Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851

Signed by Alfred Gauvain French
 Designed by Michel Liénard French
 Barrels by Léopold Bernard French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 375

Made by the Parisian gunsmith Alfred Gauvain (1801–1889) for display at the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in London in 1851, these pistols are masterpieces of iron chiseling in the Renaissance Revival style that was popular in mid-nineteenth-century design. Designed by the sculptor and ornemanist Michel Liénard (1810–1870), they were praised at the time as works of modern art that rivaled in beauty of execution many older firearms preserved in national museums. The inspiration for the lizards, snakes, and frogs amid vine branches was perhaps provided by Renaissance goldsmith's works (silver by Wenzel Jamnitzer of Nuremberg) and ceramics (French Palissy ware).

Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris

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Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), gold, French, Paris

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