BELGIUM, CORK, CIRCA 1740-1750 Pistol d'arçon. Flintlock lock, signed "Claude NIQUET, Liège", and flat-bodied swan-neck hammer. Rounded iron bail. Round barrel, then with thunder flats, with flattened top. Brass sights. Smooth. Cal. 16 mm. Moulded walnut shaft carved with sinuous leaves and fleurons. Stock with drops at the rear of the lock plate and counter plate, and thunderbolt finial. Brass fittings, partially gilded: counterplate decorated with scrolls and chimera heads, thumbpiece with mascaron under Marquis crown, long-tailed cap with lion head and martial trophy, trigger guard adorned with medallion, engraved with fleuron falls, and chased with mascaron and fire pot, and ramrod supports underlined with fillets and small mascaron. With a later round, then polygonal, brass ramrod with bolted head. Barrel length: 23.8 cm - Overall length: 39 cm. As is; a few scratches and bumps, a crack on the hammer jaw (below, near the screw); homogeneous brown oxidation on the metal parts; front of trigger guard slightly raised; a few stains, small cracks and chips, small blockages near the ramrod pins. Claude NIQUET (1692-1764) was a harquebusier and arms dealer from Liège, active around 1725-1764.