AN EXCEPTIONAL 120-BORE FLINTLOCK BOX-LOCK POCKET PISTOL WITH SILVER ACTION, BARREL AND MOUNTS , SIGNED MORTIMER, LONDON, LONDON SILVER HALLMARKS FOR 1774

Sale 9436

ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR INCL. W. KEITH NEAL COLLECTION

London, King Street-South Kensington Offsite sale

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18 July 2002

Browse Sale

Lot 339

AN EXCEPTIONAL 120-BORE FLINTLOCK BOX-LOCK POCKET PISTOL WITH SILVER ACTION, BARREL AND MOUNTS

SIGNED MORTIMER, LONDON, LONDON SILVER HALLMARKS FOR 1774

Price realised

GBP 11,711

Estimate

GBP 4,000 - GBP 4,500

Follow lot

AN EXCEPTIONAL 120-BORE FLINTLOCK BOX-LOCK POCKET PISTOL WITH SILVER ACTION, BARREL AND MOUNTS
Signed Mortimer, London, London silver hallmarks for 1774
With short turn-off cannon barrel (muzzle bruised), border engraved action signed within ribbons, decorated with rococo ornament, and hallmarked on the underside of the breech, figured walnut butt finely inlaid with shells and scrolls in silver wire heightened by nails and small silver flower-heads, engraved silver trigger-guard, plain silver escutcheon, and silver grotesque mask pommel, Tower private proof marks, silver maker's mark of Charles Freeth
5¼in. (13.3cm.)
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Lot Essay

This pistol has been accepted as one of the earliest known examples of the work of H.W. Mortimer. It appears to be the pair to the pistol formerly in the Clay P. Bedford Collection (inv. no. 1512), exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1971 (cat. no. 197), and described and illustrated in H. Lee Munson, The Mortimer Gunmakers 1753-1923, pp. 151-2, plate 234

Other information

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
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Lot 339

AN EXCEPTIONAL 120-BORE FLINTLOCK BOX-LOCK POCKET PISTOL WITH SILVER ACTION, BARREL AND MOUNTS

SIGNED MORTIMER, LONDON, LONDON SILVER HALLMARKS FOR 1774

Recommended features

‘Wow — that’s Judd!’: How the father of Minimalism came to revisit and embrace colour

What to look for on the back of a painting — an expert guide