SIGNED ‘ALI, POSSIBLY KUBACHI, CAUCASUS, DATED AH 1264 / 1847-8 AD

A number of firearms by the workshop of the gunsmith ‘Ali are known, identifiable by the signature stamp ‘work of ‘Ali and comparable repertoires of fine barrels, dense gold overlay, nielloed silver mounts, black leather-covered stocks and an ivory butt plate. An early example in the Moser Collection, Bern (740), is fitted with a lock stamped ‘work of ‘Ali’ and inscribed on the tang with the the date AH 1195⁄1780-1 AD in a manner closely comparable to a smoothbore carbine in the Wallace Collection, London (OA2100), dated AH 1275⁄1858-9 AD and bearing the same maker’s mark (Rudolf Zeller and Ernst F. Rohrer, Orientalische Sammlung Henri-Moser Charlottenfels, Bern, 1955, pp. 327-29). That gun is similarly decorated to the present rifle, although our rifle is in significantly better condition (Frederick Wilkinson, Small Arms, London, 1965, pl.122).

The possibility of a multi-generational workshop is suggested by a pistol in the Moser Collection, Bern (770; Zeller and Rohrer, op. cit., pp. 329-30), apparently from the same workshop and stamped ‘work of ‘Ali the younger’ (‘amal-i kūchak ‘alī). Further dated firearms in this group include one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (36.25.2239), signed by ‘Ali and dated AH 1263⁄1846-7 AD and 1847 in the Russian calendar. A pair of pistols in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (V.O.1012), bears the same maker’s mark and is dated AH 1267⁄1850-1 AD. Two pairs of pistols from ‘Ali’s workshop and dated AH 1263⁄1846-7 AD and AH 1264⁄1847-8 AD are in the Wallace Collection, London (OA2021, OA2022, OA2039 and OA2040) and were likely acquired by the 4th Marquess of Hertford within two decades of their manufacture, reflecting the desirability of fine Caucasian firearms in Europe at the time.