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LOT 137
Revolutionary War Era Pair of Silver Mounted and Plated S. Aislabie Officer’s Flintlock Pistols with 1776 Hallmarks -A) Officer’s Flintlock
Pistol - NSN, 65 cal., 9 inch round bbl., silver finish, walnut stock. Blackmore lists Samuel Aislabie as a merchant at 7 Green Lettice Lane, Cannon Street in 1767-1788 and as an associate of Matthew Boulton of Birmingham and as having interests in Lisbon, Portugal. He appears to have been born in 1727 and
died in 1795, and was from Sheffield; which is notable given that city’s prominent role in developing silver plating and other metallurgical advances. Other sources
indicate his three children were all born in Lisbon where he was a merchant, and a man by that same name, possibly him, ran a coal mine at Ryton that employed early steam pumps. Blackmore concludes he is “Perhaps the dealer whose name appears on firearms of the period.” This squares nicely with the fact that few firearms marked “S. Aislabie” are known, yet a surprising
number feature silver plating and Birmingham hallmarked silver furniture from the mid 1770s. At least two other silver mounted and plated 1776 dated pairs from Aislabie are known. One pair is a near match to the current pair besides having been converted to percussion. However, flintlock pistols with silver plated barrels and locks are otherwise nearly unheard of. Dismounting the locks reveals that a fairly thick plate of silver was used. Inspection of the muzzles also show that the first approximately one inch of the bores is plated. The locks and barrels were probably plated using the close plate method by first tinning the parts and then fusing sheet silver on top. The barrels are marked “LONDON” on the sighting flats near the
breech and have Ordnance private proofs. The advanced flintlocks have “S/AISLABIE” in panels at the centers, rainproof pans, frizzen rollers, sliding safeties behind the cocks, and stepped tails. The barrels, barrel tangs, locks, and sideplates have scroll engraving. Trackline borders are used throughout. The tail of the locks, trigger guard bows, and sides of the pommel caps have floral blooms. The trigger guard finials are cast
with arms in the style often found on pistols believed to have been destined for the Ottoman market. The wrist escutcheons are engraved with a crest of a griffin’s head and coronet (appears to be for a marquess) over the initials “CM.” The full-length stocks have excellent raised relief shell carving around the
barrel tangs.
CONDITION: Fine with natural aged patina on the silver throughout and moderate oxidation and pitting on the areas that were not plated, such as the frizzen and
inside of the lock plate. The engraving and markings remain
distinct. The refinished stock is also fine and has glossy finish,
crisp carving, minor wear at the edges, and a repaired crack on the left flat. Mechanically fine.
B) Officer’s Flintlock Pistol - NSN, 65 cal., 9 inch round bbl., silver finish, walnut stock. See “A.”
CONDITION: Fine with aged patina on the silver throughout, crisp engraving, moderate oxidation and pitting on the non- plated metal, and general minor marks. The refinished stock is also fine and has crisp carving, smooth glossy finish, small filled spot on the left flat, and minor wear. Mechanically fine. This is a truly unique pair of pistols made for a nobleman who may have been an officer in the Royal Army or Navy. Provenance: The Richard P. Mellon Collection.
Estimate: 8,500 - 14,000
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