paul Jules Grevy, President of France, in 1879."

The relief chiseled grapevines and rib inscription on the barrels of this shotgun alone are absolutely incredible French art. They are but one part of the overall Bacchanal theme appropriate for the international fairs. Grapevines in particular, and sometimes wildlife that inhabited the vineyards, are often featured on 19th century French exhibition arms.

LePage Moutier Shotgun Is Functional French Art

The Damascus barrels by Parisian barrel maker Leopold Bernard feature a solid, concave rib signed "LE PAGE MOUTIER ARQER BREVETE A PARIS'' in raised relief lettering with floral bloom accents flanked by raised foliate scrollwork. The rear of the barrels exhibit 9-inch panels of beautifully executed chiseled vine, leaf, and grape patterns on a finely beaded background. A band of chiseled oak leaves and acorns are seen at the front of the breech panels. The underside of the barrels are signed "LEOPOLD BERNARD/CANONNIER A PARIS" and have the numbers "N998" and "A1860" (barrel number and date) and two "crown/LB star" maker's marks. The rib is marked "57445 - 1850" on the underside. A chiseled scroll pattern incorporating a beautifully carved three dimensional fox covers the fences and extends down the sides of the barrel breeches, and the hammers are finely chiseled in the form of dogs that pounce on each fox when the gun is fired. The shotgun has pierced scroll patterns, and the standing breech has a chiseled vulture among the designs.

The chiseled dogs and foxes on the hammers and bolsters are a fascinating design given that the dogs pounce when the locks are fired.

The locks and furniture feature the same high quality work as the barrels. The back action lock plates are fully covered in floral scroll patterns and game scenes; the left lock plate has a lion and a snake reminiscent of the famous sculpture by Antoine-Louis Barye, and the right lock plate has two dogs attacking a stag. Both lock plates are signed "Lepage moutier" following the contour of the hammers at the front. The foliate scrollwork spills onto the ornate buttplate side extensions. The buttplate tang offers a brilliant canvas for carved game scenes, with a leopard on the right side, a leaping fox decorates the left, and the heel tang depicts a dramatic hunting scene of three dogs bringing down a boar. The flat of the buttplate is covered with an intricately engraved floral scroll and rose blossom motif with a small satyr mask in the center.

Look at the complicated and intricate design of this pierced and sculpted trigger guard. It flows seamlessly with the rest of the designs. Le Page-Moutier and other French gunmakers utilized a variety of complicated pierced trigger guard designs with different animals and mythical creatures on their exhibition arms in the 19th century.

The chiseled and pierced trigger guard features a stunning three dimensional pheasant eating grapes at the front of the bow and a three dimensional hare consuming foliage at the rear of the grip extension. Both pheasant and hares were popular game animals. The Romans introduced pheasant to much of Europe, making it a popular quarry for upland hunters from the 19th century to today. Cooked pheasant pairs excellently with a nice glass of wine, so it's a fitting design for this functional work of French art. The trigger plate finial is artfully shaped and features chiseled foliage scrollwork with a small bird. A carved steel raised inlay adorns the sides of the stock. Each stock inlay is engraved with a foliate pattern, and the left inlay is inscribed "Le Page Moutier ferit 1860" indicating the work was completed in 1860. The forearm tip has a carved mask representing Silenus, the god of wine-making, with a grape vine pattern below completing the festive vineyard theme on the metal.

The small hare at the rear of the trigger guard along with the birds among the relief carved vines on the stock are smaller details that demonstrate the overall level of French artistry of the piece.

The vine theme meanders down the incredible ebony stock with beautiful full-coverage leafy vine carving. Inhabiting the leaves on the sides of the butt are two carved birds, and at the buttplate there are four carved putti cradling hunted game. The ebony takedown case brilliantly coordinates with the stock and the metalwork of the shotgun with its wide steel bands, monogrammed initial plate and hardware, all featuring carved foliate pattern. The initial plate on the lid bears an engraved "MG'' monogram. A suite of loading and maintenance equipment is included with the case and decorated in coordination with the shotgun and case.

