Bonhams
Lot 277
A Highly Unusual Cased Pair Of 56-Bore Percussion Rifled Target PistolsBy James Purdey, 314½ Oxford Street, London, Nos. 1689 and 1690 for 1829With browned twist octagonal sighted barrels (some old scattered rust patination) each cut with twelve grooves, case-hardened patent breeches each with platinum line and pierced platinum plug, foliate scroll engraved case-hardened tangs numbered respectively '1' and '2' in an oval, signed border engraved case-hardened flat detented locks and dolphin hammers all decorated with foliate scrollwork, the former each with engraved safety-catch, the interior of the locks serial numbered and the working parts brightly burnished, varnished figured half-stocks each with dark horn fore-end cap, chequered rounded butts each with dark horn spur, blued trigger-guards each with applied spur and decorated with a martial trophy on the border engraved bow, case-hardened trigger-plates each with pineapple-shaped finial engraved with a scallop shell, case-hardened ovoidal butt-caps each retaining screw engraved with a flower-head centred on feathering, blued adjustable set triggers, silver barrel-bolt escutcheons, and retaining most of their original finish: in original fitted mahogany case lined in red baize with accessories including brass-mounted three-way powder-flask covered in green leather, bullet mould serial numbered to the pistols, nipple-wrench and combined mallet/cleaning rod with leather-faced head, the interior of the lid with maker's trade label, the highly figured exterior (old cracks and repairs) with circular flush-fitting brass carrying handle centred on a vacant circular brass escutcheon, London proof marks 17 cm. barrels Footnotes:ProvenanceOriginally sold to St. George Gore on 28 March 1829, and resold by Purdey on 23 May 1829 for £52.10sW. Keith Neal Collection, C115Christie's London, Fine Antique Firearms from the W. Keith Neal Collection, 9 November 2000, lot 166LiteratureW. Keith Neal, Collecting Duelling Pistols, 1968, p.12, pl.17W. Keith Neal and D.H.L. Back, British Gunmakers Their trade Cards, Cases and Equipment 1760-1860, 1980, pl.454L. Patrick Unsworth, The Early Purdeys, 1996, pp. 63-4 and 131, pl. 29The original owner, St. George Gore (1811-1878), later a baronet, was a valued Purdey client and an enthusiastic experimenter with all types of small-arms. His photograph used to hang in the Long Room at Audley House. It is strange that he should have gone to such lengths to acquire this unique pair of pistols, only to return them to Purdey, who resold them two months later. In 1862 they were part exchanged for a single gun. Recorded in Purdey's records as 'duelling pistols', this is the second earliest pair of this type to be made without ramrods. Despite their unusually short barrels they handle extremely well. Keith Neal (Collecting Duelling Pistols) describes their performance as follows: 'So perfectly is this weapon designed to fit the hand that one has only to look at the target and bring the weapon up to find the sights correctly aligned... This weapon is the culmination of all that was good in the design of the many types of weapons produced before. It is just the right weight; it is equally good for snap-shooting or slow target work and is by far the finest duelling pistol the author has ever handled.'For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
