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LOT 1165 Positively Identified Master Engraver Gustave Young Masterpiece
Outstanding Presentation Cased Deluxe Factory Engraved Colt Model 1849 Pocket Percussion Revolver Documented/ Listed by Serial Number on Master Engraver Gustave Young’s Billing List from 1854 with Factory Letter - Serial no. 97516, 31 cal., 6 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened/ silver finish, antique ivory grips. This revolver is one of the most significant revolvers for understanding Colt’s most famous and most popular engravers of all time: Gustave Young. It is listed by serial number on the famous “Young lists,” specifically in the “6 inch” column of the list of work completed over four weeks ending on September 24, 1854. It is one of the few revolvers from that list known to survive. They are significant pieces as they have been used by arms historians such as R.L. Wilson
to identify Young’s work. It is one of a very few that can be positively identified to Young and his shop. When collectors of percussion Colt revolvers think of engraved Colts, it is Gustave Young’s iconic style that almost always comes to mind. He is,
by far, the factory engraver most respected by collectors. Only L.D. Nimschke can be compared for popularity from this period, and Nimschke was an independent engraver rather than the leading fine arms engraver for Samuel Colt.
AS PICTURED AND DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK SAMUEL COLT PRESENTS & THE BOOK OF COLT ENGRAVING BY WILSON
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