.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The inscriptions on the barrels refer to Roborough Camp, near Plymouth, where a dispute arose between Thornton and some of his officers, leading to the former's court-martial and subsequent resignation. The incident is described in his pamphlet entitled 'An Elucidation of a Mutinous Conspiracy entered into by the officers of the West York Regiment of Militia against their Commanding Officer in the year 1794'
Thomas Thornton (1757-1823), Marquess du Pont, was one of the most dedicated and flamboyant sportsmen of the 18th and 19th centuries, dividing his time between hunting, racing, shooting, angling and hawking. In the shooting-field he was certainly the best equipped - in his own words he had 'a greater quantity of sporting apparatus of the most valuable and curious manufacture than any other sporting gentleman in England' - and he favoured air weapons and multi-barrelled guns and rifles, including examples with seven, twelve and fourteen barrels (the penultimate depicted in the portrait of him painted in 1796 by Philip Reinagle and Sawrey Gilpin). He was also a significant patron of sporting artists
The Colonel published two detailed accounts of his sporting expeditions: A Sporting Tour through the Northern Parts of England (1804), and A Sporting Tour through France (1806). The latter includes a meeting with Napoleon, and a visit to Boutet's factory at Versailles, which convinced Thornton of the superiority of English gunmaking
Thornton lived until 1805 at Thornville Royal (now Stourton), then at various addresses, including the Château de Chambord, and an estate at Pont-sur-Seine, and he died in Paris, leaving most of his possessions to his illigitimate daughter
He is also famous for his succession of mistresses, his first being Alicia Massingham, "The Norwich Nymph", whose extravagance contributed to Thornton's financial downfall
See lot 12
Thomas Thornton (1757-1823), Marquess du Pont, was one of the most dedicated and flamboyant sportsmen of the 18th and 19th centuries, dividing his time between hunting, racing, shooting, angling and hawking. In the shooting-field he was certainly the best equipped - in his own words he had 'a greater quantity of sporting apparatus of the most valuable and curious manufacture than any other sporting gentleman in England' - and he favoured air weapons and multi-barrelled guns and rifles, including examples with seven, twelve and fourteen barrels (the penultimate depicted in the portrait of him painted in 1796 by Philip Reinagle and Sawrey Gilpin). He was also a significant patron of sporting artists
The Colonel published two detailed accounts of his sporting expeditions: A Sporting Tour through the Northern Parts of England (1804), and A Sporting Tour through France (1806). The latter includes a meeting with Napoleon, and a visit to Boutet's factory at Versailles, which convinced Thornton of the superiority of English gunmaking
Thornton lived until 1805 at Thornville Royal (now Stourton), then at various addresses, including the Château de Chambord, and an estate at Pont-sur-Seine, and he died in Paris, leaving most of his possessions to his illigitimate daughter
He is also famous for his succession of mistresses, his first being Alicia Massingham, "The Norwich Nymph", whose extravagance contributed to Thornton's financial downfall
See lot 12