WONDERFUL CASED PAIR OF BOUTET DELUXE FLINTLOCK DUELING PISTOLS.

WONDERFUL CASED PAIR OF BOUTET DELUXE FLINTLOCK DUELING PISTOLS. SN NSN. Cal. .58. Extraordinary pair of dueling pistols by one of the world’s premiere makers with 10-1/2″ swamped oct bbls with tiny fixed rear sights and dove-tailed front sights with narrow egg-shaped blades. Bbls have a 2″ gold inlay on the top three flats at the breech end that are engraved with foliate and floral patterns and have a small cartouche in the center. Top four edges of the bbls are outlined with extremely fine rope pattern gold wire inlay, with wide engraved gold bands at the muzzles. The gold rope inlays are bordered by extremely fine Fleur de Lis and dot engraved patterns. Top center of the bbls are engraved in period script “Boutet Directeur Artiste / Manufact’a Versailles”. These panels are surrounded by a beaded gold wire inlay in an elliptical pattern. Touch holes are gold. Lock plates are delicate burnished steel with round tails and tiny round teats, 4-1/2″ long and slightly curved with delicate goose neck hammers and bridled roller frizzens. Lock plates, hammers, top jaws and forward faces of the frizzens are beautifully engraved, with sides of the hammers engraved in a delicate mythical dragon patterns. Mounted in one piece full length dark walnut stocks with delicately curved grips terminating in an elliptical butt cap with squared ends. Stocks have raised side panels with delicate foliate and floral raised carving around the burnished steel nose pipes and trigger guard finials. Nose pipes are deeply engraved in foliate and floral patterns with the bottom front portions of the forestock stepped down to a flattened table containing two decorative, faceted guides and nose pipes which contain the original 10-5/16″ deluxe rosewood ramrods with ivory buttons and steel caps. Trigger guards have tapered ends with wide, flared centers that terminate in spectacular urn-shapes, crowned by a deep-relief engraved bouquet of flowers. Urns are engraved in deep foliate and geometric patterns. Forward ends of the trigger bows are engraved in deep relief oak leaf patterns. Main part of the trigger bows are beautifully engraved with urn, flower and acanthus leaf patterns with deep plain borders. Left side panels are inlaid with incredibly detailed mythical dragons spewing foliate and floral arabesque patterns from their mouths. Lock plate escutcheons are delicately engraved braided rope patterns. Each side of the stocks are inlaid with delicately engraved foliate patterns just forward of the side panels with sides of the forestocks inlaid with highly detailed, wing-shaped foliate patterns. Bbl channels are carved on the sides with relief scallop patterns that terminate at each end with raised, carved foliate patterns. Sides of the ramrod guide tables are relief-engraved in rope patterns. Sides of the grips are checkered in extremely fine patterns with silver tack outlines. Backs of the grips are carved in a stepped-channel that has delicate silver wire rope pattern inlays that terminate in silver flower blossoms. Grips have arched panels at the bottoms, just above the butt caps, that are engraved in relief foliate patterns. Butt caps are burnished steel oval panels, relief engraved in foliate patterns with an empty central panel bordered by small beads. Bottom rim of butt caps are relief carved in foliate patterns. Top tangs are burnished steel with fine foliate and geometric pattern engravings. All screw heads are beautifully engraved. Accompanied by an original 18th century walnut casing 21-5/8″ long x 12-3/4″ wide x 3-3/4″ deep with mortised brass lock in the front that has a shield-shaped escutcheon. Inside the lid is covered with a leather panel embossed in gold, “LE DIRECTOIRE EXECUTIF / à DOM JOSEPH de MAZARREDO, / LIEUTENANT GENERAL des ARMEES / de S. M. C. ET CAPTAINE GENERAL / du DEPARTMENT DE CADIX, / COMMANDANT l’ARMEE ESPAGNOLE / REUNIE à l’ARMEE FRANCAISE”. Case hinges are broken and the lid is detached. The bottom has been relined and reconfigured to fit these beautiful pistols and accessories. It is French-fitted in hunter green felt for the pistols, the original very decorative burnished steel single cavity bullet mold with scissors-style sprue cutter and its original brass-bound horn body powder flask with spring loaded plunger, flat on one side and convex on the other. Also included is a fine rosewood