Object details

Object number

M11s2

Creator(s)

Workshop of Cominazzo Family (active Gardone Val Trompia, 17th century)

Title

Flintlock Pistol

Date

about 1650-1675

Medium

Incised steel

Dimensions

48.3 cm (19 in.)

Signatures, inscriptions, and markings

Inscribed (the top rear end of the barrel): LAZZARINO COMINAZZO (maker's mark)
Inscribed (side beneath the flash pan): Andrea Medicin (likely a maker's mark for Andrea Medicina)

Provenance

Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner's husband, John L. Gardner, Jr. (1837-1898), from the art dealer Vincenzo Barone, Naples for 200 lire on 23 October 1897.

Commentary

Isabella Gardner kept this object in the drawer of a commode in the Macknight Room. It has never been published, likely because of its hidden gallery location. Today safely kept in collections storage, this object was examined by museum and consulting conservators. They noticed surface corrosion, evidence of gunpowder, suggesting that this pistol was at one time fired—whether by a baroque aristocrat or a Boston lady is yet unknown....
Christopher T. Richards. "Collection Section." Staff Newsletter (Dec. 2014).

Gallery

Macknight Room

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