A Composite 20-Bore Flintlock Sporting Gun
The lock signed Bate, early 19th Century
With two-stage rebrowned twist barrel engraved 'Gunmaker to His Majesty', patent breech with gold line and gold-lined maker's stamp of James Wilkinson, London, gold-lined vent, signed engraved stepped lock with roller and gold-lined rainproof pan, figured walnut half-stock (bruised), chequered grip, silver escutcheon, earlier silver mounts including butt-cap engraved with a dog and game birds on the tang, and trigger-guard with shell finial, the bow (repaired) engraved with rococo ornament, silver fore-end cap and barrel-bolt escutcheons, and brass-mounted wooden ramrod (fore-end cracked), London proof marks, London silver hallmarks for 1748, maker's mark JA
34in. (86.9cm.) barrel