handled steel head hammer, an all steel “T” handle cleaning rod with slotted swelled end, a rosewood mallet, a rosewood handled turn screw, a horn-tipped ramrod, a brass-tipped ramrod and a brass-tipped rod with powder measure tip. Left front corner contains a burnished steel hexagonal-shaped oil bottle and the right rear corner contains a burnishes steel vent pick and a brass & burnished steel worm. Worm is kept in the right front covered compartment. The accessories that are contemporary to the pistols are the mold, flask, hammer, cleaning rod, oil bottle, vent pick and worm. The other items are considered to be modern replacements. Left rear covered compartment contains cast lead balls and patches. Discovered in the right front compartment is a handwritten note, apparently from Mr. Thomas, which states “These original Boutet pistols are not original to the Boutet presentation case circa 1795” on one side and “This case formerly owned by Irving Moskowitz New York City”. This exact case was previously known in the Moskowitz Collection in the 1970s and at the time, contained a pair of Boutet half-stock officer’s pistols now retrofitted to accommodate these far superior pistols. PROVENANCE: H.H. Thomas Collection. CONDITION: Extremely fine plus. Bbls retain most of their orig. rust blue finish, with bright offsetting gold. Stocks retain most of their orig. oil finish, slightly dulled from handling. Lock plates, hammers, steel furniture and stock inlays retain about all of their bright, burnished finish. Mechanics are fine, strong bores with sharp poly-groove rifling, slightly dark, possibly just in need of cleaning. Case also has a repair around the lock in both the bottom and the lid with a small broken piece from the dust rail in the right rear corner. Otherwise case is sound with usual handling and storage nicks and scratches and retains most of a fine, old, restored finish. Leather label in the lid is sound and complete with some slight crackling and retains virtually all of its orig gold embossing. Accessories are all very fine to extremely fine. 4-36648 DGT6 (100,000-150,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2010

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2554	$97,750.00	WONDERFUL CASED PAIR OF BOUTET DELUXE FLINTLOCK DUELING PISTOLS. SN NSN. Cal. .58. Extraordinary pair of dueling pistols by one of the world’s premiere makers with 10-1/2″ swamped oct bbls with tiny fixed rear sights and dove-tailed front sights with narrow egg-shaped blades. Bbls have a 2″ gold inlay on the top three flats at the breech end that are engraved with foliate and floral patterns and have a small cartouche in the center. Top four edges of the bbls are outlined with extremely fine rope pattern gold wire inlay, with wide engraved gold bands at the muzzles. The gold rope inlays are bordered by extremely fine Fleur de Lis and dot engraved patterns. Top center of the bbls are engraved in period script “Boutet Directeur Artiste / Manufact’a Versailles”. These panels are surrounded by a beaded gold wire inlay in an elliptical pattern. Touch holes are gold. Lock plates are delicate burnished steel with round tails and tiny round teats, 4-1/2″ long and slightly curved with delicate goose neck hammers and bridled roller frizzens. Lock plates, hammers, top jaws and forward faces of the frizzens are beautifully engraved, with sides of the hammers engraved in a delicate mythical dragon patterns. Mounted in one piece full length dark walnut stocks with delicately curved grips terminating in an elliptical butt cap with squared ends. Stocks have raised side panels with delicate foliate and floral raised carving around the burnished steel nose pipes and trigger guard finials. Nose pipes are deeply engraved in foliate and floral patterns with the bottom front portions of the forestock stepped down to a flattened table containing two decorative, faceted guides and nose pipes which contain the original 10-5/16″ deluxe rosewood ramrods with ivory buttons and steel caps. Trigger guards have tapered ends with wide, flared centers that terminate in spectacular urn-shapes, crowned by a deep-relief engraved bouquet of flowers. Urns are engraved in deep foliate and geometric patterns. Forward ends of the trigger bows are engraved in deep relief oak leaf patterns. Main part of the trigger bows are beautifully engraved with urn, flower and acanthus leaf patterns with deep plain borders. Left