FRENCH REVOLUTION / WEAPONS / SAINT-ÉTIENNE ARMS MANUFACTORY - Lot 260

FRENCH REVOLUTION / WEAPONS / SAINT-ÉTIENNE ARMS MANUFACTORY / COMMUNE-D'ARMES / TERROR / LOIRE. Requisition to work on weapons (front) - Placed under permanent requisition by the Agency for Hand-Firearms (back). At Commune-d’Armes [Saint-Étienne], the 15th Thermidor, Year II of the Republic [August 3, 1794]. Double-sided in-4 document, printed and completed by hand (dimensions: 28 x 26 cm), adorned with a republican vignette reading “Vaincre ou Mourir” (Conquer or Die) featuring a fasces, Phrygian caps, and cannons, and bearing a red wax seal on the front as well as a paper stamp bearing the coat of arms on the back. A valuable archival document issued in Saint-Étienne (renamed Commune-d’Armes during the Reign of Terror), conscripting citizen Louis Lambert (age 22), a rifle-maker in the commune, to be assigned to the workshops of the Arms Manufactory and exempted from deployment to the borders. Handwritten signatures on the front by Pierre Chapelle, Director of the Arms Jury. On the reverse, a detailed physical description of the young gunsmith and signatures of the Commissioner of Arms, Claude Boyer, as well as members of the District Directorate. Folds are worn with small losses (affecting a few letters), small tears, and white adhesive reinforcements.