GUN FALL 2016
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/4/2016
EXTREMELY RARE CASED COLT EHLERS BABY PATERSON PERCUSSION REVOLVER. COLT PATERSON BABY 24 31 Cal. 31. All blue finish with 3" oct bbl, brass pin front sight and 1-line script letter address which reads left hand "Patent Arms Patterson, N.J.-Colt's Pt." with dashes at each end. Bbl has the attached Ehlers rammer. Cyl has five chambers with rnd shoulder and ratchet rather than a slot for a rotating ring and measures 1-1/16". Cyl has the centaur scene roll marking with the four-headed Paterson Colt logo. The tiny frame has folding trigger and is mounted with 1-pc varnished rosewood grip. Grip is made of two pieces of rosewood attached to two spacer blocks. Accompanied by an orig, burgundy velvet lined, mahogany casing with flat top & bottom. Front of case has a rectangular escutcheon for the mortised brass lock. Bottom inside is recessed for the revolver, a rare all brass plunger type powder measure and a tiny single ball mold with sprue cutter and three turned walnut handles with brass ferrules. The slot in the front, which ordinarily contains a turnscrew is filled with a pocket corkscrew. This cased set is listed as item number 5 and pictured on the back cover of Jackson Arms, Dallas, TX, Catalog #16. Bottom of the front cover states "The Ben Ames Williams Collection". The corkscrew was present in the case at that time and is discussed as a loading tool "never previously seen" in a Paterson casing. Also accompanied by a signed letter from renowned collector & dealer, the late Bobby Smith of Tennessee. The letter identifies this pistol by SN and Mr. Smith states, "An extremely fine and rare specimen of a cased Colt Baby Paterson Revolver with the Ehlers attached loading lever". Mr. Smith also mentions the strange "loading tool combination a rammer worm", and further says that he had never seen a tool like this in a Paterson casing. He also mentions the Jackson Arms catalog and identifies it as July 1960. He states that the collection of Ben Ames Williams was sold at that time and that this cased set was part of his collection. He further states that, " Ben Ames Willimas was an artist, editor & writer. Two of his best selling books were House Divided and The Unconquered. According to The Book of Colt Firearms , Wilson, there were only about 500 of these little revolvers produced in 1837-1838, which also included the Paterson No.2 Belt Revolver. These revolvers with attached rammers were late production made from parts that were semi-finished when Colt went bankrupt. John Ehlers was a major stock holder in the Patent Arms Manufacturing Co. and assumed ownership in the bankruptcy. He finished and assembled the parts and added the loading levers. He also deleted the "M'g Co." from the bbl address roll die. In addition the capping cutout was added to the right recoil shield during this process. Few of these little revolvers survive today, especially those that are all matching and with high orig finish. Cased examples are extremely rare, especially those with the rare corkscrew loading tool. PROVENANCE: Ex-Ben Ames Williams Collection; Ex-Jackson Arms; The Late Bobby Smith Collection. CONDITION: Very fine to extremely fine, all matching including bbl, wedge, cyl, frame, hammer, backstrap and grip. No further disassembly was effected to check for other matching parts. Bbl retains about 95% glossy orig blue with light sharp edge wear; wedge retains about 80% fire blue, mostly on the body; frame & front strap retain about 70% glossy orig blue with light candy striping on both sides, flaking on the recoil shields and light sharp edge wear; hammer retains dark case colors with light pitting on the sides; cyl retains most of its orig blue, thin on the rear half, turning plum and shows about 95% centaur scene roll marking; backstrap & buttstrap retain 92-93% glossy orig blue with some light sharp edge wear and minor pinpoint flaking. Grip is sound and retains about 88-90% orig varnish with the loss areas flaked from the ears and light edge wear. Mechanics are crisp, strong bright bore with scattered fine pitting. Case has a grain check in the lid, otherwise is sound with usual handling & storage nicks & scratches and retains most of its orig varnish. Interior is moderately faded with light soil in the lid lining and heavily faded in the bottom, darker in the recesses with light soil. Flask retains about 70% bright gold wash with the exposed areas a dark patina, mechanics are fine. Mold is extremely fine showing about 95% bright blue on the body and about 60% on the sprue cutter with losses from flaking. Mold handles are solid and the rare corkscrew loading tool is very fine, certainly capable of opening the finest bottle of wine. 50531-3 JR (110,000-160,000)