September 26, 2018 O'Connor's Americana Collection
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/26/2018
This Montgomerie family attributed fowler is fitted with an Italian barrel with two cartouches at the breech. One is vacant and the other has a crown and the lettering "EGID IO LEO No 1". The barrel is marked by the maker "ROSINA . IN . TOSCANA". It has an octagonal to round barrel that is separated by a band 17 inches from the breech. There are eight additional steel bands spaced along the barrel.
This take-down fowler has its original flat, flint lock with a gooseneck hammer and a decorated frizzen spring. The lock is marked "GRIFFIN" in a ribbon and has a simple, sawtooth linear decoration throughout.
The full walnut stock is brass mounted and carved with a shell at the breech. It has a four stepped butt tang that is decorated with a panoply of arms. All brass furniture is simply decorated. The ramrod is fitted with an ebony tip.
Archibald Montgomerie (1726 - 1796) was the 11th Earl of Eglinton, a Scottish General, and a member of the British Parliament. He was Clan Chief of the Clan Montgomerie and fought in the French and Indian War and served George Washington.
Montgomerie joined the army at age 13 and when the Seven Years War broke out, he formed Montgomerie's Highlanders, the 77th Regiment of Foot. In 1757, the regiment traveled to the American colonies and was put under the command of General Amherst. In 1758, he and his regiment fought with George Washington and Henry Bouquet in the Fort Duquesne Expedition. Montgomerie went on to defeat the Cherokees in 1760 at the Battle of Etchocy, then fought at the Battle of Havana in 1762. The regiment went on to New York City in October of 1762. Montgomerie may have left New York to return to Scotland at this time. However, the regiment then saw action at the Battle of Bushy Run in August of 1763.
Between 1767 and 1795, he was the Colonel of the 51st Regiment of Foot and fought in the French Revolutionary War. He became a Major General in 1772, a Lieutenant General in 1777, and finally, a Full General in 1793.
This fowler was originally offered in the Dowell's Eglinton Castle sale. It was also part of the W. Keith Neal Collection, and is both pictured and described in one of Neal's books. Condition: Overall very good condition. Barrel and lock polished bright, as typically encountered on firearm's from English collections. Engraving and markings are crisp. One gold barrel maker's cartouche, near the breech, is absent. Brass is polished and stock has some scattered marks and one minor chip in front of lockplate. Carving is crisp and shows little wear.