The Example Family Art Collection
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Nicholas-Noël Boutet
French 1761-1833
I
Flintlock fowling piece
c.1810
French 1761-1833
I
Flintlock fowling piece
c.1810
About the maker:
Nicolas-Noel Boutet (1761-1833) is commonly considered to be one of the greatest recorded gunmakers. From 1793 to 1818 he was artistic director of the Manufacture Nationale de Versailles where he was responsible for the production of some of the finest luxury and presentation firearms ever made. His weapons tended to be exceedingly expensive; a set of nine guns and a pair of pistols made for King Charles IV of Spain, who abdicated in 1808, is recorded to have cost 130,000 francs.
Examples of Boutet's work exist in the inventories of numerous museums, particularly in France, but also at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (where there are several fine pieces), Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, the Wallace Collection (where there is also one that belonged to Joseph Buonaparte) and the Victoria & Albert Museum. There are also examples in Moscow and Leningrad.
Nicolas-Noel Boutet (1761-1833) is commonly considered to be one of the greatest recorded gunmakers. From 1793 to 1818 he was artistic director of the Manufacture Nationale de Versailles where he was responsible for the production of some of the finest luxury and presentation firearms ever made. His weapons tended to be exceedingly expensive; a set of nine guns and a pair of pistols made for King Charles IV of Spain, who abdicated in 1808, is recorded to have cost 130,000 francs.
Examples of Boutet's work exist in the inventories of numerous museums, particularly in France, but also at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (where there are several fine pieces), Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, the Wallace Collection (where there is also one that belonged to Joseph Buonaparte) and the Victoria & Albert Museum. There are also examples in Moscow and Leningrad.
About the work:
This fowling piece was allegedly plundered from the baggage train of Joseph Buonaparte, King of Spain, following Wellington’s victory and rout of the French during the Peninsular War at Vittoria on 21 June 1813.
Although relatively modest and lightly decorated in comparison to some of Boutet’s work, it is entirely plausible that this piece should have been made to order and presented to Joseph Buonaparte by his brother, the Emperor Napoleon. It is also plausible that it should have been plundered at Vittoria, at which King Joseph was present.
In the aftermath of the battle, the rout of the French army was so complete that, in his magisterial History of the British Army, the Hon. J.W. Fortescue wrote:
Joseph himself … had only just time to leave his carriage, jump on his horse and gallop away from the Eighteenth Hussars. Everything that belonged to him and a great many works of art … were taken. … Little … of value found its way to the Commander-in-Chief [Wellington] or to the military chest of the army; for the men were hungry, their pay was in arrear, and there were two million dollars in the French treasure-waggons, besides private hoards, to be had for the taking.
Joseph Buonaparte, who had been King of Spain since 1808, abdicated after the battle.
This fowling piece was allegedly plundered from the baggage train of Joseph Buonaparte, King of Spain, following Wellington’s victory and rout of the French during the Peninsular War at Vittoria on 21 June 1813.
Although relatively modest and lightly decorated in comparison to some of Boutet’s work, it is entirely plausible that this piece should have been made to order and presented to Joseph Buonaparte by his brother, the Emperor Napoleon. It is also plausible that it should have been plundered at Vittoria, at which King Joseph was present.
In the aftermath of the battle, the rout of the French army was so complete that, in his magisterial History of the British Army, the Hon. J.W. Fortescue wrote:
Joseph himself … had only just time to leave his carriage, jump on his horse and gallop away from the Eighteenth Hussars. Everything that belonged to him and a great many works of art … were taken. … Little … of value found its way to the Commander-in-Chief [Wellington] or to the military chest of the army; for the men were hungry, their pay was in arrear, and there were two million dollars in the French treasure-waggons, besides private hoards, to be had for the taking.
Joseph Buonaparte, who had been King of Spain since 1808, abdicated after the battle.
Details:
Accession number: 022-124
Medium: Finely worked gunmetal, French walnut stock
Provenance: Regimental Collection of the Royal Green Jackets (1860-1929), Private ownership (1929-2010), Example family Art Collection (2010-)
Accession number: 022-124
Medium: Finely worked gunmetal, French walnut stock
Provenance: Regimental Collection of the Royal Green Jackets (1860-1929), Private ownership (1929-2010), Example family Art Collection (2010-)
Literature:
Hayward, J.F. The art of the gunmaker, New York, St Martin's Press, 1964
Blackmore, H.L. Hunting weapons from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, New York: Dover, 2000
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The arts under Napoleon: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, April 6-July 30, 1978
The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts, Volume 1
.
Hayward, J.F. The art of the gunmaker, New York, St Martin's Press, 1964
Blackmore, H.L. Hunting weapons from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, New York: Dover, 2000
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The arts under Napoleon: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, April 6-July 30, 1978
The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts, Volume 1
.
