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Very rare upright casini of Boutet pocket pistols
Open to offers
Action/Type:
Flintlock
Status:
MAKE AN OFFER
Date Added:
11/04/26
OZGUNSALES ADVISE BUYERS REQUEST FIREARMS OR GOODS BE TAKEN TO A LICENSED FIREARMS DEALER TO VERIFY BEFORE ANY PAYMENTS ARE MADE.
ALL FIREARMS MUST BE TRANSFERRED THROUGH A LICENSED FIREARMS DEALER
ALL FIREARMS MUST BE TRANSFERRED THROUGH A LICENSED FIREARMS DEALER
6
**A SUPERB FRENCH EMPIRE CASED PAIR OF DE LUXE FLINTLOCK POCKET PISTOLS
BY BOUTET ET FILS, VERSAILLES — circa 1810**
A complete, untouched, presentation-grade set with original case and full accessories
Last recorded sale: £30,000 (2014)
Offered here is an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire a museum-level cased pair of deluxe pocket pistols by Boutet et Fils, produced at the height of the French Empire period and engraved to the highest standards of the Versailles Manufactory. Pairs of this quality—especially signed by both Nicolas-Noël Boutet and his son Pierre-Nicolas—are extremely scarce on today’s market and are represented in the world’s greatest royal and imperial collections.
Description
Each pistol is a masterpiece of Boutet’s refined Empire aesthetic:
Deeply engraved box-lock actions with laurel branches, flowerheads, and neoclassical motifs
Left side boldly signed BOUTET ET FILS, incorporating the decorative enlarged cursive B unique to this period
Right side inscribed A VERSAILLES
Turn-off barrels with engraved muzzles
Sliding safety catches
Folding triggers invisibly integrated into the underside engraving
Ebony butts with panels of exquisitely cut fine chequering
Original Empire Case & Accessories
Housed in their original, contour-fitted case, designed for the extremely rare side-by-side vertical seating of the pistols—a configuration seen only in a handful of surviving Boutet sets.
Case covered in burgundy morocco, tooled and gilt internally and externally
Dark green baize interior
Lid gilt-stamped with the original owner’s monogram DM
Full complement of original accessories, including:
• Combined bullet mould / sprue cutter / barrel wrench
• Three-position turnscrew
• Pricker
The entire ensemble remains in fine, untouched condition—a hallmark of sets preserved in major European collections.
Historical Significance
Nicolas-Noël Boutet (1761–1833), Directeur Artiste of the Versailles Manufactory, remains Europe’s most celebrated maker of presentation-grade arms. Under his supervision, Versailles produced the finest armes de luxe and armes d’honneur ever created, commissioned for Napoleon, members of the Imperial family, and leading military and diplomatic figures.
This pair bears the coveted Boutet et Fils signature, used only between 1804 and 1816, marking the brief period during which Pierre-Nicolas Boutet worked alongside his father. Only a fraction of surviving Boutet pistols carry this dual signature.
Provenance
Formerly in the Scott MacDonald Collection.
Dimensions
Case: 11 × 17.5 × 9.5 cm (4.3 × 7 × 3 in)
Each pistol: 15.5 cm (6.1 in)
Price
£30,000 (2014 recorded sale).
Serious offers invited commensurate with rarity, condition, and completeness.
**A SUPERB FRENCH EMPIRE CASED PAIR OF DE LUXE FLINTLOCK POCKET PISTOLS
BY BOUTET ET FILS, VERSAILLES — circa 1810**
A complete, untouched, presentation-grade set with original case and full accessories
Last recorded sale: £30,000 (2014)
Offered here is an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire a museum-level cased pair of deluxe pocket pistols by Boutet et Fils, produced at the height of the French Empire period and engraved to the highest standards of the Versailles Manufactory. Pairs of this quality—especially signed by both Nicolas-Noël Boutet and his son Pierre-Nicolas—are extremely scarce on today’s market and are represented in the world’s greatest royal and imperial collections.
