This extraordinary rifle is one of less than 300 breech loading percussion long guns manufactured by William Walker Marston of New York City around the mid-1850s. Marston is best known for pepperboxes, single and multi-barreled percussion pistols, and early cartridge handguns. The incredible engraving on this rifle makes it truly one of a kind and has led to the speculation that this could have been Martson's personal gun. The left side of the frame has a detailed scene of a buck, a doe and fawn, and another doe in the background in a pastoral scene with a fence, trees, rocks, and foliage. The right side has a beautifully rendered rampant bobcat. The scroll engraving has very intricate structures, a few fruit and bloom accents, an eagle on the left side near the breech, serpentine bestial designs at the ends of the scroll patterns on the top and left side of the frame and front of the toe plate, and rosettes on the screw heads. The engraving can be seen in pulls on page 11 of "L.D. Nimschke: Firearms Engraver" by R.L. Wilson and marked with "X" indicating pulls of work done by another engraver, and the rifle is also pictured and discussed in illustrated in figures 27-29 in the article "W.W. Marston and His Guns" by L.D. Eberhart from the American Society of Arms Collectors in 1974 and identified as part of the H.M. Stewart collection and also discussed as possibly Gustave Young engraved and as "probably the finest known" Marston rifle and "by far, the most decorative piece I have ever seen . " A copy of "American Society of Arms Collectors Book of Historical Handguns Volume II" is included which includes the article by Eberhart discussed above as well as "Leftovers and Additions about W.W. Marston" also by Eberhart. An included letter from Greg Martin, it is listed as " Inventor W.W. Marston's Own Presentation Grade Specimen of his Design for a Percussion Breech Loading Sporting Rifle Manufactured Without a Serial Number" and identified as sold in lot 95 at his auction for the Stanley Diefenthal Collection on February 3, 2003. There is a tendency to attribute a large amount of the fine American arms of the 19th century to either Nimschke or Young to the exclusion of a number of other incredibly talented engravers in the U.S., especially given since this cohort were often influenced by the same pattern books, traditions, and one another. Regardless of the identity of the engraver, this rifle is an absolutely incredible work of art and is certainly the work of one of mid-19th century America's most talented engravers. The barrel has a dovetailed blade front sight, folding leaf rear sight with 300 and 500 yard notches on the leaf, and a pair of gold inlaid bands at the breech. The top of the frame is hand engraved with "W.W. MARSTON PATENTED 1850 NEW=YORK." The stock is a beautiful piece of birds-eye maple and has a double shadow line cheek piece and a blued steel butt-plate and toe plate. Provenance; L. D. Nimschke Scrapbook, Henry M. Stewart Collection, Greg Martin, Stanley Diefenthal Collection, Michael E. Simens, Private Collection

Exceptionally fine. The finely executed engraving remains extraordinarily crisp. The barrel and ramrod pipes retain 85% plus of the original smooth brown finish with some fading mainly on the bottom, a few light scratches and marks, and bright original gold bands at the breech. The hammer and lever retain 95% of the original vibrant case colors, and the colors are especially bright on the lever. There are some spots of pitting/roughness on the lever and triggers. The frame and buttplate retain 60% original blue finish which is fading to smooth gray and brown patina and some dings and scratches mainly along the bottom. The beautifully figured stock is also exceptionally fine and retains strong original finish and has only minimal handling and storage related wear. The trigger is not reliably tripping the hammer, but the individual mechanisms function fine. This extraordinary rifle has clearly been well cared for over a very long period. It is most likely the finest W.W. Marston breech loading rifle we have offered both in terms of the quality of the embellishment and in regards to the overall condition. Truly a masterpiece sure to enhance any advanced antique arms collection.