We found 228188 price guide item(s) matching your search
There are 228188 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribe- List
- Grid
-
228188 item(s)/page
Lot 582C
Robinson and Leadbeater Tinted Parian Figure Group, titled `Don`t Be Greedy`, by one of the leading makers of parian figures in the 19th century, Robinson and Leadbeater, showing a young girl in Victorian dress with a large dog seated beside her, looking longingly at the biscuit in her right hand as she tries to keep him away; the pair standing on a roughly oval rocky base, with the title impressed to the front; 12 inches high; impressed R&L in a cartouche to the back, c1880
Lot 742
19th century Italian School, carved alabaster figure of child with violin and raised on ebonised column, fluted and with square base. Height of figure 31 ins, height of base 30.5 ins (see illustration). CONDITION REPORT: This statue is a little tired. The head and shoulders are in generally good order. There are slight nibbles around the top edge of the dress and around the cuffs, these are not significant. The right hand arm has been broken below the elbow and above the wrist, this has been reglued and is visible. The front two fingers are discoloured and have probably been repaired. The neck of the violin has been broken in 5 places and cracks are clearly visible. There are also some small losses here. The left hand is scuffed and has minor losses. The violin itself has been damaged around the bridge and there are other surface marks. The legs appear to be in good order as are all the toes. The base has nibbles all around the upper section of the platform and some small chips to the underside edge of the lower base.
Lot 305
R.A.F. Flight Lieutenant's Service dress jacket with cloth Navigator's Wings, together with another similar and six pairs of Service dress trousers (8). Provenance: Formerly the property of the late Flight Lieutenant Garth Hawkins R.A.F., who died in the Falklands War in the SAS Helicopter Crash which killed 21 people
Lot 508
Nazi Naval Officers' dress dagger with Eagle and Swastika pommel, orange plastic grip, with original gold bullion dress knot, etched fullered blade decorated with fouled anchors and dolphins, in brass sheath with scarce dimpled decoration CONDITION REPORT Good original condition- blade has no makers marks but is in excellent condition retaining all polish, the gilding on the mounts is very worn
Lot 153
A varied selection of Watches including a modern Smith's Pocket Watch, a gentleman's Tissot Dress Watch with Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds hand, two 1950's/60's gentlemen's Watches (minus straps), an early 20th Century silver plated cased Wristwatch with white enamel dial with Roman numerals and an early 20th Century silver cased Hunter Pocket Watch with white enamel dial (6)
Lot 59
A citrine dress ring by H Stern, circa 1960 A citrine dress ring by H Stern, circa 1960, the step cut citrine with canted corners, between textured shaped shoulders, stamped with makers mark and 750 on the shoulders, finger size M 1/2, in a H Stern blue box Condition The ring has some light wear commensurate with age and use
Lot 84
A heart shaped diamond and pink sapphire suite A heart shaped diamond and pink sapphire suite, comprising a pierced heart shaped pendant set with three oval cut pink sapphires within a surround of eight cut diamonds, 5.1cm long, suspended from a fancy link chain, stamped 750; together with a matching dress ring, stamped 750, finger size P; and a pair of matching ear studs, 1.6cm long Condition Some light wear to settings. The pink sapphires are a little lighter in the pendant than in the other items
Lot 110
A diamond set dress ring, the reeded broad band set with brilliant cut diamonds A diamond set dress ring, the reeded broad band set with brilliant cut diamonds, approximately 1 carat total, stamped HPB and 750, finger size I 1/2 Condition All diamonds present and correct, bright and lively, the ring has some wear, engraved with `Forever` inside the band
Lot 192
