HUNTING OR BOOT RIFLE BY BOUTET, DIRECTOR OF THE VERSAILLES FACTORY, CONSULATE - FIRST EMPIRE PERIOD Silver rifled barrel with sights, patinated with gold fillets and signed "BOUTET DIRECTEUR ARTISTE" "MANUFACTURE A VERSAILLES" (wear). Engraved thunderbolt with gold remnants and hallmarked including Boutet and Leclerc (gunner), with rear sight. Engraved breech tail. Lock signed "Manufre à Versailles" and swan neck hammer with flat bodies engraved with friezes and foliage. Spark arresting pan. Chased spring. Trigger with sensitivity screw. Cut steel fittings engraved with flowers and foliage. Front of trigger guard in the form of a flaming urn supported by two goats' heads. Back plate engraved with an owl and a garland of flowers. The cheek stock is carved with a rosette, part of which is finely chequered. All the screws are guilloché. The ramrod entrance is decorated with two masks of a man and foliage. Wooden ramrod with brass tip. Calibre: 16 mm Length : 92 cm B.E. (Oxidation stains on the barrel). Provenance : Former Napoleonic collection of the Prince's Palace of Monaco (2nd sale, lot 135) An hunting or boot flint rifle from the Consulate Period, by Boutet, Imperial manufactory Commentary: Work of the Manufacture de Versailles, directed by Nicolas-Noël Boutet, specialized during the Consulate and the Empire in the production of luxury weapons.