17th Century French Silver-Mounted Pair

.A superb pair of Sterling SIlver-mounted flintlock pistols made for a nobleman, Mayor or person of high standing.

This pair feature smoothe-bore, two-stage 14mm calibre barrels with remains of finishing, decorated in gold with a sun, trophies and floral motifs – which were popular among the aristocracy of mid-17th Century France – moulded nozzle; engraved tangs; locks with round plates, signed ‘SAINTONGE L’aine” (Saintonge, an old French province on the South West Atlantic Coast and L’aine meaning the elder boy) and the other “a Orleans”; full stocks slightly embossed with floral motifs. Sterling silver mounts embossed with trophies and floral motifs, but plates with grotesque masques; ivory-tipped wooded ramrods.

This pair make an outstanding centrepiece to the collector’s European portfolio.

Interesting to note that in 1429, Joan of Arc led the French to defeat a British siege of Orleans and in 1451 the French beat the British in a battle at Saintonge.