Pinnacle of gun making art

[Seth Isaacson]

I forget the British officer's name, but in one of the pells when France and GB we not at war, he visited Versailles and looked up Boutet and examined his work.
He said that the decoration was well done, but Inside, the guns were "As rough as a badgers arse".

Having handled many Versailles Manufactory/Boutet firearms and seen the interior of the locks and what not, that has not been remotely my experience. My guess is that this was a case of "British exceptionalism" and looking down on anything that was not British or outright jealousy about the French arms quality. You see the same thing in English descriptions of fine arms from the World's Fairs in the mid-19th century. The English writers make a lot of backhanded comments about anything not British but can't deny the abilities and qualities in terms of artistry of the French armsmakers.

[Walshman98]

Maybe it's me but for some reason some pictures I couldn't get them open, but ffrom the pictures I could see I can say that this is a wonderful gauge set.

-Steven

[smylee grouch]

I would gladly take a Manton over any of those Boutet's pictured. J&J Manton were artist's also, forum and function.

[smart dog]

I suspect the criticisms were mostly sour grapes. 

No Heinz,
I can make anything if I put my mind to it, which I have demonstrated over and over again on this website.  I don't make these style guns because they are ugly artistic abortions in my opinion.

dave

[heinz]

Dave, I was referring the  period criticism by English officers.  Sorry you chose to take it personally.

I do not care for the architecture of many of the pistols, but the workmanship and artistic coherence of the pieces is outstanding. They look a lot better in person that they do in the photographs. 

I like plain functional guns and I was not criticizing your workmanship or talent.

[Seth Isaacson]

For those who haven't seen yet, the Napoleon garniture's price realized was $2,875,000.

[JTR]

Thanks for posting the price realized! 

[Walshman98]

A modern day version of an artisan  Evgeni Dimov.  I stumbled on his work a few years ago when I was looking for some engraving design tips for woodcarving.

 http://www.home.dimovengraving.com/
http://www.pistols.dimovengraving.com/
http://www.gunstocks.dimovengraving.com/

This video is in Bulgarian, most won't be able to understand a word. but it worth watching.

Today funny enough the youtube algorithm suggested me this interview he did, went to his channel () and already subscribed.  It's a shame that the interview has no translated subtitles..... I would've known what he's saying... don't even know the language he's speaking.  :'(

[Mattox Forge]

Amen! While I appreciate the workmanship, I find them to be gaudy.  Dan
[/quote]
Hear, Hear!

Mike

[J.M.Browning]

First I would like to thank the original Poster for taking the time to share the info , I did - do enjoy looking at the firearms posted as I find these of high historical value. Not my taste although I can definitely appreciate the hours of craftsmanship labored into the final product . The common thread at ALR is firearms there is room for every subjective opinion.  J. Manton, Twigg - the English Gunmaker's really have held my interests since the 70's . Now I'm learning about the amazing American builders & how they crafted these firearms singular doing all the work start to finish . Like I said there's room for everyone Enjoy !!

[john bohan]

I'll second Smartdog,I bet Napoleon never shot one.

[Ezra]

Not my style, but whoever did the work was freakishly talented.


Ez

[mr. no gold]

In many ways the makers were more jewelers than much else. I have seen only a few pieces of deBoutet's work but like it or not, (and I do), it is impressive. I also know that there is at least one set of his pistols that are spurious, made by a very talented fellow who passed away many decades ago. France has declared any guns that deBoutet made are national treasures and cannot be taken pout of France. I actually thought that the pieces that recently sold would fetch more at auction than they did. Since I haven't won the lottery in the last 84 years, I wasn't bidding on them though.
Dick

[Bob Roller]

IF i had the discretionary income to make bids and buy at preposterous prices I would probably buy a Duesenberg or Marmon V16 car and
then become an irritant to other car guys by using them as every day drivers.The $22 million paid for the Gary Cooper SSJ Duesenberg in 2018 blew my feeble mind. RIP P.T.Barnum,YOU were right .
Bob Roller

[JTR]

Well Bob, there's plenty of old cars selling for far more than 22 million.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ferrari-250-gto-1963-record-sale/index.html

[Bob Roller]

Well Bob, there's plenty of old cars selling for far more than 22 million.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ferrari-250-gto-1963-record-sale/index.html

I know of a Ferrari (I think) that went for over $60 million but the $22 million for the Cooper car was supposedly the most
ever for an American car.Maybe the 250-gto was it.Did you know Enzo Ferrari bought a Duesenberg back in the "day" to see
how such power. was attained on a low compression engine.I have wondered over the years what the General Grant rifle could
fetch IF it ever came up for sale.Anyone want to guess?
Bob Roller

[HighUintas]

Thanks for posting this and bringing it back to visibility. Those garniture firearms certainly aren't my cup of tea, but the detail is incredible and obviously required very skilled craftsmen. Fun to look at

[Walshman98]

Napoleon was a notoriously bad shot...Marshall Massena was blind in one eye because he accidentally shot him.

OMG, I had to google this!!! didn't know it....  it was at a hunting party and another person took the blame for Napoleon's bad shot.......... isn't history a treasure 

[Dennis Daigger]

Napoleon was a notoriously bad shot...Marshall Massena was blind in one eye because he accidentally shot him.

OMG, I had to google this!!! didn't know it....  it was at a hunting party and another person took the blame for Napoleon's bad shot.......... isn't history a treasure 

A bit like Dick Cheney shooting friend Harry Whittington on the quail hunt in Texas. But Whittington did apologize for getting shot so all was well.

[Seth Isaacson]

Just like all those Russian oligarchs that have "accidents" or complete suicide.