Kurt Jager was born and grew up in Suhl. He was drafted and wounded in WWII and taken prisoner by U.S. forces. After the war, he initially engraved firearms primarily for American servicemen. He worked from the Weisbaden Rod and Gun Club at the American Air Force base. Once German citizens were allowed to own and purchase firearms again, his primary customers came from his homeland, and he moved his shop to the Mainz business district. The frame serial number on this Ithaca 1911 dates to 1943. The Colt National Match barrel has "NM 7790429" over the one line Colt address and "811355." The only visible marking on the slide is two line Ithaca address on the left. The frame has the serial number on the right. The mainspring housing is checkered and marked "K. JAGER/MAINZ." Nearly the entire pistol is engraved with Germanic leafy scrollwork with a punch dot background. The hammer has jeweled sides. It has blade and notch sights and a pair of checkered grips with a patriotic "Air Corp style" shield motif near the top on each side and carved elephants at the bottom reaching their trunks upwards. The pistol is in the top layer of the recent production hardwood case. The lower layer contains the two revolvers. The case has green baize lining and bright brass furniture.

Very fine as professionally custom embellished. 95% plus of the slightly thinned blue finish remains with a few bright spots, minor edge wear, and some light handling and storage marks. The grips are very fine with crisp checkering and carving and mild aging. It is mechanically excellent. The case is near mint with only light handling and storage marks.

Gun B and C of this lot are virtually identical. Both are Victory Model revolvers that have been beautifully engraved and signed by Kurt Jaeger in Germanic leafy scroll engraving similar to gun A but have mostly smooth barrels with engraving at the breech on top and a fairly large "R" in a circle on the right sides among the engraving. Both have "V" prefix serial numbers on the underside of their barrels and back of the cylinder indicating they were manufactured circa 1942-1944 and have matching assembly numbers on their frames and cranes. The have blue finished frames and barrels, plum blue cylinders, jeweled sides on the serrated trigger and checkered hammer, and are signed "KURT JAEGER MAINZ" on the left side of the top straps. The grips are carved with matching floral scroll designs and have specially made and engraved buttcaps that hold the panels together without the need for a screw through the center leaving an uninterrupted panel for carving. They have the standard rounded blade front sights and frame groove rear sights.

Very fine as professionally custom embellished. 95% plus of the blue and plum blue finish remains. There is some minor edge wear, a thin drag line on the cylinder, and some fading on the ejector rod/cylinder pin. The jeweling on the sides of the hammer and trigger retains distinct patterns. The grips are very fine with crisp details in the carving and some light aging. The action functions excellently.

As discussed in B.

Very fine as professionally custom embellished. 95% plus of the blue and plum blue finish remains. There is some minor edge wear, a slight drag line around the cylinder, some minor marks, and some fading on the ejector rod/cylinder pin. The jeweling on the sides of the hammer and trigger retains vivid patterns. The grips are very fine with crisp details in the carving and some light aging. The action functions excellently.