BY FRANCISCO TARGARONA, MADRID, DATED '1792'

The position of Arcabucero de Su Majestad was created during the reign of Felipe II (1527-98) and by the mid-18th century was occupied by four permanent royal gunsmiths with three named honorary gunsmiths waiting in reserve to fill the permanent positions. Upon the death of one of the four royal gunsmiths Francisco Targarona, a pupil of former royal gunsmith Francisco López, was named by Carlos IV as Arcabucero de Su Majestad on 27th October 1792, the year in which this pistol was made. Targarona joined Diego Alvarez, Juan de Soto and Isidro Soler in the Reales Caballerizas with his fellow apprentice, Gregorio López, joining him in 1802 upon the death of Alvarez. Within a few years the Spanish royal household was plunged into turmoil with the outbreak of the War of Independence (Peninsular War, 1808-14) that witnessed the semi-voluntary exile of the king and crown prince, the French occupation of Madrid, and Joseph Bonaparte being placed on the Spanish throne as King Joseph I. Patriotic royal servants suffered greatly during this six year period with Soler being the sole survivor of the four royal gunsmiths, the exact fate of Targarona is unknown beyond that he died "during the revolution"

The Madrid lock, or lock a la moda, was a French influenced development of the traditional Spanish miquelet or patilla lock which became popular following the arrival of Felipe V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, in 1701. In appearance this new lock very closely resembled the contemporary French flintlock mechanism, externally distinguished from the French model by the protruding sear heads with corresponding projections on the cock although the present example retains the tradition Spanish miquelet-type jaws and screw. The stock and particularly the mounts of the present pistol share the very strong French design influence whilst the barrel remains of traditional Spanish form