Estimated at $250,000-425,000, it was once in a group “often hailed as the most important arms collection in history” says the saleroom based in Rock Island, Illinois, and Bedford, Texas. This array of hundreds of firearms was acquired by the king for their intricate ornamentation, technological advances, and those with previous royal or noble owners.
The Victoria and Albert Museum credits the young French king as “the first real European gun collector”. It adds: “By 10 years old he already owned seven arquebuses and by 13 he had over 50. He used to like pulling them apart, cleaning them and putting them back together and became known as Louis L’Arquebusier. Louis collected quite systematically, looking for outstanding decoration or technological innovations and his court employed the best gunmakers in France such as Marin le Bourgeois who is credited with developing the flintlock firing mechanism.”
The gun is marked as number24 on the underside of the stock and RIAC says it is one of the original inventoried firearms in the Cabinet d’Armes, dating back to the 1620s.
It features a smoothbore barrel highly decorated with silver and gold damascened ornamentation and has intricately detailed figures probably representing the Horae: Eirene (Peace), Eunomia (Good Order) and Dike (Justice). The lock, signed FP, is attributed to the Parisian gunmaker Francois Poumerol who frequently crafted firearms presented to Louis XIII.
