June 9-10, 2017 Premier Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2017
Charles and William Eley formed their company in London in the 1820's. They are credited with the invention of smokeless powder and by the 1890's were producing 400 types of cartridges. All Eley production was transferred to the Nobel's factory in 1921. Using this information, we would date this cartridge board to the turn of the century as the sign advertises their location at 29 and 30 Whittall Street, Birmingham. Framed under glass, in a classic oak frame, measuring 25-1/2" x 31-1/2". This rare commercial merchandise board displays over 90 examples of the brass and pasteboard cartridges available from the Eley firm to the retail shooting customer of the period. The cartridges are mounted in an attractive geometric pattern against a neutral grey background, several showing the cutaway view, displaying the layering of the materials contained in a shot shell. The center of the display exhibits the registered trademark of the company, being a gold shield on a blue background with the letters EB in script in the center. The outer oak frame is printed with the legends: Eley, Sporting, Military and Cartridges in black. The board is all original, blacklight shows no signs of any in-painting. The wooden inner liner is painted red. It appears as of the glass was missing for some time as there is some wear on the red inner liner and the cartridges have tarnished to some degree. The cardboard shell's colors may have faded a bit, but the black printing is perfect, as are the cases. The most interesting cartridges are the two large Express rounds at the base. We have searched all previously sold cartridge boards and this is the only one of this design we can find. The scarcity of these early, all original cartridge boards, especially those from Europe, has propelled them in popularity with collectors of both firearms and cartridges.
Item Dimensions: 25 - 1/2" x 31 - 1/2"