Scottish gunmaker Charles Playfair's business in Aberdeen started around 1821 and remained active until 1955. He became gunmaker to Prince Albert. Charles Playfair & Co. also began manufacturing fishing tackle around the 1840s. Charles Playfair died in 1876. His son, also Charles, was also a gunmaker and moved to Birmingham where he partnered with Thomas Bentley in the 1840s. Many of these 19th century Scottish flintlock pistols were part of ceremonial Highland dress which became popular among the elite in the 1820s and continued through the Victorian Era. Men of the Royal Family and their attendants are known to have worn Highland attire. The smooth bore barrel has polygonal muzzle and breech sections with scroll engraving and is marked "C. PLAYFAIR" on the upper left and "ABERDEEN" on the upper right at the breech. The stock and lock have Rococo scroll and martial engraving. A vent pick is screwed in at the center of the classic ram horn butt, and a belt clip is fitted on the left. The pistol essentially forms a pair with lot [BEA220] which has some subtle differences in engraving such as the inclusion of an initial oval on the back of the wrist but is otherwise fundamentally the same design. Provenance: Gillespie collection.