Left to right: naval knife (1730-40), hunting pouch
(1798-1809), pair of pistols (1810) and sable (1809).
The State Hermitage has one of the best collections of antique weaponry in the world and includes several thousand examples of first class works by both Russian and foreign craftsmen.
Only a small percentage of these weapons can be accommodated in a standing exhibit. But the museum frequently organizes thematic displays in temporary exhibitions, diverse in character and designed to show the public the extent and breadth of the Hermitage's vast arsenal.
The museum's latest exhibition of this kind -- "The Art of Paris Weaponry" -- which opened in the Knights' Hall on July 25, presents more than 80 creations by craftsmen at France's leading weapon manufacturing centers in the 18th and 19th centuries. All of the pieces shown are superb examples of the period and demonstrate a high level of skill and artistry.
On show are a fabulous collection of cold parade weapons: elaborate and beautifully decorated swords, knives and daggers, ornate and richly decorated hunting weapons and exquisite firearms.
These Paris-made artifacts were the best examples of weaponry that Europe had to offer and were famed throughout the Western world.
The different types of French weaponry in the Hermitage's collection came from various sources. The backbone of the collection originated from the personal arsenal belonging to Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich -- the future Russian Emperor Nicholas I.
In the first quarter of the 19th century this collection was placed in the Anichkov Palace in St Petersburg before being moved to a specially constructed armoury in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo in 1830. Then in the 1840s the collection was moved to the Emperor's private museum attached to the Winter Palace -- the Hermitage.
The most significant pieces in the Hermitage were added after the October Revolution when private collections of weapons and other art works were "nationalized" and added to the overall collection alongside pieces from other museums.
And then in 1919 the superb collection of French weaponry which belonged to the Duke of Leichtenbergsky was added to the total. This collection had belonged to one of Napoleon's illegitimate sons -- Eugene de Bogarne. During the 1930s the arms collection which had belonged to Count Sheremetev was expropriated and includes many fine French rifles and pistols crafted in the best Paris workshops.
Since then the Hermitage's arsenal has grown and grown largely through purchases by the museum of French arms on the open market.
The period of the 18th and 19th centuries in France was particularly rich in the history of weaponry art. The main reason was the significant jump in military technology made at this time by all the leading Western European states.
Many types of defensive weaponry, apart from the helmet, became obsolete and the once staple pike was relegated to ceremonial use and the guardsmen posted outside royal residences.
The large arbalest crossbow diminished in military importance, but the crossbows found a new lease of life in the aristocrat's favorite pastime -- hunting poultry. Even handheld swords lost their importance with the ever increasing use of firearms.
Various masters decorated their cold and firearms according to current fashions and styles. Thus we see weapons richly decorated with baroque, rococo and later classical motifs, these styles reflecting the changing nature of the French state.
The French Revolution, Napoleon's rise to power and a spate of European wars demanded an ever-increasing army and a flourishing arms industry to equip it with a vast quantity of high quality weaponry.
The Emperor Napoleon more than anyone else inspired this trend and he placed especial emphasis not only on military weapons but also on "toy" weapons which were exquisite in their detail and richness. The Emperor viewed them as a suitable form of award and reward for services to the state. Often intricate and valuable weapons inlaid with precious gems and fashioned from gold and silver were given as diplomatic gifts and were probably never expected to be used.
The Napoleonic era was responsible for the creation of many splendid creations -- true masterpieces which help portray and bring to life this colorful epoch in France's history. In Paris there were three outstanding weapons craftsmen: Nicholas-Noel Boutet, Jean Le Page and Martin Biennais.
Biennais belonged among the most talented jewellery makers of his time, he contributed to the creation of Napoleon's coronation regalia and crown and designed several of his coronation swords.
The two others, Boutet and Le Page, were hereditary Paris weapon manufacturers. Their weapons were famous enough in Europe that even the writer Pushkin mentions Le Page who was a master craftsman when it came to dueling pistols which were eagerly bought in Russia.
Describing the duel between Lensky and Onegin, a verse of Pushkin's epic poem goes: "he orders his servant to carry behind him fatal pistols Le Page."
The Napoleon epoch became a milestone in the history of French weapon art. After that the arms industry developed in European nations with an increasing shift towards mass production.
From then on artistic weapons were manufactured mainly for show, to grace the walls of aristocratic drawing rooms and fill precious mahogany glass cabinets. Or they were used for ceremonial purposes in parades, for hunting and domestic use.
Domestic use meant the obligatory set of pistols kept locked away in case of a duel or when traveling Europe's highwaymen ridden roads. Made-to-order, each individually decorated example you see in this exhibition is unique and not repeated.