Pair of Flintlock Pistols (early 1700s): Art, History and Details

Pair of Flintlock Pistols (early 1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Works of exquisite craftsmanship, this pair of pistols, on view in the museum’s armor court, feature an array of decorative elements, including carved walnut, gold inlay, and chiseled, engraved, and gilded figural designs. The barrel is signed G. MASSIN, the name of a gunsmith working in eastern France or French-speaking Flanders, possibly the city of Liège.

Object facts

• Title: Pair of Flintlock Pistols
• 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

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.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Helen Ives Gilchrist. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. 2d ed., 1948.

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.