The flintlock pistol from the Gatchina Palace and Estate Museum was made by the French gunsmith Laurent de La Chaise in the 1710-1730s. It is one of a pair so there is the second pistol with the same design and decoration. The barrel of the flintlock pistol is made of cast iron. All its surface is blued with the exception of the tang of the breech. At the breech end the upper half of the barrel is five-sided, while the main part of the barrel is round with a narrow flat plane on the upper side. The barrel is decorated with a stylised floral pattern inlaid with gold, with an arrangement of trumpets and a mascaron — a type of an architectural ornament in the form of a human or animal face. Around the silver front sight there is a stylised floral pattern made in the same technique and the muzzle face is adorned with an ornamental band. On the flat plane at the breech end there is an inscription inlaid with gold: ‘La Chaise A Paris’. On the bottom side of the barrel there is a mark with the letters ‘HAL’. The hammer is decorated with an engraved stylised floral pattern. The stock made of nut wood has a carved floral pattern near the tang of the breech and a carved mascaron by the lower ramrod pipe. All the surface of the stock is engraved with silver wire in the form of scrolls, curls and undulating lines. The most eye-catching element of the pistol is its silver furniture especially the dome shaped butt cap with an in relief head of a satyr in the centre. The edge of the butt cap is emphasized with images of female faces and a floral pattern. The trigger guard is decorated with in relief elements of a stylised floral pattern. The front end of the trigger guard is made in the form of a palmette — an element resembling palm tree leaves or spread fingers of a hand. It is a motif which consists of the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree spreading out from a single base flanked with two scrolls or volutes. The openwork bridle of the lock consists of an oval cartouche with a profile of a man in a laurel wreath as well as of curls with leaves and of dragon heads. The plate on the handle has an oval cartouche with a crown above it and a mascaron underneath it. The cartouche is also flanked with harpies.