Pair of Flintlock Pistols of Count Heinrich von Brühl (1700–1763) ca. 1740 Adrien Reynier the Younger, called Le Hollandois These exquisitely decorated pistols represent a high point of the gunmaker’s art during the reign of Louis XV, when the French style of firearms ornament set the fashion for all of Europe. They are signed Le Hollandois (the Dutchman), a nickname applied to three generations of gunmakers in the Reynier family, originally from Holland, who worked in Paris and created firearms for members of the royal court from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The style of

Pair of Flintlock Pistols of Count Heinrich von Brühl (1700–1763) ca. 1740 Adrien Reynier the Younger, called Le Hollandois These exquisitely decorated pistols represent a high point of the gunmaker’s art during the reign of Louis XV, when the French style of firearms ornament set the fashion for all of Europe. They are signed Le Hollandois (the Dutchman), a nickname applied to three generations of gunmakers in the Reynier family, originally from Holland, who worked in Paris and created firearms for members of the royal court from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The style of the first Le Hollandois, Adrien Reynier the Elder (born ca. 1630), is documented in a widely influential pattern book of ornament for firearms (acc. no. ), published in Paris in 1660, in addition to extant signed firearms. His son, Adrien Reynier the Younger, became gunmaker to the king in 1723. This pair of pistols exemplify the way in which the style established by the elder Le Hollandois was refined and evolved to suit the tastes of succeeding generations of noble patrons. The brightly polished steel locks of the pistols are crisply chiseled with classically inspired figures and motifs offset by a stippled gold ground. These are complemented by the butt caps, side plates, and other fittings, which are cast in silver and covered with raised decoration characteristic of Le Hollandois best work. The beautifully figured walnut stocks are fitted with brilliantly blued barrels lavishly encrusted in silver thumb plate, or escutcheon, bearing a coat of arms and insignia, is inlaid into the stock of each pistol at the wrist. These emblems identify the original owner of the pistols as Count Heinrich von Brühl, an influential statesman who held high positions under successive electors of Saxony. Also a bibliophile and leading patron of the arts, von Brühl was director of the famous Meissen porcelain factory and is remembered for commissioning the enormous "Swan

How we Work

Contribute

Legal

Contact Us