May 18, 2022 Extraordinary Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/18/2022
This lovely 1911 was manufactured in 1913 by Colt and masterfully engraved by Richard Roy in 1982, as evidenced by the chin of slide engraved "ENGR. BY RICHARD ROY '82". Richard Roy is best known today for his work on the Standard Manufacturing guns, where he is in charge of engraving patterns and quality control. Roy's work can also be seen in the NRA Museum and the Frederick Remington Art Museum. This example has deeply cut floral scroll in near-complete coverage with legends replaced by gold wire inlay and a stippled ground, with a vignette of a rampant Colt just behind the front sight. Left side with 2-line 2-block patent and address information laid in gold wire, right side with "COLT AUTOMATIC / CALIBRE 45". Right side of frame with serial number and "GOVERNMENT MODEL" laid in gold. Interior of slide numbered "C4476", barrel with "C" on left lug and "5" in front of lug. Fired blued small screws, mainspring housing pin, slide release, safety, and fire control pins, Grips look to be fossilized mammoth on a black backing. Full blue magazine with baseplate engraved en suite and "COLT / 45 AUTO" inlaid in gold wire. Small parts comprise a relief mill cut slide release, spurred checkered hammer, thick tab safety with mill cut, short 1911 grip safety, long smooth trigger, smooth flat mainspring housing with lanyard loop. CONDITION: Excellent, retaining virtually all of the reapplied blue finish with some extremely minor marks from handling and storage since embellishment. Engraving is well cut and sharp, grips are excellent with some grain separation common to this material. Mechanically fine, bore is very good with strong rifling and frosting in the grooves. This is a really lovely example of a master engraved 1911; work of this caliber and quantity is both expensive and requires a long wait. EMW