"IOH. ANDRE. KUCHENREITER" and designs silver inlaid ahead of a sunken oval silver maker's mark on top of the barrel at the breech. A Johann Andreas Kuchenreuter (Kuchenreiter), living between 1758-1808, is listed as court gunsmith to the princes of Thurn and Taxis. These bellows air guns were generally made in the late 1700s to mid-1800s, and were used primarily for indoor target shooting. Their basic feature is a conical bellows hidden in the hollowed-out wooden buttstock. This bellows air gun has a tip-up smoothbore octagon barrel with a sleeved insert (loose) measuring at approximately .32 caliber/8 mm (possibly for use with 7.5 mm darts with a hair tail) that loads from the breech and releases with a lever located on bottom. Dovetail notch rear sight on the barrel (absent front sight), and mounted with a walnut stock with deeply cut floral relief carvings. Information related to these can be found on pages 213-214 of "Blue Book of Airguns, Thirteenth Edition". Provenance: The Dr. Robert D. Beeman Collection

Good, retains half of an old refinished blue finish mixed with smooth brown patina, and retains most of the silver inlays with a mostly tarnished appearance. The stock is very good with scattered scratches, dents, mild cracks, an absent chipped front right section, and defined recut carvings. The buttplate sits proud. Absent front trigger guard screw and front sight. The sleeved barrel insert is loose at the muzzle end. Mechanically untested.