Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman, and many others, are in this book “Liège Gunmakers through their Work. 1800 - 1950”.
For more detail see: LIEGE GUNMAKERS
Malherbe Dieudonné
This is a
gun intended for the French Navy, called a ship’s gun, model 1786. Its
particularity is that it was made not in Tulle, which produced many of them, but
in Liège, probably by Dieudonné Malherbe (1750-1827). “He was a foundry master
at Trooz and other cannon smithies, and during the period of the Imperial Liege
he embarked on the arms trade, where his family was to become famous for three
quarters of a century. “ (Cinq Siècles d'Armurerie Liégeoise de Claude Gaier - p.134).
We can
meet Malherbe known as Goffontaine or Malherbe de Goffontaine Dieudonné.
Hats off
to the team member who made the connection between D Mbe in Liège that we see on
the lock and Dieudonné Malherbe...
Equally
extraordinary is the fact that an identical gun was spotted by Jean Boudriot
(1921-2015). He mentions this in an article in the Arms Gazette of October 1979,
page 18. He did not mention it in his article, but he published three small
black and white photos, with the following caption: “I noticed, in the archives
of the Artillery, that Tulle sent a model of a 1786 onboard pistol to Liège in
the year XII. However, there is in M. Oudart’s collection a 1786 pistol made in
Liège. Here are some pictures, but I can’t tell you more. This weapon is
unquestionably good and I would like to draw your attention to the engraving of
the barrel”. In this case, the anchor and the words “on-board pistol”, identical
in all respects to the model shown here.
The
coincidence is striking.
The lock
is here “original” 1786, not An XIII, of which Tulle made 257 pairs in 1806,
again according to Jean Boudriot.
Unfortunately, I did not find anything on the collection of this Monsieur Oudart
quoted by Jean Boudriot.
The
quality of the 1979 W/B photos does not allow us to say if it is the same
weapon.
GP with the help of HPH
