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"An example of colonial American creativity in design..." - Author George Schumway
54"
AS PICTURED AND DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK RIFLES OF COLONIAL AMERICA VOL. II BY SHUMWAY
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would have made this piece appear out of fashion.” He also notes that he believes the gun is of Southern origin, that
the lock is typical of the English locks imported in 1740-1775, and that the sideplate is an old replacement. The included display board states it is “attributed by Wallace Gusler” to “Hans Jacob Honaker,
Frederick County, VA.” and dates it to circa 1770. This smoothbore is also pictured and discussed in multiple included articles by Wallace Gusler listed below. In the “The Step Toe Group” in “Muzzle Blasts” from May 2004 it is illustrated along with the brass barreled rifle, and a group of 14 other related guns which he states originate from the lower Shenandoah Valley in what is now Rockridge and Botetourt Counties. The gun is also featured in “One Rifle Gun with Brass Box moles & wipers. . .[sic]” where it is listed as by an unknown maker but attributed to Botetourt County, Virginia, c. 1775 and noted as having an overall length of 6 ft 9 3/4 inches and a 4 foot 6 inch barrel. The brass barrel rifle is discussed in the article “One brass riffle gun & bullet moules. .[sic] .” in the included May 2003 issue of “Muzzle Blasts” and “Early Rifles of the Shenandoah Valley” from the American Society of Arms Collector’s Bulletin, both also by Gusler.
LOT 1097
Significant
Documented,
Engraved, and Carved Long American Flintlock
Smoothbore Hunting Gun Attributed to Hans Jacob
Honaker of Virginia with Sideplate Inscribed for A.
Moode on Sept. 15, 1789 - NSN, 57 cal., 54 inch part
octagon bbl., brown finish, curly maple stock. This long
rifle styled smoothbore hunting gun or “smooth rifle” is
documented in Shumway’s “Rifles of Colonial America
Vol. II” as no. 145 on pages 610 and 616. It is described
as an important and “unusual piece.” He notes, “I believe
that this gun was made by the same hand that made
the Brass Barreled Rifle, No. 103, and that makes each
of them all the more worthwhile to study.” Shumway
further notes: “The decoration and architecture of
this gun are outstanding and unusual. The cheek-
piece is long, with a wedge-shaped edge decorated
with incised lines and carving. At the rear end of the
cheek-piece is a step, similar to that present on rifle
No. 103. Between the step and the butt-plate is a relief-carved design in the shape of a flower-pot with flowers. Surrounding the barrel tang is a beaver-tail design in relief, and at the end of this is a fan with a distinctive edge treatment. . .This gun is an example of colonial American creativity in design, done most likely in the third quarter
of the 18th century. By the 1790’s
there were established trends in rifle architecture and decoration which