Joseph Tonks was active c. 1860-1868 at 49 Union St., and 1 Marshall St., Boston, Massachusetts. "J. TONKS, MAKER/BOSTON, MS." marked on top of the breech. Air guns of this style were used primarily for indoor target shooting. "Wind guns" had several advantages over conventional firearms including that they were quieter, smokeless, quicker to reload, and they also required less cleaning since they did not require corrosive black powder. This gallery air gun is chambered in approximately .25 caliber/6 mm with a smooth bore, and has a brass blade front sight, dovetail mounted notch rear sight and is mounted with a walnut stock. It functions through the use of a right side mounted lever that is pulled back for cocking in order to fill the cylinder reservoir, and upon pulling the trigger the spring loaded piston releases. Circular brass collection tag marked "R.D. BEEMAN/PRIVATE/COLLECTION/1403" hanging from the trigger guard. Provenance: The Dr. Robert D. Beeman Collection