In the 1790s the hunting of dangerous game in India, tigers in particular, became popular with the wealthy and powerful British men who were in the upper levels of the British East India Company. The hunts were often conducted from the backs of elephants that were ridden by the hunter and his guides, who were carried in a Howdah. The howdah was “chair” that was attached to the elephant’s back and was often almost a small dwelling with low walls, a canopied top and often accommodating as many as four people. The use of the howdah upon war elephants has been documented to as early as about 300 BCE in the southeast Asian Mauryan Empire where the howdah platform was often used to deploy archers. By the 2^nd Century BCE the use of the howdah on war elephants was relatively common with the Macedonian Army. By the time that the British East India Company had come to control the majority of India during the third quarter of the 18^th century the howdah had become a well-entrenched part of the pargetry of Indian royalty and had been for nearly 2,000 years. 

The guns used to hunt the dangerous game of the sub-continent and in Africa during the late 18^th through the mid-19^thcentury tended to be some of the largest and most powerful muzzleloading arms that could be conveniently carried in the field. Initially flintlock ignition arms, by the 1830s percussion guns had become preeminent, and would be until the introduction of breechloading metallic cartridge arms during the latter part of the third quarter of the 19^th century. For dangerous game hunter, the English 4-Bore double rifle was probably the most popular. These massive guns had nominally 1” diameter bores and as the “4-Bore” designation implies, fired a round lead ball that was a quarter of a pound in weight. The English bore system referred to caliber by the number of round balls of that diameter that could be cast from a pound of lead, thus a “4-Bore” ball was 4 ounces. If propelled at only a nominal velocity of 1200 feet per second, that massive ball could deliver a devastating 5,500 foot-pounds of muzzle energy, more than enough to bring even an elephant to its knees. In addition to the powerful hunting rifle, the hunter typically carried a Howdah Pistol or pistols for emergencies, particularly for when a tiger decided to attack the howdah and the people inside of it. Even in a pistol that only propelled a 4-bore ball at 800 feet per second, it would still deliver roughly 2,500 foot-pounds of muzzle energy and would likely make even the most vicious tiger reconsider its decision about what was for dinner that night.

Offered here are a wonderful pair of Percussion Howdah Pistols by Devisme of Paris. They are single shot percussion, smoothbore 4-bore pistols with short and handy 3” barrels. The guns are nominally 8” in overall length with color case hardened locks and hammers, richly blued triggers and triggerguards and patterned blued barrels that are streaked to give the appearance of Damascus patterning in the metal. The barrels of the guns are engraved

DEVISME A PARIS

but the guns are otherwise unmarked.

The firearms produced by Louis-François Devisme of Paris are among the some of the most highly sought after and desirable arms manufactured in France during the mid-19^th century. His story is shrouded in confusion and conjecture due to the fact that little quality writing has been done about him and his story in English. Additionally, the fact that his father F.P. Devisme also worked in the firearms trade in Paris circa 1834-1859 (Stockel) adds to the confusion. In some cases, the works of the father and son are conflated, and work credited to LF Devisme was actually that of his father, FP Devisme. Even the dates often cited for Louis-François’ birth and death appear to have been those of his father.

Wading through the tangle of the misinformation and factual errors has been difficult and any errors or inaccuracies herein are the result of my inability to fully divine the facts. Even a detailed search of available records for France on Ancestry.com did not do much to clarify the situation. F.P. Devisme, the apparent father of Louis-François, appears to have been born in France somewhere between 1804-1806. As can best be discerned by wading through Heer der Neue Stockel and other sources, FP worked with the Parisian gunsmith Deboubert who worked in Paris at 16 Rue du Helder circa 1812-1830. In 1820 Deboubert received a French patent for primers. Circa 1834 FP succeeded to the business of Deboubert working at 12 Rue du Helder. He first exhibited firearms at the 1834 Paris Exhibition of Industry and received silver medals for his designs in 1839 and 1841. These achievements are often incorrectly attributed to Louis-François Devisme. In their groundbreaking work The Revolver 1818-1865 Taylerson, Andrews & Frith note that Devisme was referenced during the period as being one of the fathers of revolver design. They reference John Deane’s 1858 treatise Manual of the History and Science of Firearms, where Devisme is mentioned as having been producing “conventional revolvers” prior to 1851. They further note that Deane’s work was essentially a plagiarized version of the 1855 Notice sur les Pistolets Tournants et Roulants by T Anquetil. In both cases the primary purposes of the writings were to cast doubt upon Colt’s claim to have introduced the first “mechanically rotated revolver.” It is not clear how many years prior to 1851 these Devisme revolvers were being produced, nor what form them may have taken. Interestingly the authors assume the period reference is to Louis-François, but as we can see from the timeline it seems equally possible that that these pre-1851 Devisme revolver designs were the work of his father. At least one reference notes that Devisme was producing a double action revolver circa 1834. If this is correct, it would almost certainly be the work of the elder Devisme and it would also pre-date Colt’s Paterson design or at least be contemporary with his early design work.

In 1850 FP Devisme relocated to 36 Boulevard des Italiens. Ironically today a Chinese restaurant is located at FP Devisme’s original location, and a Burger King is located at his subsequent location. Circa 1850 Louis-François appears to have joined his father in the family gunmaking business, concurrent with the relocation to their new location. Almost immediately the Devisme’s received a medal at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition in London for the firearms that they displayed there. It is likely that Samuel Colt first became aware of LF Devisme’s work at The Crystal Palace Exhibition and Colt was apparently impressed enough that he acquired one of Devisme’s percussion revolvers, in unfinished form, for the Colt firearms collection. The pocket-sized percussion revolver of about .28 caliber is well documented in Colt company records, and Devisme revolver serial #1485 no doubt served as a study piece for Colt and his engineers. LF Devisme would receive additional medals and awards for his firearms designs in 1855, 1862 and 1867. He received his first patent in 1854, for a percussion revolver, which he also registered in Belgium. He received additional firearms design patents in February of 1855, April of 1856, March of 1857, June and December of 1858 and January, May, and December of 1859. Stockel also lists a metallic cartridge revolver patent in 1866, but LF Devisme was producing metallic cartridge revolvers based upon his 1854,1855 and 1858 patents nearly a decade prior to that. In 1858 Englishman R.A. Brooman registered a British patent that was “a communication from L.F. Devisme” as patent number 2990/1858 that protected LF Devisme’s design for a hinged frame single action breechloading revolver.