A GERMAN OFFICER`S DRESS SABRE IN THE EASTERN FASHION, CIRCA 1830-50 with curved blade of shamshir type inlaid with a gold counterfeit maker`s cartouche on one side, gilt-brass hilt cast in relief with pseudo-eastern patterns of rosettes, palm foliage and olive garlands in low relief on a contrasting stippled ground, the pommel carrying a knuckle-chain (detached at the base), in its original fishskin-covered wooden scabbard with large gilt-brass mounts decorated en suite with the hilt, and the locket signed by the cutler "C. Münch" 75 cm; 29½ in blade
Lot 198
A FINE GERMAN DRESS HUNTING-SWORD AND COMPANION BALDRICK (GALABANDELIER), SILVER MAKER`S MARK OF STROBLBERGER, MÜNCHEN, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY with burnished blade etched and gilt with hunting trophies and scrolls on a blued panel on both sides, German silver hilt cast in relief, including fluted shell-guard, the quillon terminals formed respectively as differing dogs` heads, the pommel en suite, staghorn grip studded with German silver acorns, and in its original leather-covered wooden scabbard also mounted in German silver, the locket with maker`s stamp (by-knife missing); together with a dress baldrick, of black patent leather bordered with patterned silver wire lace, with elaborate full German silver mounts in the manner of the German rococo revival, including pricker pendant from a large stag`s head boss cast in the round, and with the arms of the Princes Hohenlohe-Langenburg cast within a circlet bearing the motto "Ex Flammis Orior" and surmounted by a fürstenhut 51 cm; 20 in blade (2) The galabandelier would have been worn with the full dress uniform of a senior official of the Princely Hunt
Lot 201
THE SERVICE DRESS TUNIC (WAFFENROCK) OF A MAJOR IN THE 2. GARDE-DRAGONER- REGIMENT KAISERIN ALEXANDRA VON RUSSLAND, WITH BANDOLIER AND PARADE SASH, CIRCA 1900 the tunic of regimental specifications, including silver wire Garde-litzen at the collar and cuffs, rank shoulderboards with regimental cypher A crowned, provision for five rows of orders and medals, patterned silver lace loops for attaching epaulettes, blue silk lining and tailor`s label of Mohr & Speyer (minor moth damage, the lining torn); together with its regimental bandolier faced with silver lace, with silvered mounts and cartouche pouch (bandolier extensively mothed, leather pouch deteriorated, Garde star missing); and an officer`s waist sash in the Prussian colours (clasps missing) (3)
Lot 236
A PAIR OF SOUTH GERMAN LONG WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS, CIRCA 1660 each with slender tapering barrel cut over its full length with a very narrow medial rib flanked over the breech by a pair of matching short ribs, plain lock retained by three side-nails and drawn-out to a rounded tail, the wheel fitted under the lower edge of the pan and additionally retained by a single small bracket, sliding pan-cover with button release and the dog-spring bridle decorated with a pair of scallop shells chiselled in low relief, each with fruitwood full stock, carved fluted fore-end bordered at its rear by a carved pattern of narrow flutes and ribs heightened at either end by a row of pewter nails, the respective stocks carved with differing stag-hunting scenes in low relief opposite the locks and with differing sporting figures en suite behind the barrel tangs, each inlaid with mother-of-pearl rosette washers under the side-nails, the butt inlaid with pewter ropework in imitation of a short-spurred pommel and inlaid with interlaced patterns of scrolling pewter tendrils carrying varieties of engraved mother-of-pearl flowerheads, the trigger-guard, ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap all of iron, and one pistol retaining its original ramrod (the stocks each with light worm damage throughout, one stock chipped slightly on one side of the fore-end, the other chipped extensively ahead of the lock, with shrinkage about the lock and with a repaired crack at the wrist. Several inlaid plaques missing from each stock, one ramrod missing, the other incomplete) 65.5 cm; 25 ½ in (2) The carved and inlaid treatment of the stocks closely resembles the work of the stockmakers of Schwäbish-Gmund. The figural subjects appear to be inspired directly from original engravings by Jost Amman, published in his Kunstbüchlin in 1599, and are consequently shown in late 16th century dress.
