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This incredible wheellock is marked “24” on the underside of the stock ahead of the trigger guard. Numbers stamped at this
location are noted in “Decorated Firearms, 1540- 1870” by Gusler and Lavin as from the first inventory of the royal arms collection begun in 1673. This number has
allowed location of its entry in “Inventaire Général du Mobilier de la Couronne Sous Louis XIV (1663-1715)...Deuxieme Partie” by Jules Guiffrey in the section of “Armes et Armures de Diverses Sortes” on page 45 as:
“24 - Une belle arquebuze de 4 pieds 4 pouces, le canon rond par le milieu, le bout et la culasse à six pams, enrichie d’or et d’argent de rapport et
de diamans d’acier, le bois aussy enrichy de pareils ornemens.”The entry translates to: “24 - A beautiful arquebus of 4 pieds 4 pouces, the barrel round in the middle, the end and the breech with six pams, enriched with gold and silver and steel diamonds, the wood also enriched with similar ornaments.” As noted in “The Cabinet d’Armes of Louis XIII: Some Firearms and Related Problems” by Leonid Tarassuk, “almost all the descriptions
and measurements were not correct or exact,” and later inventory measurement often varied. That is certainly the case here as this beautiful sporting gun measures closer to 58 5/8 inches from muzzle to heel.
The gun has a smoothbore octagonal to round two-stage barrel and
is profusely decorated throughout with silver and gold damascened ornamentation. The decorative theme differs between the round forward section and the octagonal breech section. The breech section is decorated with foliage inhabited by creatures of the forest, mythical beasts, various masks, a pair of winged figures at the breech, and decorative urns, while the decoration on the forward section primarily features three scenes
232 featuring classical female nude figures with buildings in the background
as well as expansive foliage in silver and gold. The first of the figures is a voluptuous woman holding a dove, and a lamb is by her side. The second figure is also buxom and stands below a crescent moon holding an hourglass in her left hand and a piece of fruit in her right. The third figure is notably more slender and holds in her left hand scales and a sword in her right and is accompanied by a bird grasping a piece of fruit. These figures perhaps represent the Horae: Eirene (Peace), Eunomia (Good Order), and Dike (Justice). The barrel is fitted with a blade front sight set at the muzzle and a rectangular tunnel rear sight. The long iron barrel tang has foliate engraving against a gilt background.
The polished flat beveled lock of French form has an exposed wheel with the outer face engraved with scrolls inhabited by two mythical heads and two snakes at the base and a small gilt iron fence intricately pierced with scrolls. The engraved maker’s mark “FP” is signed between the priming-pan and pan button. The lock plate is chiseled with a mythical animal head
on the sprung priming pan cover. The lower edge of the priming pan is superbly chiseled with decorative bands, and the tail of the lock plate has a gilt section which is finely engraved with scrollwork. The dog-spring is engraved with further scrollwork and file-cut with flutes terminating in chiseled scrolls. The dog features a turned baluster form stem, parcel gilt four-leaf clover screw-head with each leaf displaying a small gold-inlaid heart, a finely chiseled gilt urn linking the dog-spring to the base of the dog, and the upper part of the stem chiseled and gilt in the form of a Corinthian column capital. The upper jaw is fixed while the lower jaw moves on the jaw screw, and the back edge and outer faces of the jaws are finely engraved with a bird and scrollwork and the jaws overall in the style of a stylized hippopotamus.
The extraordinary steel mounts feature engraved, pierced, and gilt
foliage decoration. The trigger guard, protecting the leaf-shaped trigger, comprises a finely engraved and pierced flat plate with a border of stylized running foliage, plain cylindrical stem extending to a turned baluster
form finger rest with alternating gilt and silver-inlaid decorative bands.
The trigger plate has pierced panels and engraved borders en suite with the trigger guard, a leaf-shaped foliate engraved forward finial, a polished cut-steel beveled plaque next to the trigger, and a small silver-inlaid panel chased with foliage at the rear of the tang. The side plate features a pierced central roundel en suite with the trigger guard and trigger plate against
a blued steel backing plate, and two silver- and gold-damascened stems from the roundel for the lock retaining screws which each have a fluted head. The intricately pierced heel plate also features a blued steel backing plate.
The figured full-stock is inlaid with numerous shaped, engraved, and pierced panels decorated en suite with the principle mounts and alternate between gilt and polished finish and among them are the “steel diamond” accents noted in the royal collection inventory. The decoration comprises four barrel key escutcheons interspersed with four decorative plaques on each side of the forearm, a larger plaque behind the ramrod entry, eight plaques around the rear of the lock, barrel tang, and wrist; and a further four plaques on the butt, including two larger plaques on each face of
the butt beneath the cheek piece. These decorative plaques inset into
the stock all have a stunning scarlet textile backing and a polished raised cut-steel beveled center. The stock is further ornamented with inlaid wire scrolls, flower heads, dots, and borders as well as bands of inlaid silver and silver-gilt ribbon. The later ramrod has a steel tip.