Combination Hunting Dagger and Double-Barrel Percussion Pistol, Sheath, and Belt of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico
1864/67
Joseph-Célestin Dumonthier France, Paris, active 1850–1900
Paris
In 1840 the Parisian gunsmith Dumonthier patented his popular hunting knife with double pistols. This weapon artfully combines two percussion pistols with a knife. The hunter used it to deal the final coup de grace, or mercy blow, to the wounded game.
The crowned monogram engraved over the silver-gilt belt buckle has been identified as belonging to Maximilian, the short-lived Habsburg Emperor of Mexico. The monarch apparently practiced the European court tradition of hunting in Central America.
Steel, brass, silver, gilding, leather, silk velvet, and silver-gilt thread