January 24, 2025 Old West Events Auction - Las Vegas
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This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/24/2025
This revolver is a classic Colt Frontier Six Shooter with a 7 – 1/2” barrel and blued and case colored finish and Colt hard rubber grips. Importantly, it is accompanied by a factory letter identifying this gun by serial number as shipped to Russell Sporting Goods Company for C.M. Russell on November 3rd, 1926, in a shipment of 1. Advertisements for Russell Sporting Goods, can be found in 1924 editions of the Great Falls Tribune. Further research indicates that Russell’s was a store in New York City. C.M. Russell was known to occasionally visit New York City in the winter for art shows, and it appears that the gun was ordered to his specifications during one of these trips. Tragically, Russell died of heart failure in 1926, a mere 8 days before the gun shipped. Eventually, the Colt ended up in Montana, likely in the hands of his wife and family, where it was found later.

Charles Marion Russell was born on March 19th, 1864, at just the right time to engage with the newly expanding Western frontier and record perhaps the most formative era in American history. He had always harbored an interest in the untamed West, reading about the subject and interacting with fur traders and other adventurers in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, as a young man. At 16, he took a life-altering trip to Judith Basin, Montana, where he sought employment as a cowboy, a vocation he was, apparently, ill-suited for at such a tender age. While he was in Montana, he met Jake Hoover, a rancher who owned land in the Basin, who took Russell under his wing and taught him the ropes of the rough-and-tumble lifestyle, enabling Russell to work for a number of employers, including the O-H Ranch, and the two would remain lifelong friends.

It was during this time that Russell became famous for his artistic work. He had always displayed artistic talent, sculpting in clay and sketching scenes as a young man, and he continued to employ these talents while he was working as a night herder, including the particularly brutal winter of 1886. When the owner of the O-H Ranch wrote to the ranch to inquire as to how the winter had gone, the foreman simply sent him a watercolor that Russell had painted of an emaciated steer encircled by patiently waiting wolves. The ranch owner kept the painting, showed it to many of his friends, and displayed it in a shop window. As a result, commissions for Russell began to come in, and Russell ultimately would revisit the work and expand on it, naming it Waiting for a Chinook, and it became one of his trademark works.

In 1888, Russell lived with Kainai, a branch of the Blackfoot people, after he was invited to live with them by Black Eagle, their chief, as he returned from a trip to Canada. During this time, Russell learned of the intimate details of Indian life, including their languages, religious ceremonies, stories, and social mores. This intimate love for the Native Americans manifested itself in his art, which portrayed figures like Sleeping Thunder and other heroes.

In 1893, Russell quit the cowboy life in favor of being a fulltime artist. Managed by his wife Nancy, he became immensely popular and critically acclaimed, with international recognition following Russell's works. He spent the next 33 years painting, sculpting, and drawing some 4,000 pieces, cementing his reputation as a cowboy artist, a title that follows him today. Russell's works are in high demand as one of those who illustrated and depicted the changing West as it happened, and he has had multiple pieces break the mythical million dollar mark, and two that broke five million.

CONDITION: Very good, retaining approximately 60-70% of the factory finishes. Barrel retains approximately 40% of the factory bluing with thinning and some chemical staining towards muzzle, with some pinprick oxidation at crown. Frame with faded case colors throughout, with recoil shields essentially gunmetal grey. Cylinder with silvering to front and rear of cylinder and a turn line. Straps are essentially gunmetal grey, with better coverage ahead of the trigger guard. Grips are heavily smoothened but fit extremely well. Mechanically fine, bore is very good with strong rifling.

Towards the end of his life, C.M. Russell became very pessimistic about the state of the West, and was known to make remarks such as "The West is dead...you may lose a sweetheart, but you won't forget her." Perhaps as he longed for the days of his youth, unfettered and free, he decided to order a material representation of that time, choosing the most iconic Colt he could think of and no doubt saw often and was intimately familiar with. After all, a cowboy at heart, Russell may have wanted to die with his boots on and Colt in hand.

Name
Value
Barrel Length
7 - 1/2"
Caliber/Bore
.44-40
FFL Status
Curio & Relic
Manufacturer
Colt
Model
Frontier Six Shooter
Serial Number
348876
Bidding
Current Bidding
Minimum Bid: $26,000.00
Final prices include buyers premium:
Estimate: $50,000 - $70,000
Number Bids: 5
Auction closed on Friday, January 24, 2025.
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