Dear lambro-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
I am posting what I my THEORY as to the origin of your pistol as an
answer based on your request for me to offer my suspicions.
The pistol you have appears to be a French Navy or Marine powder
pistol that dates back to the early 1780?s and perhaps as late as the
late 1820?s. Collectors and enthusiasts sometimes refer to this type
of gun as a ?Napoleonic Firearm? since it comes from that era. In your
case however, because of the inscription, I suspect that you are
correct in your assumption that it was a special commemorative gift
representative of a significant event.
My theory ? or ?guess?, if you want to call it that ? is that this
firearm was probably inscribed to reflect the Naval mission and well
documented subsequent 1798 disaster of the French ship L?Orient (the
flagship of the French Vice-Admiral De Brueys and considered the most
magnificent battleship in the world at the time). Engaged in battle
L?Orient caught fire and the blaze eventually reached her power
magazine. The power exploded in a fireball so enormous that it was
heard almost 40 miles away in Alexandria, Egypt; instantly killing all
aboard. Modern conservative estimates now believe that 1700 men were
killed outright and that there may have been as many as 8000
casualties in all from this single blast ? no doubt the one of largest
manmade explosions of it?s time.
SHIPS OF THE WORLD
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_067500_lorient.htm
FAMOUS SHIPS: L?ORIENT
http://www.ship-modelers-assn.org/fam0108.htm
AL-AHRAM WEEKLY
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/436/fr2.htm
DIVERS DISCOVER HOW BONAPARTE'S BOAT BLEW
http://www.metimes.com/issue99-27/cultent/divers_discover_how.htm
Survivors from this incident were rare and artifacts found intact were
virtually non-existent due to the utter annihilation of the vessel so,
as I said, it is unlikely that this particular pistol physically saw
action while aboard the L?Orient. What is more likely, since this type
of pistol was used by American, French, and other European mounted
units, as well as officers, and Navy of the time, is that it was
inscribed some time thereafter on a pistol from that general era to
commemorate this specific event. Because I found no references to
?Jonclepe? in either the English or French lexicons I consulted, I
further suspect this to be the name of the person to whom the pistol
was inscribed or perhaps from the person making the inscription. The
arrow related markings on the weapon leads me to believe that this
might have been indicative of a specific military unit or perhaps a
family crest relative to the giver or even the recipient of the
pistol. Obviously, it is highly unlikely that the gun was inscribed
originally, because whoever did it would have had no advanced insight
that the event was ?going? to be significant). Logically then the gun
would have either existed at the time (but probably not aboard the
L?Orient itself), and was inscribed some time after 1798 to mark the
event; or the gun was manufactured shortly after the 1798 event and
was so inscribed while the memory of the event was still significant
to someone living at the time.
At any rate, this is my theory based on what the gun appears to be and
issues potentially related to its inscription. The accuracy of my
theory of course presupposes that the gun is in fact an original and
my suspicions are right on target. I recommend you have a professional
appraiser make a physical examination of the weapon and hope that my
theoretical revelations give you some added information for making
inquires ? or, at a minimum, keep you from getting ripped off by
someone telling you the gun is worthless. The actual value of the
weapon is out of my area of expertise, but while I doubt it is worth a
fortune it may in fact be relatively valuable depending on it?s
authenticity.
As with any THEORY, the accuracy remains to be proven, however, only a
qualified appraiser (with the help of a vintage firearms expert, or
museum curator perhaps) will know the facts that for certain.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations and I
appreciate your interest in my theory. If you have any questions about
my research please post a clarification request prior to rating the
answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your final comments and I
look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank you
for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
Defined above
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
L?ORIENT, PISTOL, FLINTLOCK, MUSKET, SIDEARM, FIREARMS, "JONCLEPE A LORIENT" |
Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
24 Feb 2004 07:54 PST
Dear lambro-ga;
GREAT NEWS!
As I said, my theory was merely a theory, which may or may not be
applicable to your weapon. Interestingly however, since my last post I
have received two different responses ? neither of whom knew that I
contacted the other ? who indicated that the pistol is from a much
earlier period that the Napoleonic period, possibly from the late
1600?s to early 1700?s as opposed to the much later 1790?s as I
suspected. I was right on the money though with the style in that the
professionals I spoke to agreed that it is most likely a French Naval
handgun. In fact, one even went so far as to identify it as a French
Cassagnard Pistol, which is, in effect, a French Naval Police Pistol.
He said, ?Most of these pistols have an eagle head butt cap and are
all brass mounted including the barrel. This pistol seems to be
earlier than the Napoleonic era because of the butt cap.?
About my theory and the ship L'Orient, he said, ?Usually the names
with an image are the makers name and city? thus implying that a much
earlier manufacturer created the weapon, engraving it "JONCLEPE a
LORIENT" indicative of his name or business name "JONCLEPE? and a
reference to where the gun was manufactured, ?LORIENT, FRANCE"
(Lorient was established as a port town during the 17th century to
serve the French East India Company and was later developed as a naval
base by Napoleon I). The professional looking at images of the piece
presumes that the bow and arrow mark are the trademark of his
gunsmithery or foundry rather than a family crest.
I obtained the majority of this information from ?Jess? who
specializes in antique firearms, flintlocks and muskets, at:
The Rifle Shoppe
18420 E. Hefner Rd.
Jones, OK 73049
405-396-2583
405-396-8450 FAX
http://www.therifleshoppe.com/
?with some brief input from WATSON?S FINE ANTIQUES:
http://www.adrax.com/watsons/wantiques.htm
You can contact with of these places to inquire about an appraisal and
if they cannot provide you with one they may be able to direct you to
someone who can do it. In addition, I?ve had some personal experience
in obtaining an ?informal? identification and appraisal of my own
early 17th Century firearm from the Ralph Foster Museum and I was
quite pleased with the results. It didn?t provide me with a
certificate of authenticity or value but it did steer me in the right
direction for a future formal appraisal and more importantly it
satisfied my curiosity and confirmed that what I had was quite
valuable indeed. You can contact them here:
RALPH FOSTER MUSEUM
College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, Missouri
(417) 334-6411 ext 3407
http://www.rfostermuseum.com/
museum@cofo.edu
Other potential sources for appraisals are many, but here are a few
that I found for you in various parts of the world:
Goodman, Wesson and Associates Firearm Appraisal and Gun Collection
Service and Sales- For a free and confidential consultation, call
920.450.0723
http://www.antiqueguns.biz/
Email: antiqueguns@aol.com
Le Hussard, Located in France, dealer in original antiques arms.
http://www.lehussard.fr/english/
Kristopher Gasior and Kasia Matuszewska-Gasior
P.O. Box 8327 Fredericksburg, VA 22404-8327 USA
Phone/FAX# (540) 374-8124
http://www.collectiblefirearms.com/
Kristopher@CollectibleFirearms.com
Greg Martin Auctions, auction and appraisal specialists of fine arms
and armor, located in San Francisco California, Brussels Belgium and
London England.
Greg Martin Auctions
660 Third Street, Suite 100
San Francisco, California 94107
Phone: (800) 509-1988
Phone: (415) 537-3800
Fax (415) 543-7576
http://gmartin-auctions.com/contactinfo.html
So, suffice it to say that while my theory may not be totally accurate
as far as the ship L?Orient, you still may in fact have something
quite collectible on your hands. I hope you are as pleased with this
new revelation as I am.
Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
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