Pair of percussion pistols. Ribbon barrels, with hairline st - Lot 139

Pair of percussion pistols. Ribbon barrels, with hairline stripes, flared towards the muzzles, with "de battue" stripes on the upper sides, gold-marked on the sides "Boutet à Versailles", hallmarked "NB" in cartouches, gold-backed, decorated with gold fillets at the muzzles and thunderbolts, numbered on the tops "1" and "2" and on the bottom "153". Turntables signed "Boutet" in gold, and flat-bodied hammers decorated with a frieze around the rim. Stecher triggers. Cut-out, engraved and case-hardened iron fittings. Finger rest bridges, decorated with a dog's head. Walnut crossbars, partly checkered, with oval gold thumbpiece, engraved "C" under Marquis crown. ABE circa 1830 (minor oxidation, small crack on counterplate side of 2) Presented in a varnished walnut case, later trimmed with hide, and accessories: cleaning and tamping rods, mallet, bullet mold, jet cutter, breech plug remover, screwdriver, powder flask, capsule box (crack). 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.