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LOT 268
Highly Desirable Engraved and Gold and Platinum Inlaid Flintlock Dueling
Pistols by Louis-Marin Gosset
-A) Gosset Flintlock Pistol - NSN, 50 cal., 9 inch octagon bbl., brown/gold/platinum/casehardened finish, walnut
stock. Louis-Marin Gosset worked as an assistant to Nicolas-Noel Boutet at Versailles in 1793-1813 and was active in
Paris until c. 1840. As such, he had extensive experience working with one of the greatest fine arms makers in world
history and alongside numerous talented artisans at Versailles. It is no surprise that his pistols are arguably of equal
quality to many Boutet arms, and a pair of pistols by Gosset owned by Napoleon Bonaparte as he contemplated suicide
after his fall from were recently classified by the French culture ministry as National Treasures. Napoleon’s pistols and
our current pair both feature the same double wyvern side plate design as well as other similar features, and one of
the two pistols in Napoleon’s pair was a half-stock pistol like our present pair. The current pistols are accompanied by a
June 24, 1958, letter from F. Theodore Dexter discussing these pistols being offered from Irving Moskowitz’s collection
which centered on fine French arms from the Napoleonic era and a certificate of authenticity for Norman Blank from F.
Theodore Dexter dated July 1, 1958. The pistols were displayed at the NRA as part of Mr. Blank’s collection in 2004.
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