Combination Sword and Wheellock Pistol

A masterpiece of French Renaissance goldsmiths’ work, this richly embellished weapon has been characterized as “among the most important achievements of the sixteenth century gunmaker and sword cutler” (Hayward, 1965, p. 107). The sword type, variously known in English as a cutlass or falchion, in French as a coutelas, and in Italian as a storta, or coltellaccio, was considered in the Renaissance to be vaguely “Roman” and thus appropriate to be worn with costume and armor in the “antique” style. The classicizing ornament of trophies and masks and the exquisite workmanship more specifically refer to silver wares and arms made for the court of Henry II of France (r. 1547-1559). The sword-pistol thus serves as a rare and worthy complement to the Department’s outstanding holdings of arms and armor made for, or at lease reasonably associated with, Henry II, among them a complete armor (39.121), a burgonet and buffe (04.3.217 and 22.140), a shield decorated with the king’s initials (34.85), a gold- and silver-damascened mace bearing hiss motto (04.3.59), and a massive bronze cannon cast and chased with Henry’s initials, arms, and personal emblems (2018.756).

The sword-pistol constitutes a major addition to The Met's holdings of combination weapons, notably swords, daggers, and staff weapons of various types that are fitted with wheellock mechanisms and barrels. While combination arms were, in theory, capable of being fired, they seem to have been more important as “the play-things of princes,” mechanical marvels that were intended to delight with their novel design, exquisite workmanship, and ingenious integration of two weapon types into one.

It also complements the holdings of European Paintings, whose collection includes a canvas, Still Life with Silver and Gold Plate, Shells, and a Sword, by Meiffren Conte of Marseilles (c. 1630-1705), in which this very sword, or an identical one, is represented (2012.542).