Pair of Flintlock Pistols of Empress Catherine the great, 1786

Johan Adolph Grecke (Russian, recorded 1755–90)

Russian (Saint Petersburg)
Steel, ivory, gold, and brass
These pistols are part of a deluxe garniture of ivory-stocked hunting arms made for Empress Catherine the Great (r. 1762–96), whose initial (E for Ekaterine) is on the escutcheons (the grips). The garniture, which originally consisted of these pistols, a fowling piece dated 1786 (National Museum, Warsaw), and a rifle (whereabouts unknown), was later given to her favorite, Prince Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski (1732–1798), whom she backed as king of Poland (r. 1764–95). Firearms with ivory stocks, generally out of fashion in western Europe by the eighteenth century, became a favorite in the ostentatious Russian court during the last quarter of the century. Source:Johan Adolph Grecke: Pair of flintlock pistols of Empress Catherine the Great (1986.265.1,2) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art