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Staring Down the Beauty of a London Gun

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Staring Down the Beauty of a London Gun
Detail of the flintlock pistol's blued steel lock and barrel engraved and gold-inlaid with trophies of arms and foliage; 1800–1801, by gunmaker Samuel Brunn and silversmith Michael Barnet. British, London. Purchased through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and gift of George D. Pratt, by exchange, 1992. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Lorraine Ferrier
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Cast in silver, Medusa screams out on the pistol butt of a beautiful, 19th-century, walnut and rosewood flintlock pistol. Hercules’s victory over an Amazon makes an appearance on an oval medallion on the trigger guard, and a sea nymph feeding a sea leopard is featured on the engraved sheet-silver inlay that runs along the stock.  
Many of the ornamental motifs on this flintlock pistol are taken from ancient Rome. Here, a nereid (sea nymph) feeds a sea leopard; 1800–1801, by gunmaker Samuel Brunn and silversmith Michael Barnett. British, London. Purchased through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and gift of George D. Pratt, by exchange, 1992. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Many of the ornamental motifs on this flintlock pistol are taken from ancient Rome. Here, a nereid (sea nymph) feeds a sea leopard; 1800–1801, by gunmaker Samuel Brunn and silversmith Michael Barnett. British, London. Purchased through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and gift of George D. Pratt, by exchange, 1992. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Lorraine Ferrier
Lorraine Ferrier
Author
Lorraine Ferrier writes about fine arts and craftsmanship for The Epoch Times. She focuses on artists and artisans, primarily in North America and Europe, who imbue their works with beauty and traditional values. She's especially interested in giving a voice to the rare and lesser-known arts and crafts, in the hope that we can preserve our traditional art heritage. She lives and writes in a London suburb, in England.
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