FLINTLOCK PISTOL

French, ca. 1750/60, Joseph Lamotte, St. Etienne.
Round barrel (L 16 cm), Cal. 14 mm, octagonal chamber half, decorated with engraved, gilt tendrils and ornaments. Silver sight. Flat lock plate and cock, with carved and gilt decoration. Hook safety catch for the cock, lock plate signed "Jh Lamotte Laine". Cast and chiseled silver mounts, trigger guard and grip gap decorated with rocailles and flowers, two ramrod sleeves. Control marks: deer head, possibly Nantes. Carved walnut stock, wooden ramrod.
L 28.8 cm, 521 g.

Very well-preserved French hunting- or travel pistol from the time of Louis XV, with particularly attractive silver mounts in the Rococo style. Joseph Lamotte (ca. 1716-1784) was a member of a renowned gunsmith dynasty in St. Etienne, known for quality work. Cf. Eugène Heer: Der Neue Støckel, Schwäbisch Hall 1968, Vol. I, p. 677.