The inscribed initials on the case lid would have been added when the cased set was presented by the French president to the president of Mexico over a decade after the cased set was produced. It isn’t unusual for 19th century exhibition pieces to later be used as presentation sets. Rock Island Auction has sold multiple pieces with connections to leaders in Latin America.

History of the Le Page-Moutier Shotgun

This incredible shotgun, truly French art, was once part of the Harolds Club Museum of the Old West and is described and photographed in a booklet published in 1958 by the museum. The museum describes the gun as "One of the most valuable weapons in the world, this shotgun was presented in 1879 by M. Paul Jules Grevy, President of France, to Don Manuel Gonzales, President of Mexico." The gun was examined by San Francisco jewelers Shreve & Company who stated, "there is no person living today capable of executing such metal carving. If such a person could be found, it would unquestionably take him 5 to 10 years to complete such a job." It is also referenced in multiple publications about the Harolds Club collection, including the Boys Town Times on Nov. 13, 1964, when the collection was on display during Nevada's centennial celebrations. The caption noted "Among the guns on display was a shotgun presented in 1879 by M. Paul Jules Grevy, President of France, to Don Manuel Gonzales, President of Mexico, now valued at $15,000.”

As President of Mexico, Manuel Gonzalez, right, established better relations with France, and after leaving office, he was involved in Mexico’s participation in the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1889. French President Jules Grevy presented the Le Page-Moutier shotgun to Gonzalez.

As a soldier, Manuel del Refugio Gonzalez Flores (1833-1893) was wounded several times and lost his right arm during the Second Franco-Mexican War. Despite the loss of his limb, as Mexico’s 31st president (1880-1884) he worked for improved relations with the French. He started his military career in the Mexican-American War after his father was killed. He rose to the presidency after being selected by his predecessor, Porfirio Diaz. Along with better relations with France, Gonzalez also re-established relations with Britain, and Germany. French bankers played an important role in the establishment of the Banco Nacional de Mexico, and Mexico adopted France's metric system during his term. Diaz came back to office after Gonzalez’s lone term.

“Mexico at the World's Fairs'” by Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo notes that "...in 1888 Manuel Flores, a member of the Mexican exhibition team, was commissioned to evaluate the French plans or an exhibition of social economy," and that "Mexico published its own catalog in French and Spanish" of the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1889. Mexico had its own pavilion in the exposition, the Palacio Azteca, and also published in Paris the first encyclopedic survey of Mexican history for the event.

Jules Grevy (1807-1891) was President of the French Republic from 1879 to 1887 and was the French leader when President Gonzalez rekindled ties between their nations. Grevy is considered the first real republican President of France and actively worked to increase the power of the French legislature rather than the executive. Grevy likely presented Gonzalez this shotgun as part of the efforts to establish better relations between the two countries, and it remains today as one of the finest works of firearms art from the World’s Fairs.

By the early 1960s, the Harolds Club Museum in Reno, Nevada, possessed a collection of some 3,000 guns in all with about 2,000 displayed in the Roaring Camp Room, the Silver Dollar Bar, and elsewhere throughout the casino. Co-owner Harold Smith Sr. called it "one of the world's greatest gun collections." The Le Page-Moutier shotgun was among their most prized pieces before the collection was sold in 1993.

Le Page Sporting Arm is French Art for Sale

This incredible shotgun is just one of the stunning antique firearms featured in the upcoming May 2024 Premier Auction. We have a phenomenal selection from multiple collections, including the second installment of the Norman Blank Collection, the first installment from a marvelous private collection of American longrifles, and so much more.

This Le Page-Moutier shotgun is an amazing piece of French art with jaw-dropping embellishment. The vividly detailed engraving of the receiver and sculpture on the hammer and bolster and the precision carving of the ebony stock are simply magnificent. In the coming weeks we will feature many of the outstanding fine firearms that will be on offer in the May 17-19 auction.