Double rifle with fulminate pellet
The inscriptions on the lock and on the barrels of this weapon indicate its prestigious origin: made by Joseph Contriner in Vienna, it belonged to Joachim Murat (1767-1815), brother-in-law of Napoleon I through his marriage to Caroline Bonaparte, marshal of the Empire and King of Naples. From the estate of Princess Cécile Murat, born Ney d'Elchingen, this rifle entered the collections of the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in 1968.
It presents a sober decoration, carved (lion's head on the wooden frame) and engraved (scene of wild boar hunting on the trim). This object has a percussion mechanism: invented in the 19th century, this system replaces the primer powder by mercury fulminate, which has the property of exploding at the slightest shock.
