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Le Page was a Parisian firearms manufacturer established in 1717 and run by the same family until 1913, including by Gilles Michel Louis Moutier-Le Page who ran the illustrious firm from 1842 to late 1860s. During this period, fine arms by Le Page Moutier as the company was styled were among the finest arms manufactured for the 19th century’s elaborate national and international exhibitions. The company under his leadership and then that
of Emile Henry Faure Le Page won numerous accolades and awards, including at 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). 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 the following year during which the company is noted as displaying “Sporting guns, carbines, revolvers, &c.” A somewhat similar shotgun from the firm is shown in “Masterpieces of Industrial Art & Sculpture at the International Exhibition, 1862 Vol. 1” in Plate 6: “French Ornamented Fire-Arms.”
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