Lot 252
A FINE PAIR OF BOHEMIAN FLINTLOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS BY LEOPOLD BECHER, CIRCA 1730 with sighted barrels lightly swamped towards the muzzles, signed on the ribs, the respective breeches decorated with opposing classical warrior busts chiselled in low relief within pounced recessed cartouches, together with maker`s stamps lined in gilt-copper in the Madrid style and set within raised shaped panels at the rear (Neue Støckel 38, together with a second unrecorded stamp, a dog), the barrel tangs engraved correspondingly with a further opposing pair of classical warrior busts, with bevelled locks chiselled in low relief, principally within a series of recessed panels, each decorated with a recumbent figure within a trophy-of-war and with a boar`s head hunting trophy at the rear, figured walnut full stocks carved in low relief over their lengths, decorated with complex interlaced scrollwork mouldings about the barrel tangs and behind the ramrod-pipes, full gilt-bronze mounts finely cast in relief, comprising spurred pommels decorated with figural trophies-of-war en suite with the locks, also involving pairs of demon masks and each with demon mask cap cast prominently in relief, solid side-plates decorated with landscape vignettes involving combatant horsemen in early 18th century dress, trigger-guards centring on cartouches filled with warrior busts, pairs of faceted ramrod-pipes, one pair carrying its original ramrod with gilt-bronze cap (the other ramrod associated), and escutcheons formed as rollwerk cartouches each filled with the figure of Diana the Huntress 52.1 cm; 20½ in (2) Leopold Becher, active circa 1725-50, ranks foremost among the Carlsbad school of makers of luxurious firearms and his works equal those of the best gunmakers in Vienna and Prague within the second quarter of the 18th century. In 1726 Becher was appointed court gunmaker to General Prince Johann Georg Christian Lobkowicz at Schloss Raudnitz (Roudnice). Firearms by Leopold Becher are today represented in the former Imperial Collection in Vienna, in the Danish Royal Collection and in the majority of the surviving princely and noble gunrooms of Central Europe. The inventory of the former Pfalz-Zweibrücken Gewehrkammer lists eleven pieces by Becher. See Hayward Vol 1 1963, pp.129-131; also see Schedelmann 1972, p. 220 for a listing of known works, colour plate XXIV.
Lot 260
A FINE AND VERY RARE 39-BORE NUREMBERG WHEEL-LOCK SPORTING CARBINE STOCKED BY THE "MASTER OF THE CASTLES", CIRCA 1600 with swamped octagonal sighted smooth-bored barrel struck with Nuremberg mark and the maker`s mark, a unicorn and initials, profusely etched over its length, the upper planes decorated with differing gilt panels of leaf ornament linking three elongated nodular-shaped gilt panels each filled with tiered sprays of flowers and foliage over the breech, the median and the muzzle, and all within contrasting guilloche and scrollwork borders etched in the white, flat lock struck with maker`s mark, LH over a pair of brushes (Neue Støckel 3773), decorated with etched panels of scrollwork within gilt scrollwork borders and all on a matted stippled ground, fitted with gilt-iron wheel-bracket, sliding pan-cover with button release, gilt-iron safety-catch and the dog engraved with a monster and a grotesque, fruitwood full stock veneered in ebony, very finely decorated over its full length with an inlaid series of engraved horn oval plaques all set within an elaborate framework of mother-of-pearl, the horn plaques formed as game animal vignettes over the sides of the fore-end, with female personifications of the Cardinal Virtues concentrated over the rear, involving Faith inlaid on the underside of the breech, Justice and Prudence jointly opposite the lock, Charity and Temperance jointly on the cheek-piece and Fortitude on the right-hand side of the butt, together with an espagnolette mask inlaid on upper surface of the butt and a pair of scrollwork panels enclosing medallions filled with an officer`s bust and Turk`s bust respectively either side of the barrel tang, the mother-of-pearl plaques pierced and engraved with both rollwerk and scrolling interlace patterns heightened over the rearward section with cornucopia, swags, grotesque masks, monsters` heads , fruit and flowers, the entire scheme arranged as a series of segments within engraved horn stringing and border strips, the latter decorated with differing patterns of foliage and scrolls and partly