Important and Rare Historic Presentation Gold-Mounted French Flintlock Box-lock Carbine by Nicolas-Noel Boutet a' Versailles, c. 1806, Carabine de Botte

17-inch round rifled turn-off barrel with a swivel-ring, decorated with an intermingled array of stars (seme) and quatro-foils between two large panels of gilt drapery, stars and floral motifs - the uppermost with the addition of a goose, octagonal breech engraved with Sphinx, classical faces and intertwined sea-serpents and struck three times BOUTET and additionally struck with three poincons depicting Napoleonic eagles, single gold-band and gold-inlaid touch-hole, the underside of breech inscribed BOUTET A VERSAILLES; breech extension engraved with wypherns, birds and two monkeys (in the manner of Jean-Baptiste Oudry), semi-rainproof pan with early type frizzen-mounted roller, the frizzen itself embellished with two birds drinking from a cup, cock with bird motif, back-action lock-plate with nude youth whispering into the ear of a resting lion, vermeil silver counterplate depicting a hunting scene; the triggerguard, acting as a release for the barrel is engraved with a winged nude woman, the two-part (take-down) walnut stock exhuberantly embellished with extensive, engraved gold panels overall forming draperies and floral motifs with an owl at grip, geese at comb and stork belly, musical instruments, the family crest of the important Spanish noble family of Guzman, silver buttplate with hallmarks, with side panels of drinking birds with gilt grounds, the comb set with a high-relief mythological figure wearing armor.

Condition: Excellent with minor replacements and cleaning overall.

Note: Given by King Jose I of Spain (Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I) to the Duque de Medina-Sidonia in 1806. Don Francisco de Borja Alvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga (1763 - 1821), was the XVI Duque de Medina-Sidonia. His ancestor, Don Alonso Perez de Guzman, VII Duque de Medina-Sidonia was admiral of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Two other such gold-mounted carbines (Carabine de Botte Brisee) are known in museum collections; one given to Joseph Bonaparte in the museum at Versailles, the other present by Napoleon I to General Count Jean Rapp at the Musee de la Chasse, Paris. Additionally, the Rapp Carbine was bequeathed to the French Government in 1958, and exhibited at the Musee de l'Armee in 1965 as Number 948. See Manufacture Nationale, Imperiale et Royale 1793 - 1818: La Manufacture d'Armes de Versailles et Nicolas-Noel Boutet, 1993, pps 175 and 178.

Estimate: $100000 - $175000

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