The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Bulletin

Bertrand Piraube
French, recorded 1663-I7z4
Flintlock Pistol of Charles xi of Sweden
French (Paris), dated I676
Steel, walnut, and gold
Length overall, zi in. (53.3 cm); length of barrel, 14 in.
(35.6 cm); caliber, .60 in. (I5.1 mm)
Purchase, Annie Laurie Aitken Charitable Trust Gift, i990
1990. 114.2
In 16o8 Henry iv of France established the custom of granting
lodgings in the Louvre to select artists and craftsmen attached
to the court. The king's gunmaker was also given this privilege,
and of these, Bertrand Piraube stands out as having had the
longest tenure (i670-i7z0) and having been one of the most
influential.
This pistol, Piraube's earliest dated work, was made for
Charles xi of Sweden (I655-i697). In I673 Charles had
received a large number of richly decorated French firearms
as part of a diplomatic gift presented by Louis xiv. The
gift included a pair of pistols by Piraube almost identical in
design to our newly acquired example, although mounted
in silver rather than in steel (Livrustkammaren, Stockholm).
Originally one of a pair, the Museum's pistol was presumably
ordered by the Swedish king because of his admiration for
Piraube's craftsmanship.
The pistol's considerable length, elegant proportions, and other
aspects of its form-the multistaged barrel, round-faced lock,
and long-spurred butt cap-are typical of the period. Its steel
mounts, engraved, chiseled, and, in part, blued and gilt, are
exceptionally clean and crisp. The ornament of foliate scrolls,
masks, grotesques, and warriors in Roman armor reflects the
classical Baroque style of Jean Berain, Louis xiv's chief designer.
The blued and gilt barrel is engraved with the coat of arms of
Sweden, the maker's signature, and the date: Piraube Aux
Galeries Du Louvre I676. The engraved and gilt escutcheon
also bears the Swedish arms.
swP
Bibliography: John F. Hayward, "Bertrand Piraube," Livrustkammaren,
I5, no. 5 (I980), pp. 129-13z, figs. 12-14.
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