inhabited by small animals and birds, the entire inlaid scheme on a ground of incised gilt scrollwork interspersed with both natural and green-stained horn pellets and sown with engraved mother-of-pearl rosettes, the patch-box cover veneered in horn decorated with panels of spiralling foliage inhabited by exotic birds and framing the full-length figure of a Turkish archer, with horn butt-plate engraved with the figure of a caliverman in contemporary dress, moulded iron trigger-guard, and the ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap each of engraved horn (the inlay with minor losses, the ramrod missing) 57.2 cm; 22½ in barrel The stockmaker known as "The Master of the Castles" remains unidentified by name but was almost certainly working in Nuremberg. He is so-called because of the castles which feature in some of his distinctive inlaid compositions; to judge from the quantity of surviving examples it is likely that this celebrated stockmaker presided over a substantial workshop. Examples of this stockmaker`s work are preserved in a wide range of institutional collections, some including the Bargello, Florence (inv. nos. R/64 and M. 235); the de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor (inv. nos. 104 and 130-132); The Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. M 1082-1910); The Hermitage, St. Petersburg (inv. nos. 6611 and 6613); and the Princely Collections in Schloss Vaduz, Liechtenstein (inv. no. 3822). For a detailed commentary on the works of "The Master of the Castles" and for a comprehensive record of his works in public collections see Blair 1974, pp.319-322.
Lot 267
A RARE VIENNESE FLINTLOCK GARNITURE OF FIREARMS BY IOHANN ADAM GRÄZL (1), COMPRISING A PAIR OF HOLSTER PISTOLS AND A PAIR OF 21-BORE FOWLING-PIECES, CIRCA 1730 the pistols each with lightly swamped blued barrel signed in gold on the sighting rib, decorated with an engraved gold female bust within a gold scrollwork pattern inlaid over the breech, gold-lined vent, silver fore-sight (one missing), and engraved gilt-brass back-sight straddling the breech and barrel tang, bevelled lock signed "Iohann Adam Gräzl" behind the cock and inscribed "In Wienn" between the steel-spring, cut with trophies of Victory involving a Turk`s head laid before a classical warrior on a contrasting incised matted ground, and the cock and the steel decorated with an interlace of strapwork and scrolls chiselled on a pounced matted ground, figured walnut full stock carved with raised mouldings in low relief, including elaborate scrollwork patterns about the barrel tang, the trigger-guard and the ramrod-pipe, full brass mounts fire-gilt and cast in low relief, comprising spurred pommel decorated with scrollwork patterns enclosing a pair of female busts en suite with the breech and fitted with shaped domed strapwork cap decorated en suite with the cock and the steel, side-plate pierced with an interlaced pattern of strapwork scrolls and involving a sportsman at rest with his dog, the trigger-guard and ramrod-pipes decorated with palm branches and scrolls on a matted ground, the escutcheon formed as a further bust medallion within a pierced frame of scrolls and palm foliage, fitted with horn fore-end cap, and each retaining its original horn-tipped ramrod. The fowling-pieces each with blued lightly swamped long barrel of "Spanish" form, with the maker`s copper-lined stamps set within a frame of gold scrollwork, silver "spider" fore-sight, engraved barrel tangs numbered 1 & 2 respectively, bevelled lock engraved with a boar-hunting scene involving a sportsman in contemporary dress, signed "Adam Gräzl" behind the cock and inscribed "In Wienn" between the steel-spring, and the cock and the steel decorated en suite with the pistols, figured walnut half-stock carved with a series of decorative mouldings also en suite with the pistols, with fire-gilt mounts decorated with a pattern identical to the pistols, one fitted with a pierced engraved barrel band (the other missing), engraved fire-gilt trigger-plate, and moulded horn fore-end cap (ramrods missing) the pistols: 54.6 cm; 21 ½ in, the guns: 116cm; 45 5/8 in barrels (4) Garnitures of firearms including a pair of pistols are rare outside of ancestral gunrooms and institutional collections. Gräzl`s stamps inset in the Spanish fashion on the breeches of the fowling-pieces appear to be unrecorded. The first involves his name arranged in two tiers beneath a crown, spelt GRA/TZL; the second is a leaping horse.
