SHOWCASE 24. EUROPEAN ARMS AND ARMOUR OF THE 15TH - 19TH CENTURIES

The flintlock mechanism with a spark, used to ignite the gunpowder in the touch hole, was a major innovation in small arms design. Introduced in the mid-16th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced the older firearm-ignition technologies, such as matchlock and wheellock mechanisms. It continued to be in common use for over two centuries, replaced by percussion cap and later by cartridge-based systems in the early to mid 19th century. A carbine and a pair of pistols presented to Tsar Michael Romanov in 1630 by the Dutch trading agent Carl Demoulin have locks of this new construction. Along with the technical improvement of firing mechanisms, West European arms design, i.e. decor and forms, had been developing during the 16th-19th centuries. 

From the second half of the 17th century, the French, and more specifically Parisian armourers stood out among the European centres of arms-making for both technical perfection and artistic mastery. At the end of the 18th century, presentational arms were manufactured in Versailles workshops under the supervision of gunsmith Nicolas-Noel Boutet, whose works are preserved in the Armoury Chamber.

The collection includes some hunting rifles and pocket pistols of the late 18th century executed by English and Belgian makers, who prevailed by then over Parisian gunsmiths in the art of arms making.