side panels are inlaid with incredibly detailed mythical dragons spewing foliate and floral arabesque patterns from their mouths. Lock plate escutcheons are delicately engraved braided rope patterns. Each side of the stocks are inlaid with delicately engraved foliate patterns just forward of the side panels with sides of the forestocks inlaid with highly detailed, wing-shaped foliate patterns. Bbl channels are carved on the sides with relief scallop patterns that terminate at each end with raised, carved foliate patterns. Sides of the ramrod guide tables are relief-engraved in rope patterns. Sides of the grips are checkered in extremely fine patterns with silver tack outlines. Backs of the grips are carved in a stepped-channel that has delicate silver wire rope pattern inlays that terminate in silver flower blossoms. Grips have arched panels at the bottoms, just above the butt caps, that are engraved in relief foliate patterns. Butt caps are burnished steel oval panels, relief engraved in foliate patterns with an empty central panel bordered by small beads. Bottom rim of butt caps are relief carved in foliate patterns. Top tangs are burnished steel with fine foliate and geometric pattern engravings. All screw heads are beautifully engraved. Accompanied by an original 18th century walnut casing 21-5/8″ long x 12-3/4″ wide x 3-3/4″ deep with mortised brass lock in the front that has a shield-shaped escutcheon. Inside the lid is covered with a leather panel embossed in gold, “LE DIRECTOIRE EXECUTIF / à DOM JOSEPH de MAZARREDO, / LIEUTENANT GENERAL des ARMEES / de S. M. C. ET CAPTAINE GENERAL / du DEPARTMENT DE CADIX, / COMMANDANT l’ARMEE ESPAGNOLE / REUNIE à l’ARMEE FRANCAISE”. Case hinges are broken and the lid is detached. The bottom has been relined and reconfigured to fit these beautiful pistols and accessories. It is French-fitted in hunter green felt for the pistols, the original very decorative burnished steel single cavity bullet mold with scissors-style sprue cutter and its original brass-bound horn body powder flask with spring loaded plunger, flat on one side and convex on the other. Also included is a fine rosewood handled steel head hammer, an all steel “T” handle cleaning rod with slotted swelled end, a rosewood mallet, a rosewood handled turn screw, a horn-tipped ramrod, a brass-tipped ramrod and a brass-tipped rod with powder measure tip. Left front corner contains a burnished steel hexagonal-shaped oil bottle and the right rear corner contains a burnishes steel vent pick and a brass & burnished steel worm. Worm is kept in the right front covered compartment. The accessories that are contemporary to the pistols are the mold, flask, hammer, cleaning rod, oil bottle, vent pick and worm. The other items are considered to be modern replacements. Left rear covered compartment contains cast lead balls and patches. Discovered in the right front compartment is a handwritten note, apparently from Mr. Thomas, which states “These original Boutet pistols are not original to the Boutet presentation case circa 1795” on one side and “This case formerly owned by Irving Moskowitz New York City”. This exact case was previously known in the Moskowitz Collection in the 1970s and at the time, contained a pair of Boutet half-stock officer’s pistols now retrofitted to accommodate these far superior pistols. PROVENANCE: H.H. Thomas Collection. CONDITION: Extremely fine plus. Bbls retain most of their orig. rust blue finish, with bright offsetting gold. Stocks retain most of their orig. oil finish, slightly dulled from handling. Lock plates, hammers, steel furniture and stock inlays retain about all of their bright, burnished finish. Mechanics are fine, strong bores with sharp poly-groove rifling, slightly dark, possibly just in need of cleaning. Case also has a repair around the lock in both the bottom and the lid with a small broken piece from the dust rail in the right rear corner. Otherwise case is sound with usual handling and storage nicks and scratches and retains most of a fine, old, restored finish. Leather label in the lid is sound and complete with some slight crackling and retains virtually all of its orig gold embossing. Accessories are all very fine to extremely fine. 4-36648 DGT6 (100,000-150,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2010 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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