Description
Each pistol is a masterpiece of Boutet’s refined Empire aesthetic:
Deeply engraved box-lock actions with laurel branches, flowerheads, and neoclassical motifs
Left side boldly signed BOUTET ET FILS, incorporating the decorative enlarged cursive B unique to this period
Right side inscribed A VERSAILLES
Turn-off barrels with engraved muzzles
Sliding safety catches
Folding triggers invisibly integrated into the underside engraving
Ebony butts with panels of exquisitely cut fine chequering
Original Empire Case & Accessories
Housed in their original, contour-fitted case, designed for the extremely rare side-by-side vertical seating of the pistols—a configuration seen only in a handful of surviving Boutet sets.
Case covered in burgundy morocco, tooled and gilt internally and externally
Dark green baize interior
Lid gilt-stamped with the original owner’s monogram DM
Full complement of original accessories, including:
• Combined bullet mould / sprue cutter / barrel wrench
• Three-position turnscrew
• Pricker
The entire ensemble remains in fine, untouched condition—a hallmark of sets preserved in major European collections.
Historical Significance
Nicolas-Noël Boutet (1761–1833), Directeur Artiste of the Versailles Manufactory, remains Europe’s most celebrated maker of presentation-grade arms. Under his supervision, Versailles produced the finest armes de luxe and armes d’honneur ever created, commissioned for Napoleon, members of the Imperial family, and leading military and diplomatic figures.
This pair bears the coveted Boutet et Fils signature, used only between 1804 and 1816, marking the brief period during which Pierre-Nicolas Boutet worked alongside his father. Only a fraction of surviving Boutet pistols carry this dual signature.
Provenance
Formerly in the Scott MacDonald Collection.
Dimensions
Case: 11 × 17.5 × 9.5 cm (4.3 × 7 × 3 in)
Each pistol: 15.5 cm (6.1 in)
Price
£30,000 (2014 recorded sale).
Serious offers invited commensurate with rarity, condition, and completeness.
+61499088152
Western Australia
D/L#: 1659172
We are primarily collectors of high-art or unusual firearms. Our firearms are expensive but that is because most of our guns are unique in their own way. I seek out the best of the best for my collection and pay whatever I have to pay to get them to Australia. I love every gun in my collection but financial reality dictates that if I am to continue to acquire new guns, something has to go.
I get as much enjoyment finding that special gun or guns and then researching their provenance as I do out of owning them.
I have a very extensive library of research material, some of my books are extremely rare and valuable, I have some of the rarest and most comprehensive books ever printed. MANUFACTURE D'ARMES DE VERSAILLES et NICOLAS BOUTET will set you back a couple of grand if you can find it but it is the best source available on obscure facts regarding the guns of Nicolas-Noel Boutet. The two volumes of LE QUI EST QUI DE L'ARME EN France provide another very valuable source of information on European guns. I also have the three volume set of Der New Stockel by Eugene Heer, which is probably the most comprehensive work on gunmakers ever published.
They are hard going because I don't speak French or German but the reward for effort with regard to finding out who made a particular gun makes the effort worthwhile.
It is very rewarding to hold a gun in your hand and then find a picture and description of it in a sixty-year-old book, particularly after international experts have been unable to determine provenance.
I get as much enjoyment finding that special gun or guns and then researching their provenance as I do out of owning them.
I have a very extensive library of research material, some of my books are extremely rare and valuable, I have some of the rarest and most comprehensive books ever printed. MANUFACTURE D'ARMES DE VERSAILLES et NICOLAS BOUTET will set you back a couple of grand if you can find it but it is the best source available on obscure facts regarding the guns of Nicolas-Noel Boutet. The two volumes of LE QUI EST QUI DE L'ARME EN France provide another very valuable source of information on European guns. I also have the three volume set of Der New Stockel by Eugene Heer, which is probably the most comprehensive work on gunmakers ever published.
They are hard going because I don't speak French or German but the reward for effort with regard to finding out who made a particular gun makes the effort worthwhile.
It is very rewarding to hold a gun in your hand and then find a picture and description of it in a sixty-year-old book, particularly after international experts have been unable to determine provenance.
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It is advisable that if you plan on purchasing from a Dealer who has listed an ad on this website to retain the information of the ad and the Dealers details for future reference, as we cannot guarantee that it will still be available if removed