Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris

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

Created by the celebrated gunsmith Alfred Gauvain (1801–1889) for display at the Exhibition of French Industry in Paris in 1844, these pistols are masterpieces of iron chiseling in the Gothic Revival style. Designed by the sculptor and ornemanist Michel Liénard (1810–1870), they typify the imaginative conception and superb execution of the most elaborate firearms created by Parisian gunmakers to show off their skills at the industrial exhibitions and world fairs held in Paris, London, and elsewhere throughout the nineteenth century. At the 1844 exhibition, where they were awarded a silver medal, Gauvain's works were praised not so much for the richness of their materials, but rather their pure finish and artistic execution.

Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris

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2013.512.1, .2

Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris
Pair of Percussion Target Pistols Made for Display at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie in Paris, Signed by Alfred Gauvain (French, Paris 1801–1889 Paris), Steel, wood (ebony), French, Paris

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