First look at golden gun and diamond encrusted revolver at Leeds' Royal Armouries museum

As part of the Royal Armouries’ “Re:Loaded” exhibition, which opens this weekend, people in the city will get to see these rare “art guns”.

There are 40 head-turning weapons including a golden AK-47 which was found in a royal palace in Iraq and is understood to be gifted by Saddam Hussein and his sons to people they wanted to influence.

There’s also a diamond encrusted, gold and platinum encased Smith and Wesson revolver with over 900 jewels.

Visitors will be impressed by the art deco Baby Browning pistol that forms part of the show.

And there’s also two stunning pieces by artist Bran Symondson-Baxter on display. The special forces veteran, photo-journalist, artist and peace campaigner has loaned the museum two decommissioned AK-47 rifles decorated with butterflies and Love Hearts sweets – highlighting the differences between the stark reality of war and life.

It’s a new direction for the Royal Armouries, as it presses forward with multi-million pound plans to evolve under the new leadership of Nat Edwards.

Mr Edwards, Director General and Master of the Armouries, said: “This is a limited time opportunity to get a rare viewing of some of our most highly decorated, stunning and rare pieces. This is not about the glorification of guns, but the power they hold – not just literally, but in a cultural sense too.

“Some of these arms symbolise power and wealth, others promote diplomacy and peace. We want to provoke thoughts and conversations around this subject and these objects, which are both beautiful and deadly – much like our wider collection. We must learn from the past as we shape the future, so this provocative show will really get people thinking. We’re ultimately asking why people decorate something so deadly.

“Having Bran’s works here adds something special to the exhibition which is as much art as it is weapons, in keeping with his amazing work. In a wider sense, we want to open up the Royal Armouries to a bigger audience and that means opening up our collection, some of which has never been on public display before like the golden rifle and Baby Browning.”

The exhibition also examines whether deadly weapons can be disarmed through transforming them into works of art, like Bran’s.

Mr Symondson-Baxter said: “It’s a personal honour to have two of my artworks featured in the Re: Loaded exhibition at the Royal Armouries. I use decommissioned AK-47s from active war zones as a canvas to explore themes of conflict, violence and the fragility of the natural world.

“One is embellished with butterflies, and the other is covered with Love Heart sweets, with the messaging on the sweets changed to match the narrative of the artwork.

“The juxtaposition of the objects comes from my own experiences in a conflict zone, and I wanted to flip the meaning of the instantly recognisable AK-47 weapon, and turn it from a thing of brutality into a thing of beauty.”

This new show will be open for six months and forms part of the Leeds 2023 programme of cultural events across the city.