Cased Pair of Percussion Altered Pistols by John Richards of London

26 Bore (.56 caliber). 10.25" wedge retained octagonal barrels with hooked breeches. NSN. Browned faux Damascus patterned barrels, blued furniture, color casehardened locks and hammers, checkered walnut stocks with bag grips. Single shot percussion converted smoothbore muzzleloading pistols with bolted safety locks, adjustable triggers, platinum blow outs in the bolsters, fixed notch rear sights and dovetailed blade front sights. Pistol locks are engraved JNO RICHARDS forward of the hammers on the single screw locks and are decorated with light foliate scrolls and motifs at the front and rear edges of the lock plates. Barrels are engraved JNO RICHARDS - STRAND - LONDON -. Barrels with London gunmaker proofs underneath. The blued steel triggerguards are engraved with pineapple finals and have finger spur extensions. German silver shield shaped wrist escutcheons are present on both pistols and engraved with flowing script monograms. The pistols have steel tipped wooden ramrods that have female threads in their faces and male threads on the opposite ends. The rods are secured by a pair of blued ramrod pipes. The pistols are a contained in a relined period segmented oak casing with a brass handle in the lid, a John Richards paper label is inside the lid with his 54 Strand address. The case also has two lidded compartments. Included accessories are a number of cast lead balls, a cone wrench with removable cone prick in the handle, a breech scraper, a japanned Eley cap tin and an embossed brass powder flask with two ball storage compartments in the base. John Richards (I) was originally from Birmingham but moved to London to work as a gunmaker circa 1770s. He was free of the Gunmaker's Company by redemption in 1781 and worked at 114 Strand circa 1775-1777, 25 Strand 1778-1780, 4 Ball Alley Lombard Street circa 1781-1783, 54 Strand 1782-1808 and 55 Strand 1809-1821. Based upon the label address the pistols were made between 1782 and 1808. (Blackmore) The pistols were originally made in flint and expertly altered to percussion probably in the 1830s. A lovely pair of late 18th or early 19th century pistols that had longer working life due to the percussion conversion. {ANTIQUE}

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Fine. Bores about fine, mostly bright with scattered surface oxidation and some discoloration, along with some tiny patches of surface rust. Barrels with some of their thinning brown finish intact as well as the faux Damascus patterned streaking. Metal mostly smooth with some scattered patches of surface oxidation and couple of patches of light pitting. Locks with some nicely faded case colors. Steel furniture with some blue remaining. Markings and engravings remain clear and crisp. Mechanically functional locks, including the safeties. Stocks very good to fine, with one pistol showing a tight grain crack in the coutnerpane that passes through the lock screw. Otherwise the stocks have crisp checkering and show scattered bumps, dings and mars. One ramrod is frozen in the pipes and could not be withdrawn. The case is well worn and was refurbished long ago with an old, less than workmanlike relining of the case with green baize cloth. The dividers show moderate wear and some looseness, and the exterior of the case shows numerous bumps, dings, marks, mars and scrapes. Paper label in case is well worn as well. Accessories all about good with wear.

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October 17, 20, 21, or by appointment. Please contact the Auction Specialist for details.

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Mr. Carey joined Cowan’s, a Freeman's company, in 2021 and is a 40-year veteran of the sporting arms and outdoor recreation industry. Carey joined Cowan’s from Griffin & Howe at Hudson Farms in Andover, N.J., where he was responsible for the acquisition, appraisal, and consignment of top-tier firearms consignments from important makers such as James Purdey & Sons of London, Beretta, Caesar Guerini, B. Rizzini, Bertuzzi, Renato Telo, and Anderson Wheeler.

Mr. Tim Prince

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Tim Prince has more than 30-years of experience in the field of antique and collectible arms and is a nationally recognized expert in the area of Civil War small arms. A long-time researcher and author, Tim has been a contributing author to two major books about Civil War firearms, including The English Connection: Arms, Material and Support Furnished to the Confederate States of America by Great Britain (2014) and Confederate Shotguns and Southern Agent Marked Shotguns (2017). He was also a major contributor to the recently updated Blue Book of Antique American Firearms & Values – 2nd Edition (2019) as well as the 2010 updates to the Civil War Collector's Price Guide - 12th edition. Over the last decade Tim has authored more than 50 articles on 19th century collectible and military arms, which have been published in such varied publications as Civil War News, North-South Trader, and Military Antique Collector. Since 2016 has appeared as a featured appraiser in the field of Arms & Militaria on the popular PBS television series Antiques Roadshow. He is a member of the American Society of Arms Collectors and currently serves on the board of directors of that organization. He is also a member of and formerly served on the board of directors of the Society of American Bayonet Collectors. Tim is a life member of the Ohio Valley Military Society, the Tennessee Military Collectors Association, the Alabama Military Collectors Association, is a member of the Company of Military Historians and is a member of numerous other colleting groups and societies. He is the owner of College Hill Arsenal, a web based antique and collectible arms retail web site, specializing in the American Civil War and related military items. Tim has engaged in the business of buying, selling, researching, and appraising antique and collectible arms and associated military items for some three decades. Since 2016 he has also served as a senior Consulting Specialist in the field of Arms, Armor & Militaria for Cowan’s Auctions, a Freeman's Company.

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Cased Pair of Percussion Altered Pistols by John Richards of London

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Please email [email protected] for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

Arms, Armor and Militaria

Cased Pair of Percussion Altered Pistols by John Richards of London

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