GUN SPRING 2016
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/14/2016
EXTRAORDINARILY RARE L.E. TUCKER LANCASTER TEXAS CONFEDERATE NAVY REVOLVER.LE TUCKERNAVY7936 CALCal. 36. This remarkable pistol is in wonderful matching original and complete condition, being 1 of only 2 known examples and SN 79 being offered here is vastly superior to SN 52 which is part of the Carl Metzger Collection on display at Texas A&M University. This example is very fine retaining much of its original finish. Gun measures 13-1/4" overall with 7-5/8" half oct to rnd bbl with brass blade front sight, silver inset makers mark "L.E. TUCKER & SONS." There are also inset silver designs on either side of bbl housing and a lightly engraved border around perimeter of the capping slot on the right side of the recoil shield. Bbl is also etched with indiscernible name and date "1864" and "Weatherford / Parker / Co." Weatherford, Parker County, Texas is just west of Dallas not far from the pistol factory established by Tucker & Sherrard in Lancaster. Bill Gary in his text Confederate Revolvers dedicates an entire chapter to this pistol that he believed Tucker made in Marshall, Texas, prior to his move to Lancaster in 1862. This is no doubt the rarest, most desirable of any maker marked Texas Confederate revolver. There is a large file of original provenance and correspondence detailing history of this revolver and Laban E. Tucker including a framed photograph of Tucker. PROVENANCE: Hugh Dial Tucker (Grandson of maker); Harry Brooks, Dallas, Texas, 1950; Pictured in "Confederate Handguns, A Collectors Detailed Study Of Southern Pistols", by William Albaugh, this being an early detailed study of Confederate revolvers as it appeared in the journal of The American Ordnance Association, 1951; Pictured on cover of The Texas Gun Collector, Issue No. 8, March 1951; Jackson Arms, Dallas, Texas; William Bond Collection, December 1959; Displayed at Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, 1963-1964; Pictured on pg. 203 "Confederate Handguns", by Albaugh, Benet, Simmons, 1963; Conestoga Auction Lot #586, July 5, 1994; Donald Tharpe Collection; Don & Kathlee Bryan Collection. CONDITION: Fine to very fine overall. All matching and complete, SN 79 is found on bbl, frame, loading arm and cyl. Retains strong traces of bright finish scattered over length of bbl, loading arm, frame and cyl. Brass trigger guard and backstrap have an olive/brass patina overall. Grips fit well and retain 90%+ of original varnish with moderate edge wear. Mechanically gun is sound, functioning with well-defined rifling and crisp bore. Accompanying holster fits the gun well, is sound and solid, has a new tab sewn over remnants of old, otherwise very good. Accompanying 2-cavity iron bullet mold is very similar to ones manufactured in England, however, this example has a long straight tail on sprue cutter unlike English molds and could have been the one described in the original bill of sale by Hugh Dial Tucker, but he stated it was a Colt brass mold. The framed photograph measuring 11-1/2" x 14" overall is inscribed on back "LABAN E TUCKER FOUNDER OF TUCKER & SHERRARD GUN FACTORY OF LANCASTER, TEXAS" 50122-6 JS (150,000-250,000)