BY JAMES PURDEY, 314½ OXFORD STREET, LONDON, NOS. 1689 AND 1690 FOR 1829

Details

A Highly Unusual Cased Pair Of 56-Bore Percussion Rifled Target Pistols
By James Purdey, 314½ Oxford Street, London, Nos. 1689 and 1690 for 1829
With signed 7¼in. (18.4cm.) browned twist octagonal sighted barrels cut with twelve grooves, case-hardened patent breeches each with platinum line and pierced platinum plug, scroll engraved case-hardened tangs numbered respectively '1' and '2', signed scroll engraved case-hardened detented locks each with safety-catch, figured walnut half-stocks, chequered butts with horn spur, finely engraved blued iron trigger-guards each with applied spur, case-hardened pommels and trigger-plates, blued set triggers, horn fore-end caps, and much of their original finish: in original fitted mahogany case lined in red baize, with accessories including three-way flask covered in green leather, the lid (old cracks and repairs) with trade label and flush-fitting carrying handle, London proof marks
12½in. (31.8cm.)

Provenance

Originally sold to St. George Gore on 28 March 1829, and resold by Purdey on 23 May 1829 for £52.10s

Literature

W. Keith Neal, Collecting Duelling Pistols, p. 12, plate 17
W. Keith Neal and D.H.L. Back, British Gunmakers Their Trade Cards, Cases and Equipment 1760-1860, plate 454
L. Patrick Unsworth, The Early Purdeys, pp. 63-4, 131, plate 29

Special notice

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

Lot Essay

The 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. Strangely, having gone to such lengths to acquire this unique pair of pistols, he returned 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'

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