Devisme manufactured a wide array of firearms from sporting arms like rifles and shotguns to innovative revolvers, single shot pistols and even a “Flobert” type parlor pistol. He introduced a very advanced centerfire revolver circa 1858-59, based upon his earlier percussion design and in doing so manufactured one of the first “striker fired” handguns, a concept which is the mainstay of many modern handgun designs offered today. This design allowed for a very low bore axis in the hand, and this meant that the revolver pointed very naturally, was inherently quite accurate and had less felt recoil than other period designs. 

In many ways Devisme’s innovative firearms designs were only the canvas upon which he executed his artistry. Exquisitely engraved examples of Devisme firearms are known, often mounted with silver, with chased patterns and deep relief engraving. Devisme’s aesthetic talent rivaled that of the leading French firearms maker of the several decades earlier, Nicholas Noel Boutet. For all practical purposes, Devisme became the “Boutet” of the latter part of the 19^th century. Ironically, Boutet died in 1833, only one year before FP Devisme burst onto the firearms scene with his honorable mention medal at the 1834 Paris Exhibition of Industry. 

LF Devisme’s first firearms patent was received in 1854 for a rather unique percussion revolver, and he received several additional French firearms patents between 1855 and 1869, culminating with his rather advanced cartridge revolvers. Devisme’s reputation for excellent skill and artistry made his arms highly sought after by the luminaries of his time and have made them equally sought after by the most discriminating collectors of the modern era as well. His quality and artistry resulted in Devisme arms being acquired by the leading monarchs of era, including Queen Victoria, and her consort Prince Albert of England, King Louis-Philippe of France as well as numerous members of the Russian royal household. Some of Devisme’s most famous clients of the era were Confederate leaders, including Generals John Bell Hood, J.E.B. Stuart, and Robert E. Lee, not to mention Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Hood, Stuart, and Lee all owned Devisme produced swords, while Davis owned one of Devisme’s high-grade large bore percussion big game stalking rifles, which was captured, along with Davis and his entourage, in Irwinville, GA on May 10, 1865, by elements of the 1^st Wisconsin and 4^th Michigan Cavalry. In modern times, Devisme’s arms have graced some of the most renowned firearms collections in the world, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the finest collection of high-grade arms ever assembled, that of the late King Farouk of Egypt.

These pistols could as easily have been produced by either Devisme the elder or the younger but based upon the style of barrel marking and the form of the hammers, I feel these guns were likely the work of LF Devisme, the same Devisme who created extremely advanced revolvers during the mid-19^th century and the fine arms owned by so many of the American Civil War’s southern luminaries.

The Pair of Devisme Howdah Pistols remain in exceptional condition and show little if any actual use. The guns retain about 90% of their patterned blued finish on the barrels with some thinning, fading and minor wear, along with some scattered light surface oxidation. The receiver tangs, lock area and hammers retain about 70% vivid case coloring with the balance of the casehardened metal having dulled and faded to a brownish gray patina. The pistols are constructed with spanner or “bun nut” screws to retain the hammers, a feature that is often found on British arms intended for service in India. These screws are elegantly engraved and are really the embellishments found on these guns. They are simply the finest quality and made for the most grave of extremes, but beyond the exceptional fit and finish in their production and fine checkering of their stocks, there was no effort wasted to decorate the guns. The pistols both function flawlessly, and their locks remain tight and crisp. The percussion cones (nipples) are crisp as well. The bores of the pistols are very fine, bright and crisp with some scattered light oxidation but no pitting or wear. The stocks show some scattered minor bumps, dings and handling marks, but retain wonderful crisp checkering and have not been sanded or refinished. One pistol shows a minor grain crack on the reverse, about .35” in length, running from the rear of the barrel downward. Interestingly one of the pistols is checkered at a finer rate than the other, as if one was intentionally checkered with much longer diamonds than the other. Both are checkered at nominally 15 lines per inch vertically, from the top to the bottom of the grip. However, one is checkered at about 6 lines per inch horizontally with much longer sides to the diamonds, while the other is more like 12 lines per inch horizontally.

The pistols were almost certainly cased when they were originally produced and are accompanied by two accessories from that casing. The first is the heavy walnut loading rod, which is nominally 4” in length with a .93” diameter loading rod and a 1.5” diameter, .85” thick head to allow a good purchase when pushing the ball home in the barrel. The steel wad cutter is also included, which is sized to cut a 1.07” wad, perfectly fitting the 1.07” bores. Both accessories are in FINE condition and show only some minor handling marks and good age.

Overall, these are a really impressive and simply stunning pair of mid-19^th century Percussion Howdah Pistols by one of the greatest gunmakers of the period, Louis-François Devisme. The guns are wonderful condition with lots of finish and crisp stocks and are truly beautiful in the quality and simplicity of their construction. This impressive pair would be an outstanding addition to any collection of big game guns, a collection of mid-19^th century sporting arms or a collection of Devisme firearms. I doubt you will ever have a chance to own another set like this and I am extremely confident that you will be exceptionally pleased with these guns when you add them to your collection.

SOLD