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Historic Presentation Inscribed and Factory Engraved Cased Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolver
THE PROPOSED VILLAGE BY ROBERT OWEN, NEW HARMONY
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Robert Dale Owen
LOT 3188
Fine Factory Engraved Colt Model 1849 Pocket Percussion Revolver
with Case Inscribed for Robert Dale Owen - Serial no. 67508, 31 cal., 6 inch
octagon bbl., blue/casehardened/silver finish, antique ivory grips. The case has
a silver lid escutcheon inscribed “Robert Dale Owen/Naples” in ornate script.
Robert Dale Owen (1801-1877) was born in Scotland. His father was Welsh social
reformer Robert Owen, an early Utopian co-operative leader whose ideas led
to the establishment of multiple Owenite socialist communities. The Owens
immigrated to the United States in 1825 and settled in Robert Owen’s new
Utopian community at New Harmony, Indiana. The younger Owen became
a spiritualist, writer, reformer, and leading political figure in Indiana in the
antebellum era. He moved to New York and worked with Frances Wright and the
Free Enquirer in 1828-1832. While in New York, he was a leader in the short lived
New York Working Men’s Party. He served as a Democratic representative in the
Indiana House of Representatives in 1835-1839, as an Indiana representative in
the U.S. House in 1843-1847 during which he introduced the bill that established
the Smithsonian Institution, and again in the state House of Representatives in 1851 to 1853 before being appointed by President Franklin Pierce as the United States charge d’affaires in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies based in Naples where he served from May 24, 1853 - September 20, 1858. He retired from politics and returned to writing. He served on the Ordnance Commission and Freedman’s Inquiry Commission during the Civil War. He was a leading proponent of emancipation and pressured Lincoln and his administration to act.
The revolver was manufactured in 1853, the same year Owen was sent to Naples, and features very fine factory engraving. It has five dots on the hammer spur suggesting the engraver spent five days engraving this beautiful revolver with complex scroll patterns. The right side above the wedge and left side of the recoil shield have animal faces, features known to be popular with the predominantly German-American engravers employed
by Colt starting in the early 1850s. It may be the work of Herman Bodenstein. His work, Herbert Houze has written, has all too often been attributed to Young. Houze’s research presented in “Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century” indicates Bodenstein engraved for Colt 1852-1865, so his career overlapped with Young.
The overall style of the scrolls and the minute size of the animal heads is certainly a bit different than what is often attributed to Young and similar to attributes seen on guns now attributed to Bodenstein. Regardless of the engraver, the work is exceptional and consists of fine scroll patterns, some interlaced sections such as on the sides of the barrel, floral accents, beaded backgrounds, some fine borders, a wolf or dog head motif on the hammer, fan patterns, small “COLTS/PATENT” marking hand inscribed on the left side of the frame, wavy line borders, and “Saml Colt” inscribed on the top of the barrel in script in place of the standard roll-stamped barrel address. There
is a small “3” on the left side of the barrel lug and side of the cylinder, dot marking by some of the serial numbers denoting the revolver was selected for engraving, and matching serial numbers. The case has a closely fitted interior and also contains an oak leaf pattern powder flask, Goldmark cap container, key, Colt brass bullet mold without sprue cutter, and L-shaped combination tool.
CONDITION: Fine with crisp factory engraving throughout, most of the
original silver plating showing attractive aged patina, 60% plus original blue
finish, most of the lightly aged original case colors, minor spotting, and gener
mild overall wear. The grip is very fine and has very attractive natural
grain, natural creamy tones, small discolored spot at the front edge on
the left, and minor age and handling wear. Mechanically excellent. The
case and accessories are very good with minor age and storage related
wear in the somewhat deteriorating lining, a bit of a gap around the upper right corner piece on the case lid, and very attractive natural aged patina on the silver lid escutcheon which has a crisp inscription. This is a beautiful early Colt revolver with a case inscribed to a rather radical U.S. diplomat in the 1850s.
Estimate: 8,500 - 13,000
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