I think they are quite right in saying they aren't "dueling pistols". In fact, where French or other continental pistols are concerned, the term is constantly over-used. Duels could, and were, fought with all sorts of pistols but the purpose-built pistol for dueling is a largely British convention. There are a host of reasons for having a pair of pistols... most pistols were sold as pairs and many of these were cased, if only for the convenience of having a place to put them when they weren't in your overcoat pockets or saddle holsters. I doubt any of these over-the-top Boutet pistols were intended for any functional purpose other than to be impressive. For that matter, has anyone ever seen a set of presentation Boutet pistols that were in other than new condition?