Lot 279
A 31-BORE GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK SPORTING RIFLE, THE STOCK WITH MAKER`S INITIALS MS AND FINELY INLAID WITH HUNTING SUBJECTS AFTER JAN VAN DER STRAAT, CIRCA 1590-1600 with octagonal sighted barrel swamped at the muzzle, rifled with six grooves and the breech cut with the conjoined letters HB, flat lock struck with a shield-shaped mark, a pair of crossed pistols with three clusters of ball (similar to Neue Støckel 5733), and fitted with wheel-bracket pierced with a chamfered heart-shaped ring and sliding pan-cover with button release, fruitwood full stock profusely decorated over its entire length with finely engraved horn plaques, formed as a series of hunting subjects involving figures in contemporary dress, both mounted and on foot, including a continuous woodland frieze inhabited by hares, boar, deer and foxes all pursued by hounds along the length of the fore-end on both sides, the scene on the right-hand side also involving a camel and that on the left expanded opposite the lock to include a horseman killing a boar, the butt decorated over the full length of the underside with a series of pierced rollwerk plaques involving grotesque masks and dogs` heads, the pierced figures of a huntsman and of a falconer, birds-of-prey, and a vignette involving a hare and a galloping stallion, the upper surfaces of the butt decorated with the hunting friezes continued in two panels, one involving a lion and a bear, inlaid with an elaborate bear-hunting scene over the cheek-piece, a pair of gamebird plaques inlaid about the barrel tang and enclosing a smaller plaque engraved with the stockmaker`s initials "M.S", with patch-box cover veneered in horn and engraved with deer and a hare pursued by hounds (the rear plate missing), and the entire inlaid scheme arranged within horn segmental lines, fitted with iron trigger-guard, a horn plaque over the ramrod aperture, and this, together with the horn ramrod-pipe and the fore-end cap, engraved with scrollwork patterns en suite with the plaques at the rear borders (the butt-plate undecorated, probably replaced, the ramrod missing). 87 cm; 34¼ in barrel The inlaid hunting subjects are closely inspired by the engravings of the Flemish artist Jan van der Straat, called Stradanus (1523-1605): the horses, hounds and the other animals conspicuously so. While none of the inlaid scenes are taken directly from the engravings it is nonetheless clear that the stockmaker has adapted some of the original scenes and many of the individual engraved subjects to suit his purposes, the bear-hunting scene on the cheek-piece for example draws on an engraved scene involving the killing of a stag. The van der Straat engravings also notably included exotic beasts, specifically the bears, camels and lions present on this stock. After 1567 van der Straat executed his series of hunting-themed designs for tapestries intended for the Villa Poggio a Caiano of Cosimo I de`Medici, Grand duke of Tuscany; engravings of these were published circa 1574-76. Two further series of his hunting engravings (44 and 61 prints respectively) were first published in 1578, with subsequent editions widely circulated.
