Pistols with ivory mount
These pistols with an ivory mount were a speciality of Maastricht and the areas around it in the period between 1650–1675. These luxury weapons are the work of master gunsmiths, skilful iron workers and cross-makers who carve a precious material, ivory, that comes from the East via the Dutch trading posts. These pistols are characterised by handles that are most often sculpted in the form of human heads: ancient warriors (as in this case), heroes crowned with laurels, Turks, etc. The artists behind these sculptures are still unknown. The gun locks are often signed. However, these pistols bear no markings. They are attributed, with no formal proof, to Léonard Cleuter, a Maastricht-born gunsmith based in Liège who would end his days as a mercenary leader.
