This beautiful revolver is nearly as its original owner would have seen it when they first opened the case back in 1860 on the ever of the American Civil War. It is truly one of the absolute finest Colt Model 1849 Pocket revolvers in existence and would be near impossible to improve upon in terms of condition and eye appeal. It is accompanied by a letter from R.L. Wilson attributing it as "Gustave Young Shop" factory engraved in the No. 2 style. However, the revolver was manufactured in 1860, and Young had left for a return trip to Europe by that the time. Herman Bodenstein took his place as primary engraving contractor. The engraving may be by Bodenstein or Georg H. Sterzing who was also an engraver in Hartford. Note the similarities with the revolver shown on pages 92 and 93 of Houze's "Colt Factory Engravers of the 19th Century" that is attributed to Sterzing. The letter indicates this revolver was selected to have been featured in "The Colt Engraving Book" by Wilson and has the proposed caption listed, but it was apparently inadvertently left out. The engraving is truly spectacular and consists of the classic Germanic scrollwork with floral and shell accents, a dog head among the scrolls on the left side of the barrel, the wolf's head motif on the hammer, "COLTS/PATENT" hand inscribed instead of stamped on the left side of the frame, and a blank section on the back strap where inscriptions could be added. It features a 4 inch barrel with rare dovetailed blade front sight and the rare "-ADDRESS SAML COLT/HARTFORD, CT.-" barrel address in two lines. The five-shot cylinder has the classic stagecoach hold-up scene. Matching serial numbers appear on the loading lever, wedge, arbor, cylinder, barrel, frame, trigger, guard, and back strap. The factory "." marking designating special finishing is marked above or below the lower serial number locations. The left side of the barrel lug has a "2," "T" is marked on the face of the cylinder, and the left side of the trigger guard has a "B" and a "G." The grip is piano varnished deluxe walnut with some very attractive figure. The case has dark blue lining, a Eley Bros. cap tin with orange label, Great Seal of the U.S. themed Colt pocket flask, balls and bullets, key, L-shaped combination tool, and blued ball/bullet mold. Provenance: The Martin Lane Collection; The Greg Lampe Collection

Excellent. The engraving and markings remain exceptionally crisp. 95% plus bright original high polish blue finish remains on the barrel and cylinder, and 97% of the vivid original case colors remain on the frame, loading lever, and hammer. The grip straps retain 90% original silver plating which displays mild aged patina. The revolver only exhibits the slightest age and storage related wear along with one tiny patch of faint pitting between two of the nipples. The grip is also excellent and has glossy original varnish, stunning figure, and some minor scrapes and dings mainly at the heel on the left. The case and accessories are in the same remarkable condition as the revolver, including nearly all of the original blue remaining on the mold and combination tool, nearly all of the original niter blue on the spring on the flask, and the vast majority of the original brown finish on the flask body. R.L. Wilson noted, "For its beauty, rarity and overall quality and richness, No. 180728/. Model 1849 Pocket is ranked among the finest examples of this type [of] Colt revolver known. As such, the piece is perfectly qualified to exemplify the finest in percussion Colt engraved revolvers of the .31 caliber genre. No. 180728/. stands among the best out of the entire production in excess of 325,000 revolvers, well worth of the finest museum or private collection."