Designs for the Decoration of Firearms
ca. 1797–1805
Medium
Pencil, ink, gray wash on paper
Dimensions
1 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. (4.8 x 15.6 cm)
Classification
Works on Paper-Drawings
Culture
French, Versailles
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Clay P. Bedford Gift, 2004
Accession Number
2004.101.59
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of Napoleonic France with *Designs for the Decoration Firearms* by Nicolas Noël Boutet a master gunsmith and director of the royal small arms factory at Versailles around 1797–1805. Created during the turbulent post-Revolutionary era, this delicate drawing captures the era's fusion of military might and artistic grandeur. Boutet, renowned for crafting exquisite firearms for Napoleon Bonaparte and European royalty, sketched these ornamental motifs—featuring majestic lions amid intricate patterns—to adorn gun stocks and barrels, transforming weapons into symbols of im...
About the Artist
Nicolas Noël Boutet · 1761–1833
French, Versailles and Paris, 1761–1833