Lot 304
A VERY RARE 15-BORE NORTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK SPORTING CARBINE WITH ENCLOSED RAINPROOF MECHANISM, SIGNED LUDIVIC HENRIC, NASSAU, DATED 1633 with octagonal sighted barrel lightly swamped at the muzzle, hexagonal bore cut with six grooves, signed in Latinised form "Lvdivicvs Henricvs Comes Nassovicvs", dated "1633", struck twice with the mark MS, a clover leaf beneath (Neue Støckel 4048) and struck with a further mark, the arms of the Counts of Nassau (Neue Støckel 5509, a lion), flat lock-plate engraved over its full surface, involving a pair of male and female figures in contemporary dress embracing within a field of scrolling flowers and seated upon a slab, the latter cut with the enigmatic inscription "O:L: Was Thvs Tv Aô 1633", fitted with internal wheel , the spindle entering from the left and concealed on that side by a pivot cap disguised as a large screw-head, fitted with conventional pan closed by a domed moulded rectangular cover also forming the pyrites-holder and pivoting forwards on an internal spring, the cover fitted with a threaded adjustable lifting-peg also forming an internal clamp for the pyrites held inside, and the lifting-peg baluster-shaped and pierced for a thong, fruitwood full stock carved with a scallop shell moulding in low relief at the base of the fore-end, inlaid over its length with a series of engraved dark horn plaques, including hares pursued by hounds along both sides of the fore-end, rosettes for the barrel-pins and the side-nails, a stylised circular peacock plaque seating the spindle-cover, further game animals including a fox pursued by a hound over the butt, and the cheek-piece decorated with another pair of amorous figures as falconers on a shared mount, fitted with sliding patch-box cover veneered in engraved horn plaques, horn butt-plate with iron finial, iron trigger-guard, iron ramrod-pipe, engraved horn fore-end cap, and bone-tipped wooden ramrod (the back-sight and small pieces of inlay missing) 64.8 cm; 25½ in barrel Wheel-lock firearms built with an enclosed rainproof mechanism are very rare and the present carbine is possibly the earliest dated example. The maker is apparently unrecorded and no German or Dutch derivatives of his name are found in the published gunmaking references either. The system was developed in about 1630 and appears to have remained in vogue at least until about 1653, although merely as a luxurious novelty to judge by the prestigious but very few surviving examples. The leading exponent of the system, and perhaps its inventor, was the celebrated French clockmaker Pierre Bergier of Grenoble. In 1635/6 Bergier, in collaboration with Chabriens de Montélimar, produced two pairs of two-shot superimposed-load pistols on a variation of this system involving coiled internal mainsprings; one of these was made for Louis XIII and is preserved in the Musée de l`Armée, Paris (Inv. M 1659), the other pair was made for the Dauphin, later Louis XIV, and formerly in the collection of William Goodwin Renwick. There are two further extant pairs of pistols with wheel-locks built on this system, one by La Fonteyne a Mourgues, circa 1645 (in the Army Museum, Prague), the other by a member of the Bavarian Gsell family of Arzberg, made for Duke Julius Heinrich of Saxony and dated 1653 (Tøjhus Museum, Copenhagen). The lock mechanism of the present carbine is built on a conventional branched mainspring; the construction principles of this lock and of its spanning arrangement compare most closely with those of two French wheel-lock fowling-pieces, circa 1640, now in the Musée de l`Armée (Inv. M 405 & M 404); the first is number 103 in the 1729 inventory of the Royal Cabinet d`Armes. See Reverseau 2004, pp.100-107. A pair of wheel-lock carbines in the armoury of Carl Gustav Wrangel in Skokloster castle are struck with the barrelmaker`s identical mark, together also with the mark in the form of the arms of the Counts of Nassau. The pair, dated 1627, is attributed to an unspecified Dutch origin on the basis of inclusion of the arms of Nassau, with which the stocks are inlaid also, and of its Dutch historical provenance: see Meyerson & Langström 1984, p. 151, Cat. No. 66-7. For a survey of 17th century wheel-lock firearms with enclosed mechanisms see Hoff 1969, pp.116-120
Lot 311
