Originally Posted By: gunmaker
How does one determine value on these French guns? I have a Pidault 12g a SxS Sidelock or box lock with false plates that will be here in a few days. Research hasn't shown anything. I'll know more about it when it gets here.


The value is going to be a summation of the individual component for the most part. For Pidualt, chase C.H. Houllier -Blanchard à Paris, which was F.R.(?) Houllier-Blanchard & C.H.,Robert(Charles Robert) à Paris and later Houllier-Blanchard-Pidulat(arquebusier Houllier Blanchard Pidulat or Maison Houllier-Blanchard, Arquebusier à Paris, Ch. Pidault Successeur ) . For now I'm not sure of the time-line & who married whom.

"Charles Hypolite Houllier (1811-1871) was born into a family of Liège gunmakers. He moved to Paris, and in 1837 married Lucrèce Blanchard, daughter of a Parisian gunmaker. After the marriage the firm took the name Houllier-Blanchard and traded at 36 rue de Cléry. The firm was awarded medals at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the International Exhibition of 1862, both in London, and the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867"

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse