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A MAGNIFICENT CASED 48-BORE JAMES WEBLEY PATENT 'LONGSPUR' (SECOND MODEL) FIVE-SHOT SINGLE-ACTION PERCUSSION REVOLVER

RETAILED BY T.E. MORTIMER, EDINBURGH, SERIAL NO. 813, CIRCA 1854

Details

A MAGNIFICENT CASED 48-BORE JAMES WEBLEY PATENT 'LONGSPUR' (SECOND MODEL) FIVE-SHOT SINGLE-ACTION PERCUSSION REVOLVER
RETAILED BY T.E. MORTIMER, EDINBURGH, SERIAL NO. 813, CIRCA 1854
With blued octagonal sighted barrel signed by the retailer, engraved with a band of foliage at the muzzle and cut with three groove rifling, blued barrel wedge, case-hardened cylinder engraved with a band of foliage at the front edge and numbered from one to five, border and scroll engraved blued frame signed 'WEBLEY'S PATENT' within a ribbon on the large shaped inspection plate, case-hardened scroll engraved hammer and rammer, the former with chequered spur and the latter with blued retaining-clip, blued border engraved serial numbered grip-strap signed 'BY HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL LETTERS PATENT', blued border and scroll engraved trigger-guard and butt-cap, the latter with lanyard ring, and well figured chequered walnut grips, retaining virtually all its original finish throughout and in apparently unfired condition, Birmingham proof marks, in original fitted oak case lined in green baize with accessories including a fine Dixon flask, a brass single-cavity 'WD' bullet mould, a combined loading rod and worm with attachable jag, Japanned percussion cap tin with T.E. Mortimer label, and ivory handled turn-screw and nipple-wrench, the lid with Thos. Elsworth Mortimer trade label with corresponding hand written serial number, the exterior with shaped brass escutcheon engraved 'Chas. Pearson Esqr'
6¾in. (17.3cm.) barrel

Provenance

Major William Chipchase Dowell, author of The Webley Story
The Major William Chipchase Dowell Collection, Weller & Dufty Ltd., Birmingham, 30 June 1966, Lot 392 (sold for £180, an unprecedented result for a percussion revolver at the time)

Literature

Major W.C. Dowell, The Webley Story, 1962, p. 33, pl. 15a
A.W.F. Taylerson, R.A.N. Andrews and J. Frith, The Revolver 1818-1865, 1968, p. 254
G. Bruce & C. Reinhart, Webley Revolvers, 1988, p. 34, fig. 11/26
H. Lee Munson, The Mortimer Gunmakers, 1753-1923, 1992, p. 128

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

Incorporating British patent no. 743 of 29 March 1853

An original copy of the 1966 Weller & Dufty auction catalogue is included with the Lot. The vendor was the underbidder in 1966 and had to wait more than three decades before finally acquiring this magnificent revolver. The Weller & Dufty catalogue entry notes the presence of the original canvas and leather outer for the case which is now sadly lacking

The 'Chas. Pearson Esqr.' named on the case-lid escutcheon may well inidcate ownership by Sir Charles Pearson (1843-1910, knighted 1887). Pearson had been called to the English and Scottish bars in 1870, served as Solicitor General for Scotland (1890-1), Lord Advocate (1891-2 and 1895-6), and was elected MP for Edinburgh and St. Andrews Universities between 1890 and 1896

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