April 24-25, 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting, & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/24/2019
This high quality decorative English fowler features a two stage Damascus steel barrel with swamped muzzle and hooked breech. Solid gold front spider sight with silver inlays on each side. Between the stages are chiseled acanthus leaves in high relief and at the end of each facet is an engraved and silver inlaid flower. The top flat is inlaid with two banners separated by a shell, "CORNHILL" marked on one banner and "LONDON" on the other. The breech is decorated with stiff leaf engraving and two silver bands and is also inlaid with a gold cartouche embossed "NICHOL/SON". Around the maker's mark are intertwining stems which lead to a silver inlaid blooming flower. Engraved tang and gold lined touch hole. The flat lock plate is overlaid with silver and is engraved with a rabbit at the tail and game lands scenes across the face, in the center "NICHOLSON" is engraved in a cartouche. The highly decorated sterling silver furniture includes gadrooned ramrod ferrules, the entry ferrule with a relief shell and terminating in a pineapple finial. The French style trigger guard is hallmarked clearly with five English hallmarks and K date letter, and profusely engraved with a griffin on the bow, as well as pineapples and flowers. The finial is an engraved urn. The side plate is pierced with a scene of a farmhouse and a pointer in pursuit of two grouse. Silver skeleton buttplate with a large pierced urn inlaid on the butt. There are small silver inlaid and engraved flowers on both sides and the top of the wrists and engraved barrel key escutcheon on both sides. A solid silver rib is also mounted below the barrel. The fowler features a pierced trigger as well as a horn end cap. Figured walnut half stock with checkered panel around wrist and carved around barrel tang with profuse Rococo scroll work and florals. Complete with original baleen ramrod with steel cap and brass cleaning attachment. CONDITION: Good to Very Good. Barrel retains a dark patina with some minor freckling at breech, all engraved inlays are present and show little wear. Lock is in the original flintlock configuration, and mechanism is tight. Almost all of the original silver overlay remains on the frizzen, pan and lockplate. The silver furniture is very good, and retains a gray patina. Stock is very good, with some scattered marks from use and a minor chip at the tip of the forend on the right side. There are some minor losses to finish, due to silver polish. This fowler was certainly made for someone of great wealth and importance as no expense or attention to detail was spared.
Caliber/Bore
.672 Smoothbore