Flintlock Fowling Piece Given by the Empress Catherine II of Russia to the French Ambassador
1745 and 1763
Medium
Steel, gilding, silver, walnut, and horn
Dimensions
L. 150 cm (59 in.) Barrel L. 110.8 cm (43 5/8 in.) Wt. 7 lb. 7 oz. Caliber .60
Classification
firearm-long gun
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
106444
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Under Catherine the Great of Russia the arms center of Tula produced many luxury firearms after the Western European style for use at court and as diplomatic gifts. This fowling piece was part of a set of hunting weapons given by the empress to the French ambassador Louis Charles Auguste le Tonnelier, Baron de Breteuil, in 1763, commemorated on the gilt face of the lock plate. The earlier date of 1745, engraved under the front spring on the lock, shows that the gun was older at the time it was g...