FRANCE, seconde moitié du XVIIIème siècle CALLET et Compagnie. Pair of Marine officer's pistols with large "sea dog heads". Signed, flat-bodied flintlock brass locks with swan-necked hammers. Cutaway barrels engraved with flowers and dots, formerly gilded, then round towards the muzzle. Smooth. Caliber: 15 mm. Brass sights. Reverse of barrels marked "I.I. Blachon" near a fleur-de-lys and CN hallmark under crown. Long walnut shafts carved with teardrops and thunderbolts. Cut-out brass fittings engraved with fillets: chased "dogfish head" pommels forming a stunner. Horn ramrods with brass tips and reversible iron barrel puller. Barrel length: 21.5 or 21.7 cm - Overall length: 35.5 or 35.8 cm. Scratches and bumps from use; a few cracks, rubs and small chips to the wood; wood missing between the barrels and locks; a few chips to the ramrods; a few spots of oxidation; small crack on the side of one hammer's jaw. CALLET et Compagnie, harquebusiers in Saint Étienne, in the 18th century. This I.I. BLACHON must belong to the dynasty of harquebusiers or cannoneers of this surname active in Saint-Etienne throughout the 18th century. The "chien de mer" pommels are similar to those produced by the CASSAIGNARD harquebusiers of Nantes.