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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$25,000 – $35,000
.48 caliber. 41.5" wedge-retained octagonal barrel. SN: NSN. Browned finish, brass furniture, full-length maple stock with raised cheek rest. Barrel altered to percussion via the drum method is signed "A Schweitzer" in script between the rear sight and the breech. Percussion altered commercial lock with light engraving and no legible markings has a hammer with a somewhat unique and awkward appearance with a low, thin spur and with the hammer nose showing a raised carved snake head and eyes. Hammer neck with simple decorative engraving. Lock equipped with adjusable double-set triggers. Barrel with a dovetailed notch rear sight and dovetailed German silver front sight blade in brass base. Stock with a lovely four-piece brass patchbox in a style that is typical of rifles produced in the Lancaster area during a slightly later period, with exposed wood between the outer legs of the patchbox and the door. Patchbox is lightly engraved with the work executed in a simple but very attractive manner. The toe plate probably doubled as the release for the door but the mechanism is not currently functional. Toe plate lightly engraved as is the two-screw side plate. Additional brass hardware include an extended finger spur triggerguard, a simple nose cap and faceted ramrod pipes with baluster turned rings at their ends. Cheek rest inlaid with a lovely German silver oval that is engraved with a folk art Spread-Winged American Eagle bearing the Shield of Columbia with the usual arrows and olive branches in its talons. The reverse butt is decorated with Rococo raised carvings with flowing C-shaped scrolls and foliate motifs and with shell decorations on both sides of the wrist. Simple incised lines decorate the toe line of the stock and the lower edge of the forend. Additional German silver decorations include stylized hearts at the rear of the lock mortise and the counterpane, an oval thumb piece and two additional decorative pieces to the rear of the entry pipe. A wood rammer is secured by the pipes. Abraham Schweitzer initially worked in Lancaster, PA circa 1794 but relocated to Antrim Township in Franklin County PA circa 1804. By 1805 he was working in Chambersburg, where he would remain though the early 1820s. Schweitzer was married to the sister of renowned Pennsylvania rifle maker Melchior Fordney, so it is likely that the two men had at least a small influence on each others work in the field. The rifle has a very nice, untouched and unmolested appearance and displays wonderfully. A really attractive example of a Golden Age "Kentucky" Rifle from a true artist.
The Collection of Larry Ness
To request further details about this lot, please email conditionreports@freemansauction.com
Tim Carey
Associate Vice President, Head of Department, Arms, Armor and Militaria
Very good. Metal with a nice, evenly oxidized plum brown patina with some scattered surface oxidation and some pitting, primarily around the lock, breech and bolster areas. Mechanically functional, but the lock needs some adjustment to function correctly and crisply. Good bore with strong rifling is dark, dirty and heavily oxidized. Stock with some wear, wood loss due to burn out at the bolster, a repaired crack at the toe and some small repaired cracks in the forend. A small sliver of wood is missing along the top edge of the forend on the reverse and their is minor loss around some of the wedge and pin holes. Otherwise with the expected bumps, dings and mars of a rifle that clearly saw a long working life but was always well cared for.
The physical condition of lots in our auctions can vary due to age, normal wear and tear, previous damage, and restoration/repair. All lots are sold "AS IS," in the condition they are in at the time of the auction, and we and the seller make no representation or warranty and assume no liability of any kind as to a lot's condition. Any reference to condition in a catalogue description or a condition report shall not amount to a full accounting of condition. Condition reports prepared by Freeman's staff are provided as a convenience and may be requested from the Department prior to bidding.
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