Flintlock Pistol (2 of 2) (early 1700s): Art, History and Details

Flintlock Pistol (2 of 2) (early 1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The barrel of this pistol is signed G. MASSIN, a gunsmith apparently working in eastern France or French-speaking Flanders, possibly the city of Liège. The exquisite ornament along the breech of the barrel is chiseled and engraved. The gilded lock-plate and mounts may be compared to the finest contemporary work in other media, such as furniture with ormolu mounts.

Object facts

• Title: Flintlock Pistol (2 of 2)
• Date: early 1700s
• Culture: Franco-Flemish, Liège, early 18th Century
• Type: Arms and Armor
• Technique: steel with gold inlay, gilt-brass mounts; walnut burl stock; chiseled high-relief decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.); Barrel: 32.1 cm (12 5/8 in.); Bore: 1.5 cm (9/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Arms & Armor
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1916.50.2

A detail from the museum

The flintlock ignition system was developed in the 1600s and remained the dominant system until the early 1800s.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of Arms and Armour. Vol. 4, 17th to 19th century and a few pieces of iron work. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], [1900-1915].
• Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.
• Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.