This attractive pair of early 19th century English dueling pistols is featured on page 130 in plate 487 of "British Gunmakers: Their Trade Cards, Cases and Equipment, 1760-1860" by W. Keith Neal & D.H.L. Back where they are noted as manufactured c. 1815. A noted London gunmaker, Samuel Henry Staudenmayer was located at 35 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross in 1800-1816 and then was located at No. 32 in 1816-1834. He manufactured firearms for the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. According to the Museum of London, "[Staudenmayer was] a former apprentice of the famous London gunmaker John Manton. Staudenmayer worked in the fashionable West End and specialized in dueling pistols for an exclusive aristocratic clientele." The smoothbore, Damascus barrels have fixed blade front sights, casehardened patent breeches with platinum bands and liners and platinum "STAUDENMAYER/LONDON" sunken maker's marks. The underside of the barrels have the serial numbers and crown marks. The bottom of the breech plugs have "crown/FP" proofs. The standing breeches feature fixed notch rear sights and burst and floral engraving. The locks are signed "STAUDENMAYER/LONDON" and have frizzen rollers, guttered/rainproof pans, stepped tails, beveled edges, and burst and floral engraving. The triggers are plain but are tuned for a light pull. They have stylized pineapple finials on the trigger plates and spurred trigger guards with floral and classical martial engraving. The wedge escutcheons are silver as are the oval inlays on the pommels which are engraved with a crest of a cock. The half-length, sawhandle stocks have contrasting forend caps, nice figure, checkered wrists, and flared pommels. The pair comes in a fitted case with a lioness head over a torse and a pelican in her piety over a coronet inscribed on the oval lid escutcheon, flat folding handle, green lining, a Staudenmayer trade label inside the lid (see Neal and Back's book on page 84), loading/cleaning rod with a covered worm, a mainspring vice, three-compartment flask bound with red Moroccan leather, several balls, a "WD" and "No 40" marked ball mold, set of turnscrews, and a brush.

Exceptionally fine with 95% plus brown finish and distinct Damascus patterns along the barrel, 90% plus original case colors on the patent breech and standing breech, lighter original case colors on the lock, 85% plus original blue finish on the furniture, attractive aged patina on the silver, bright platinum, crisp engraving and markings, and generally minor age and storage related wear. The stock is very fine and has crisp checkering, attractive figure and grain, a few dings on the left flat, and otherwise minimal wear. Mechanically excellent. The case and accessories are also very fine and have minor age and storage related wear.

See "A." Provenance: The W. Keith Neal Collection; The Greg Lampe Collection

Very fine with 90% plus brown finish and distinct Damascus patterns along the barrel, 90% plus original case colors on the standing breech, lighter original case colors on the patent breech and lock, 90% plus original blue finish on the furniture, attractive aged patina on the silver, bright platinum, crisp engraving and markings, and generally minor age and storage related wear. The stock is also very fine and has crisp checkering, attractive figure and grain, a few dings, and minimal overall wear. Mechanically excellent. This is a desirable pair of pistols from a high end but lesser known maker. Staudenmayer flintlocks are hard to find, and this pair has previously been in the collections of two renowned collectors.