65,5 smooth browned twist Damascus barrel, signed “A.P. Firmin a Paris R. de Caron Arq de l’Empereur”, brass fore-sight, octagonal breech end becoming round, engraved with the crowned initial “N” for Napoleon III, brushed bright action with T-bolt and long rotating underlever type Lefaucheux beneath the iron fore-end, engraved with bold foliate scroll, lever engraved on the inside with a dedication in Italics “A Son Altesse Imperiale” ("To His Imperial Highness"), back-action lock, rounded hammer, well grained burr walnut butt-stock with steel furniture, forged trigger guard with curl, butt-plate featuring the crowned initial “N”, LOP 29 cm, total length 100 cm. A present by the last French Emperor, Napoleon III, to his only son, the Prince Imperial, last of the Bonapartes. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808 - 1873) was the first President of the French Second Republic and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir to Napoleon I. His only son, serving in the British Army during his exile in Britain, was tragically killed in the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879 by a group of Zulu warriors. Year of manufacture before 1870, condition II-III.

Category: Antique Weapons