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Frontier Firearms from the Lifetime Collection of Larry Ness
|
- Sale 1987
Live
| Cincinnati
Jun 8 | 10:00 AM EDT
Live
| Cincinnati
Sale 1987
| Cincinnati
| Cincinnati
Estimate$1,500 – $2,500
.53 caliber. 48" pinned round barrel. SN: NSN. Blued finish, brass furniture, walnut stock. Flat reconverted flint lock with teat at tail shows simple foliate engraving and is weakly marked "KETLAND & Co" in two lines. Nocksform marked "LONDON" with pre-1813 Birmingham proof marks at breech. Simple brass furniture with lightly engraved buttplate tang and triggerguard, rudimentary open work flowing floral side plate suggesting the form of the the ubiquitous serpent side plate that would become the norm for these guns. Simple brass ramrod pipes with baluster turned ends and wooden ramrod. A military style shield shaped brass thumb piece is in place on the wrist. Includes a wooden ramrod. The Ketland family of gunmakers and retailers was a major force in the Birmingham arms trade from the mid-18th century through the first quarter of the 19th century. They served as both gunmakers and merchants and by 1789 were in operation not only in England but in Philadelphia as well. Although they produced and sold large numbers of guns under the various Ketland maker marks, they produced even more locks for the American and Birmingham gun making trade and also severed as brokers and purchasing agents. Little evidence suggests that they produced trade guns for the Hudson's Bay Company but they did sell to the Northwest Company prior to its merger with the HBC in the early 19th century.
The Collection of Larry Ness
Good. Metal retains some old applied blue with the balance of the metal a moderately oxidized brownish patina with moderate pitting at the breech. Lock reconverted to flint with replaced external parts, including an ill-fitting hammer and frizzen. Lock functional, but weak. Bore moderately oxidized and pitted. Stock good with wear and approximately 21" of the forend neatly replaced from about the second rammer pipe to the tip. Both upper pipes replaced as well. Wooden ramrod likely replaced.
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Tim Carey
Associate Vice President, Head of Department, Arms, Armor and Militaria
