October 30 - November 2, 2018 Firearms, Militaria, & Sporting
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/30/2018
Both revolvers features top break, six shot, single action, blued finish. Enclosed is a copy of the Roy Jinks letter on both revolvers. Serial No. 28983 was shipped from factory August 12th, 1896 delivered to Takata & Co., Yokohama, Japan. Shipped with 6-1/2" barrel, blued finish, lanyard ring in butt and black hard rubber grips. Serial No. 31303 was also shipped to Takata & Co. on October 28th, 1896, a little over two months after the first gun; shipped in the same configuration. Roy Jinks wrote these letters on behalf of Smith & Wesson on May 27th, 1999. On the left side of both barrels you will fine engraved Japanese Kanji and interpreted in a letter by Yasuhiko Kaji, M.D., Ph.D. who was living in Toledo, Ohio at the time; "Emperor (Superior Position) presents (gives down) this item to his servant (lower position) Yamagata Aritomo (recipients name)". Yamagata Aritomo was born a samurai in 1838 under Emperor Meiji, who rose to the position of prime minister before the turn of the century. Around the approximate time of shipment of these guns. Prior to that, he was a military leader of great renown and was considered the "Architect" of the modern Japanese Army following the of Japan. His military post included field commander, assistant vice minister of military affairs, Army minister in the 1870's, chief of general staff beginning in 1878, and eventually a full general. Sometime after the delivery of these two weapons in 1896, the emperor commissioned a Japanese artisan, upon which the guns were engraved with the Kanji presentation, light sporadic scroll engraving that can be found on every area of the weapon including frame, barrel, cylinder and backstrap. The guns were finished in a rich royal blue finish after which he applied gold damascene border around sides of both left and right frame. The hammer and trigger guard were beautifully case colored and both revolvers sport two piece relief carved real Mother of Pearl grips with roses and rose leaves. CODNITION: Barrels and frame retain virtually all of their custom reapplied blue finish performed at time of engraving. Gun (B) cylinder exhibits several striations while Gun (A) simply has a light drag line. Grips are near mint with no chips or cracks that we can see, with the exception of Gun (A) that has a forward toe repair (minor) and grips have darkened a bit more. Both guns have near mint, shiny bores with sharp rifling and index correctly. Accompanying these revolvers is a copy of the letter from John Snyder, business manager OGCA dated May 14th, 1999 requesting information on these guns from Roy Jinks; a photocopy of the Emperor Meiji as a young man, taken in 1868 as well as an image of Yamagata Arimoto; numerous copies of photographs of this pair; copies of pages from the book "Japan's Secret Imperial Conspiracy" dealing with Yamagata; and a catalog "Old Town Station Dispatch No. 7" from the year 2000 with a picture of these revolvers on the cover of the catalog. They were offered at one time for sale by Jim Supica for the princely sum of $50,000 at the turn of this century. This set of pistols is currently housed in a leather carry case. The revolvers themselves are not accompanied by any lineage history aside from factory letter and how they were presented in 1999-2000. An exquisite pair of Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 revolvers and truly unique.
Manufacturer
Smith & Wesson