France, Reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715). Rare... Lot 36

France, Reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715). Rare pertuisan of the bodyguard of the King's Household. All metal parts with small gray patina. Blade with two cutting edges and a strong middle edge. The base composed of two symmetrical fins with two curved fangs, one up and the other down. It is engraved with the arms of France on one side, and the arms of Navarre on the other side. The base of one of the fins is punched vertically with the mark of the blacksmith "C. Gounod". The socket has a bead and then eight sides ending in two long splints in the extension of the cutting edges, 33.7 cm long for a constant width of about one cm. The socket is engraved with the line "LOUIS BECNICOURT" on one side, and "LA CHACE ROUIEALE" on the opposite side. It is pierced with two holes for the fixing of the stops, which, here, disappeared. The braces, inlaid in the wood of the shaft, are each pierced with four holes and fixed with small nails. Round staff, in blackened ash, with an iron shoe at its lower end, shaped like an octagonal die. Total L. 246,5 cm - L. of iron with splints 90,5 cm. H. total of the iron at the base of the socket 57 cm (46 cm without the socket). L. of the iron with the auricles 16,5 cm - H. of the socket without the splints 10,5 cm. (small accidents of use and patina of time, to clean, good state of conservation). Provenance : Discovered in succession, never in collection before. Note : the pertuisanes appear in the last years of the reign of Louis XIII then disappear in the first years of the reign of Louis XVI. These arms of the King's Household will hardly undergo any modification and will remain practically in their original dispositions throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Their longevity in service suggests that a number of pieces introduced under Louis XIV were still in use under Louis XVI. The pertuisane presented equipped the guards of the door or the provost of the hotel, but also the hundred Swiss, when they were in small clothes, for the morning service or during the absences of the King. The mark of the maker "Louis BECNICOURT" at the sign of the "Chace Rouieale" on the casing, corresponds to the productions carried out at the time of the installation of the court in Versailles, between 1660 and 1680, which enables us to date this pertuisane easily. Several similar pertuisanes, two of which are in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, have the same markings, as well as another, Ader sale of 10.10.2018 - Malatier Collection - lot N°178. Reference : Ariès " Armes blanches militaires françaises ", fascicule n° XVII (3rd).