CIRCA 1814-17

Details

AN EXTREMELY RARE PAIR OF FLINTLOCK DUELLING PISTOLS BY WILLIAM BOSS (2), LONDON
circa 1814-17
Each with heavy browned twist octagonal barrel signed 'W.Boss London' in large scrolling neo-gothic gold letters, gold fore-sight set between arrow motifs inlaid in gold (one sight missing), case-hardened recessed patent breech inlaid with gold trophies and lines, platinum-lined vent, case-hardened breech tang incorporating the back-sight and engraved with trophies and scrollwork, one in mirror image of the other, each with finely engraved case-hardened detented lock with rounded stepped tail, safety-catch, roller, hull-shaped rainproof pan lined in gold and signed 'W.Boss' en suite with the barrel (the cocks replaced, one cracked, one steel repaired), figured walnut half-stock, the butt cut with a fine chequered pattern arranged as trellis bands each of three lines, engraved blued steel mounts including trigger-guard and butt-cap each decorated with trophies, case-hardened trigger-plate with engraved pineapple finial, blued trigger and barrel-bolt, the latter impaling a pair of gold escutcheons, horn fore-end cap, original horn-tipped ramrod, gold escutcheon engraved with owner's monogram and crest, and each retaining much of its original finish, the barrels forged by Charles Lancaster (the barrels with small scratches, very small rust patches and minor losses of inlay, the stocks scratched and bruised, one fore-end cracked on the left-hand side): in a Wm & Jn Rigby fitted mahogany case lined in blue velvet, the lining tooled within the lid, with large illustrated trade label current circa 1817, flush-fitting circular handle, some accessories, and key (the lid slightly warped, the interior extensively chipped about the border lip, the label with small tears, marks and light foxing).
15¼in (38.7cm)

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The crest is probably that of either Cracroft, Crawley, Cross or Crosse.

William Boss was apprenticed to his father of the same name in about 1801 and worked with his father for Joseph Manton. William (2) was the elder brother of both Fisher and Thomas Boss, later also gunmakers. William (1) died in 1809 and his son William, aged 27, left Manton to establish his own business at 9 Crown Street in 1814. William left Crown Street in 1817 and no further record of him exists beyond that of him renting a room from his brother Thomas in 1819.

As the first independent gunmaker within the family William Boss (2) can be considered the principal forbear of the present London gunmakers Boss & Co.

This hitherto unrecorded pair of duelling pistols is almost certainly only the third known surviving example of firearms by this maker; they are also the most elaborate and not suprisingly compare well with pistols produced by the renowned Joseph Manton. Another pair, in their original case, are in the Royal Museum of Scotland.

See Donald Dallas, Boss & Co. Best Gunmakers, 2nd edition, Shrewsbury, 2005, pp.13-18.

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