Pistol with flintlock

• wood, iron, gold inserts
• France
• around 1740/50
• length: 37 cm

The weapon was also known as an espingole or blunderbuss. It had a funnel-shaped extended muzzle so that several bullets or shot could be fired one after another. It also had a large spread and was only effective at short range. In many cases the pistols were richly decorated for representative purposes and were purely collector’s items. The pistol is a particularly fine example from a collection of pistols acquired from a museum.