October 22-23, 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/23/2019
The barrel of this attic condition rifle is signed "Henry Young" in script and retained by three barrel wedges, each of which is surrounded by a silver oval silver inlay. The excellently engraved brass two piece patchbox with one piercing has the customary Young style captured lid, hinged on the bottom and contained within the brass plate encircling the door. The patchbox release is in the 3-3/4" brass engraved toeplate and there is an engraved 9" comb inlay. The cheekpiece side of the rifle features an engraved oval silver inlay on the cheek depicting the American eagle and an elaborate 4-1/2" long engraved pick holder with two piercings. There is an attractive 1/4" wide brass decorative engraved inlay that running along the buttplate on the left-hand side. There is a very nice engraved 10" long saddleplate from the trigger guard to the rear ramrod entrance pipe. The full brass engraved sideplate features two engraved lock screws, the actual lock screw being under the hammer on the lockplate side. The lockplate is handsomely engraved as is the pill lock hammer suggesting this gun was produced very early in the percussion period. The pill lock precedes both tube lock and percussion cap. The pill itself was a tiny pellet filled with what literature calls simply ‘detonating powder’. A hammer fell upon the pill, setting it off, which in turn exploded fire into the powder charge in the breech. Longrifles and pistols made by the Young family of Easton, Pennsylvania have a proud heritage spanning four generations and over 100 years. There were five members of this family that were gunsmiths. Their names were Henry, John, John, Jr., Peter, and John K. Young. Henry Young, the progenitor of this famous family, was born about the year 1720. The old stone, one-story building which served as the first of the Young’s two gun shops still stands along the Sullivan Trail in north Easton. The building is reportedly the oldest building still extant in the city of Easton. The Young gun shop enterprise was established in 1759 making it one of the few remaining orig gun shops in the United States dating from the Colonial period. Henry Young taught his son, John, the profession and art of gun making. The Northampton County tax list includes Henry Young as a locksmith 1774 and John as a gunsmith at the time of the American Revolution. Both are listed as gunsmiths in the tax lists of 1779. The Young family made flintlock rifles and pistols for private customers, the Continental Congress and later the United States Government. It is interesting to note Henry Deringer, Jr. apprenticed to the Young family before beginning his business in Philadelphia where he invented the famous Deringer pistol. The Young gun shop at Easton was a place of importance and the family became generally known, not only in Pennsylvania, but throughout the other colonies. John and Henry Young took the Oath of Allegiance on October 17th and 26th, 1778, respectively. CONDITION: Excellent attic condition. The original stock finish shows the expected dents and bruises associated with age. There is an 11" x 1/8" wood sliver missing along the right-hand side of the barrel from the muzzle. The first silver oval wedge inlay is missing on the left-hand side at the muzzle. There is a small piece of wood missing in front of the lock. Pill lock rifles are extremely rare and this one is especially nice with its untouched condition and elaborate engraving and decoration. DMG
Caliber/Bore
.47 Smoothbore
Paperwork
Photos, prev description, invoice