"Lepazha stvoly rokovye" ; Duel'nye pistolety iz sobraniia Gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeiia ("Le Page's fatal barrels": Dueling pistols from the collection of the State Historical Museum)
Moscow: Gos Istoricheskii muzei (GIM), 2003. Sewn cl. The works presented in this collection catalogue come from Western European armorers — English, Czech, German, Austrian, Italian and, predominantly, French. The layout uniquely illustrates the workmanship and artistry of the pistols: illustrated are the dueling pistols in their cases and in fold-out spreads showing the pistols at actual size. Details reveal the exquisite metalwork of many of the pieces. In a substantive introduction the museum's curator sketches the history of dueling, explains the technical developments of the dueling pistol in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and points out the artistic styles of the pistols as a branch of applied arts; for example, motifs of the Empire style are evident in many of the French works from the early nineteenth century. Nicely reproduced details show the exquisite workmanship of many of the pieces, which were both finely wrought tools of honor and works of artistic metalwork. The majority of works are published here for the first time. 274 p., 30 cm, approx. 150 color illus., Rus. Item #157
ISBN: 5902226066
Price: $77.00