Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman, and many others, are in this book “Liège Gunmakers through their Work. 1800 - 1950”.
For more detail see: LIEGE GUNMAKERS
Clesse Antoine
Salon pistol in caliber 6mm Flobert, marked
Mariette.
The hammer has a special mechanism that could be a kind of security.
This device prevents the dog
from retreating during the percussion, because without activating the crest it
is impossible to arm the dog.
It
is probable that this weapon was manufactured by
Mariette,
finished and marketed by
Antoine Clesse in
Mons armourier who filed several patents in Belgium.
Clesse Antoine - arquebusier
in Mons (B) is known to have filed three patents from 1860 to 1868.
Max et
Clesse Antoine
It is a
Lefaucheux hunting rifle manufactured in Liège. The two locks are of the "back"
type and the two hammers are external. The smooth barrels are juxtaposed and
have a calibre of 17.8 mm (caliber 14). The Lefaucheux two-key system is known
to be very robust and inexpensive. The system also requires less maintenance.
The weapon is double-triggered protected by a volutes bridge. The walnut butt is
shaped in the "English style" with a metallic buttplate.
The
weapon bears the regulatory stamps of the Liège proofhouse, namely:
ELG* in a
vertical oval: definitive acceptance, in use from 1846 to 1893.
R*:
countermark of the controller: in use from 1846 to 1893.
Peron
(little step) : inspection, in use from 1853 to the present day.
EL in
English letters: provisional proof, in use from 1852 to the present day.
17.8 :
caliber in mm, in use (with reserves) from 1889 to the present day.
This weapon bears around the hammers the following
mention: A. Clesse Breveté Arquebusier à Mons.
GG
The owner of this weapon tells us that besides being
an harquebusier in Mons,
Antoine Clesse
was also a songwriter, poet and humorist; and that his biography can be found on
the internet.
Clesse
Antoine
- arquebusier in MONS (B) is known to have filed three patents:
Patent
009916 of 1860/11/07 for a Closure applicable to shotguns loaded by the breech;
Patent
023676 of 1868/06/06 for a Pocket pistol system;
The
patent of improvement 024394 of 1868/10/22 for Modifications made to the pocket
pistol system (brvt ppal n° 023676 of 06/06/1868).