AN 11-BORE BAVARIAN PRINCELY FLINTLOCK FOWLING-PIECE BY PIERRE FROMENT. A. ERLANGEN- NEUSTADT, CIRCA 1710 with sighted barrel tapering to a very lightly swamped muzzle, formed with flattened sides at the rear, a full-length sighting flat interrupted towards the breech by a scroll finely chiselled in low relief, the short rear section of the flat and the tang each finely engraved, the former decorated with the figure of a sportsman in contemporary dress after Claude Simonin and the latter decorated with flower, bevelled lock signed "Froment. a. Erlang", engraved with scrolling foliage and cut with vertical flutes at the rear, the cock engraved en suite and the head of the retaining screw chiselled as a grotesque mask (the steel missing), carved moulded figured walnut full stock originally inlaid with silver wire scrolls and small silver plaques about the barrel tang and ramrod-pipe (fore-end cracked towards the muzzle, the inlay missing), full iron mounts chiselled in low relief, comprising butt-plate decorated with a serpentine monster over the tang and with a scrollwork design involving a pair of serpents and a demon mask, the side-plate pierced with scrolling leafy tendrils issuant from a demon mask and involving small grotesques and monsters` heads, the trigger-guard also cut with a demon mask and with pierced scrollwork finials, four baluster-shaped ramrod-pipes, the rear finial cut with a mask and pierced scrollwork en suite with the trigger-guard, silver escutcheon engraved with the owner`s coat-of-arms surmounted by a crown of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and retaining its original iron-capped wooden ramrod 118.2 cm; 46½ in barrel The arms are those of Oettingen-Oettingen, created Princes of The Holy Roman Empire in 1674. The house of Oettingen-Oettingen became extinct at the death of Prince Albert Ernst II in 1731 (born 1683); thereupon the Princely line was inherited by the house of Oettingen-Wallerstein. Pierre Froment (1690-1752) and his father Charles (1657-1722), also a gunmaker, were Huguenot immigrants from Sedan in the Ardennes. They were part of a large Huguenot settlement in the Bavarian city of Erlangen-Neustadt following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
Lot 315
A 21-BORE AUSTRIAN FLINTLOCK SPORTING GUN WITH FINELY CAST GILT-BRASS MOUNTS, VIENNA OR SALZBURG, CIRCA 1730 with etched twist barrel formed with sighting flat and stepped moulded breech, silver "spider" fore-sight, bevelled lock chiselled with a two-part boar-hunting scene in low relief on a punched matted ground, the cock, its top jaw and the steel each chiselled en rocailles, carved moulded figured walnut full stock decorated en suite with rococo ornament about the barrel tang, the butt with raised cheek-piece decorated with a star formed of inlaid contrasting wood segments, carved in relief with scrolls and acanthus flourishes at both ends and about the base of the comb, with full gilt-brass mounts finely cast in low relief with a series of elaborate rococo vignettes, comprising butt-plate decorated with the figure of a lady huntress standing in contemporary hunting dress beneath an exotic baldacchino, solid side-plate decorated with a landscape vignette involving hunting dogs and shot game within a scrollwork frame suspending a demon mask, trigger-guard finial cast in the form of a further baldaccino, involving a sportsman in contemporary dress within a vignette on the bow, decorated with a demon mask on the finger-spur, and with three faceted ramrod-pipes (one side-nail, the fore-end cap and the ramrod each missing, the stock cracked about the full area surrounding the barrel tang) 96.5 cm; 38 in barrel The etched twist barrel is a fashionable legacy of the Ottoman style of barrelmaking popularised in Austria and Southern Germany by the firearms included among the booty of the Austro-Turkish Wars of 1683-99 and 1716-18. Mounts of this high quality are characteristic of the luxury firearms produced by the leading gunmakers in Vienna and Salzburg within the first half of the 18th century. The highly elaborate portrayal on the butt-plate of the figure of a lady huntress is quite possibly a reference to the Empress Amalia, consort of the Emperor Joseph I. A contemporary account of a shoot held especially for the ladies of the Viennese Court describes the Empress finely dressed and shooting from a throne at the end of a beautiful alley in her garden; see Hayward Vol. II 1963, p.119-20.
Loading...-
228188 item(s)/page