GUN FALL 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
RARE AND FINEST KNOWN EXAMPLE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GUNSMITH JAMES M. JONES PERCUSSION DERRINGER. J. M. JONES DERRINGER NSN 38 Cal. 38. Beautiful and rare pocket derringer with 2-7/8" ovoid shaped Damascus bbl, dovetailed front sight with silver or platinum blade and fixed rear sight on top tang. Top flat of bbl is engraved "J.M. JONES". Breech plug is inlaid with two wide gold bands and has an engraved screaming eagle's head in between. Back action lock is engraved in tiny letters "J. M. JONES" above fine delicate scrolls en suite with delicate serpentine shaped flat sided, square edged hammer and decorative scalloped bolster with platinum blow-out plug. Mounted in a 1-pc walnut stock with schnable tip and secured with a sgl wedge through dog-bone shaped silver escutcheons. Pistol is silver mounted with a tapered trigger guard that is engraved with panoply of arms with two different American shields framed with floral sprays. Trigger plate has an elaborately engraved silver pineapple finial. Top of wrist has an empty inlaid rectangular gold thumbplate with cut corners. Sideplate has Mr. Jones' distinctive sweeping floral design, also lightly engraved. Buttcap has a pinned teardrop shaped silver plate with an engraved triangular silver plate in tip of forestock. Grip is finely checkered in Mr. Jones' usual patterns.
James Monroe Jones, or James "Gunsmith" Jones, was an exceptional African American gunmaker. He was the eldest son, born in the Raleigh area of the Carolinas. It has been published that his father bought the family out of slavery, and according to that article, paid twice for their freedom due to a deceptive master. When the family relocated to Ohio, Mr. Jones' father made sure that his four sons attended Oberlin College; the first college in the country to accept African American students. When J. M. Jones graduated from Oberlin in 1849 with a Bachelor of Science degree, he was the fourth African American to have achieved this high honor.
Mr. Jones later moved to Chatham, Ontario, Canada, a thriving community of well-known African American residents, and abolition sympathizers. It was the hometown of the former runaway slave, Josiah Henson, featured in the famous book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was also an important Underground Railroad terminal, and home to Harriet Tubman. And it was the town where the very famous abolitionist, John Brown, planned his raid on Harpers Ferry, recruiting local Chatham men to participate in that raid.
One of the few men that participated with John Brown in planning that famous raid was Mr. J. M. Jones, a skilled gunsmith, engraver and Justice of the Peace for his county, whose connection to John Brown is outlined in The Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature, Vol. 4, November 1894 to April 1895. In this lengthy article, the details of J. M. Jones involvement with the Chatham Convention of May 8th, 1858 are examined. At this convention, Mr. Jones and John Brown among others took an oath of secrecy, adopted and signed a constitution, and put forth their ambitious goal to gain freedom for 4 million slaves. There are sections in this article that offer insight into J. M. Jones, the man; as he narrates a portion of the details contained within the article, and included within are several sketches he penned and a handsome photograph of him.
Another interesting story published about J. M. Jones is the article written by James Gooding, publisher of the Canadian Journal of Arms Collecting, titled "The prince & the pistols: James Gunsmith Jones' gift was fit for royalty. His patrimony was not." This article describes an event in September of 1860, when a member of the English royal family, the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII, was invited to tour the town of Chatham and accept a finely crafted pair of derringer pistols made by a local gunsmith and businessman. But it was only decided at the last minute, after the Prince had already arrived and been kept waiting by the local officials, that it would be unseemly to present these exquisite pistols to a member of the Royal family, simply because they had been crafted by a man of color. Apparently, the account was published in the Chatham Tri-weekly Planet, a local newspaper at the time. It is not known, as of this writing, if the presentation of these pistols was ever actually made.
There also exists a letter dated March 15th, 1861, in the Library of Congress archives, from Mr. J. M. Jones to President Abraham Lincoln giving advice on the reconstruction of the South, and wishing for Mr. Lincoln in the final line of the letter, ".... a bloodless and prosperous administration."; a rather ironic twist of fate, since President Lincoln was indeed killed with a similar type derringer, not too many years after this letter was delivered.
Mr. J. M. Jones' work is stunning and extremely rare, seldom coming to auction, though Julia's has had the pleasure of auctioning most every example known including this one, originally in 2010. Each individual piece is unique, but has recognizable embellishments that distinguish his craftsmanship from other gunsmiths' work made during the same period. This particular derringer is considered a fantastic representation of his style and in beautiful "as found" condition. PROVENANCE: Copy of the reference The Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art & Literature, 11/94-4/95(Vol 4)which documents Jones' contribution to the abolition movement. CONDITION: Very fine plus. Bbl retains about all of its fine brown finish with visible Damascus pattern. Lockplate & hammer are dark case colors. Hammer screw is a replacement. Silver furniture is all cleaned bright. Stock has a hairline by the lockplate escutcheon, otherwise wood is sound showing light to moderate high point wear and retains most of its orig varnish. Mechanics are fine, strong dark bore. 52705-1 JR364 (7,500-10,000)