LONDON.- A magnificent pair of Brescian flintlock holster pistols made by Pietro Manani, circa 1660-70 will be sold at Bonhams Antique Arms and Armour sale in Knightsbridge on November 26th for an estimated £60,000 to £80,000.

The 350-year-old pistols were in the Rothschild family’s collection in Austria until 1939 when they were seized together with many other works of art by the Third Reich and stored in salt mines during the war. They were then repatriated to the Austrian state museums where they remained until 1999 when they were returned to the family.

The pistols are remarkable for the fineness of their chiselled decoration which includes bearded grotesque masks, monkeys playing cornetts and diverse monsters.

The pistols come from the collection of the Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild and were subsequently owned by Barons Louis and Alphonse von Rothschild, the children of Baron Albert von Rothschild.

Scholastic opinion differs on the length of Pietro Manani's working life (variously 1610-1720), and it is possible that there were two, father and son. Nolfo di Carpegna lists him as 'one of the most active craftsmen of his time', and records thirty-eight known examples of his work.

David Williams, Director of Bonhams Antique Arms and Armour Department, comments: “There can be few pistols with a more interesting history than these magnificent survivors of centuries. They are artistic and technological marvels of their time and remain today a window into the superb craftsmanship of the past.”

The history of the Rothschild family is only surpassed by dynasties like the Habsburgs and the Bourbons for their pan-European nature. In the family’s heyday – the mid 19th century – they were unrivalled. A painting by Jean-Marc Winckler shows 42 of the main family homes indicating the extent of their estates. And within those palaces was housed one of the greatest art collections ever assembled by one family.