Varnished mahogany case, brass hinge with opening stop, line - Lot 130

Varnished mahogany case, brass hinge with opening stop, lined inside with green felt, edged with light green braid. It contains a pair of short-barreled flintlock pistols. Hair-striped, flared barrels, with dovetailed front sight, with sighting rib on the upper side, engraved on both sides "Boutet, à Versailles", numbered "112", punched with thunderbolts, in a "Boutet" bar, trimmed in gold. Lights with gold pastille. Breech pins numbered 1 and 2. Lock plates signed "Boutet à Versailles" and round-bodied swan-neck hammers. Spark arrestor basins. Cut-out iron fittings. Two-part counterplates cut with lions and foliage. Guilloche screws. Finger rest trigger guard. Adjustable squared triggers. Short-stock walnut crossbows, partly checkered. Ebony caps, with oval nail, decorated with palmettes. And its accessories: three-flat screwdriver, flat handle; powder flask, covered in green morocco, gilded with frieze iron; bullet mold, jet-cutter, with notch for removing the head, numbered 112; wooden metering and tamping rods; mallet; small hammer; screwable ballscrew; flat oiler; light pin; iron cleaning rod. Handwritten inscription inside the box "Gal Murat". BE (restorations, re-varnished, re-colored). Boutet Nicolas-Noël (1761 - 1833) Ordinary harquebusier to the King in 1788, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Manufacture de Carabines de Versailles in 1792. In 1798, he was appointed Director of the Manufactures d'armes et ateliers de réparation de France. Under the Empire, the Manufacture de Versailles specialized in the manufacture of luxury, national award and honor weapons. Boutet supplied the greatest of his time, Emperor Napoleon, the Marshals, the Generals and the Court. His weapons were offered as diplomatic gifts.