“These intricately decorated, the pistols were made by Nicolas-Noël Boutet, the gunsmith to Napoleon,” Christie’s Specialist Becky McGuire reveals. “In 1825, [Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de] Lafayette presented the pistols he had brought with him to another revolutionary: Simón Bolívar, who had dedicated his life to liberating six South American countries . . . These are treasures of a kind that we see really rarely. These men shared a real zeal and a commitment to their ideals, which changed the world forever; these pistols are an embodiment of that.” Uh, OK. Actually, that was more than OK for an unnamed collector . . .
who bought the guns at auction on April 13 for $1.5m — plus the buyer’s premium. So call it $1.8m. While that was the minimum price put on the pistols, the firearms join a rarified club. Only 25 firearms sold at auction have garnered between $1m and $4.5m. All of the guns have historical provenance, obviously. So if you want your matched pair of Cabot Guns 1911’s to be worth some serious bucks some day, have Fidel buy them for you, fight gloriously for your country, hang out with politicians and decline an offer to be dictator of France. Or something like that.
[h/t RB]
Very pretty. And I would shoot them immediately after purchasing them just to be a troll.
That’s not being a troll, that’s fulfilling the purpose of those beautiful guns!!!
Being a troll would be to buy them and then melt them up to make that life-size statue of cuddling kittens, mentioned here on TTAG a few days ago…! 🙂
Nice.
With everything that Bolivar accomplished in his lifetime, when did he have time to make those great Bolivar cigars?
Great…ironic that so many “liberated” S. American countries aren’t liberated as far as guns-or much else.
The irony is Bolivar did free these countries from the even worse tyranny of Spain. Unfortunately, the landholders still held onto the traditions of haciendas, the ideal plantation economy perfected by the Spanish Royals and conquistadors. The civil war can be seen as a conflict between the hacienda system and the industrial plantation systems of economics.
Wow. That’s some serious coin.
Since Rhodesia is no longer, is Bolivia the only nation named after a person?
Well there is still America.
There’s actually DOZENS. Google :countries named after people…
Dictator of france. Isn’t that job reserved for Mohammed?
Dictator of France…as opposed to every other royal a$$hole that ruled Europe with a sword? There is a reason why the USA didn’t get into his way…
And comparing him to Muhammad? Really? Napolean gave us modern Europe. Muhammad gave his followers open sewers and desperate poverty.
I meant that to imply that France, along with england and the rest of neutered europe will soon have a muslim dictator.
What would really pique my interest is the guns from the Hamilton and Burr duel. Damn!