Like many of the American gun engravers whose work graces Colt revolvers or Winchester and Marlin rifles of the 19th century, Rudolph Kornbrath learned his craft in Europe before immigrating to the United States in 1910.

Kornbrath is among the generation of engravers that followed L.D. Nimschke, Gustave Young and the Ulrich brothers. He set up shop in Hartford, Conn., near many of the nation’s gunmakers. Working independently, he took commissions from individuals and gun companies like Colt, Hoffman Arms and Griffin & Howe among others.

His artistry can be found in a number of museums alongside many of the names already mentioned as well as Cuno Helfricht and Wilbur Glahn. Kornbrath’s embellished arms are held up as art in a number of books on gun engraving. Among his commissions was a side-by-side double rifle imported by Frederick Adolph for Theodore Roosevelt on display at the NRA Museum.

This phenomenal Colt Officers Model made for target shooter Charles H. Wilson is an astonishing display of engraving with elaborate engraving across nearly the entire surface of the gun. The highly detailed, intertwining floral scrolls cover nearly all of the barrel, frame and cylinder. The sides of the hammer, trigger and front sight also bear scrollwork. The trigger and grip straps are finely knurled.

The History of Gun Engraving

Before firearms, weapons, whether they slashed, stabbed or battered, were adorned. The first embellished firearms appeared about 1380 and were colored and carved whether it was scrimshaw or wood and engraved on the metal. Japanese matchlocks, introduced by the Portuguese, bore inlays.

Early gunmakers worked for royalty or nobility and their pieces were often made for their benefactor’s enjoyment or to be presented to an ally or patron. By the 17^th century gunmakers had elevated their work into an artform, as seen by some of the amazing pieces made by French gunmakers of the era.

Rudolph Kornbrath proudly used photographs of this exhibition quality Winchester Model 1885 with its flowing scrollwork and brilliant deep relief game scenes as advertising for prospective customers and for good reason. Beautifully executed floral scrolling completely covers the action surrounding by astonishing game scenes. The left side features a bighorn ram standing alert on a cliff face. The right side shows a mountain goat also standing warily, bleating an alert as it prepares to retreat.

European artisans flocked to American gunmakers as the companies sought to offer something to customers seeking opulence. Samuel Colt took a cue from European nobility by offering ornate presentation pieces to potential patrons and politicians who could advance his company. Despite the leap in manufacturing processes of the mid- to late 19th century, the finest engraving was still done by hand. That was no different for Kornbrath in the early 20th century.

This exquisite Colt Single Action Army shipped to famed retailer Wolf & Klar of Fort Worth, Texas in 1935 offers outstanding factory engraving by Kornbrath, with grips carved by Alvin A. White. The nickel finish glistens with scrollwork on the frame to the grip straps. Even the screws are engraved for a floral appearance.

Kornbrath’s History

He learned his craft at a trade school in his native Austria at the age of 13. His father, Ferdinand, was also an engraver, who Rudolph called one of the finest in Europe. When his father died, the younger Kornbrath set up his own business at the age of 15. He first arrived in Cleveland, Ohio before moving permanently to Connecticut.

Kornbrath had a number of shops, but by the early 1930s he was set up on the fourth floor of a Hartford bank building. A brochure for his work offers up the idea to “have a picture of your dog engraved on your gun.”

This Kornbrath-engraved Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum is brilliant in its subtle adornment. The blued finish shows the airy scrolling given space on the stippled background swirling around the family crest of Sheldon Marston who ordered the gun.

Most importantly, the brochure plainly states “Many sportsmen do not realize that no finer engraving is done anywhere in the world today than that done in the Kornbrath Shop in Hartford, Conn.”

An avid hunter and fisherman, his fishing exploits were often newspaper fodder. In 1937, Kornbrath suffered a debilitating stroke at the age of 60 and was unable to continue his work. He died in 1946. Griffin & Howe consider Kornbrath one of the company’s most renowned engravers along with Joseph Fugger, who Kornbrath trained. A collection of Kornbrath’s papers are located at the McCracken Research Library at the Cody Center of the West.

“No two guns that I engrave are ever decorated alike, unless they constitute a pair,” he told a newspaper reporter. “Of course if someone bring in a picture of the design he wants engraved on his gun, I reproduce it for him. Otherwise all designs are my own.”

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(pic, Lot 2358/au 75) This remarkable Winchester Model 12 features exceptional game bird and dog scenes surrounded by scrolling and scalloped borders around the game panels that show details of the field, like waving grass and a tree stump with the dog on the left and rushes and a fence with pheasants on the right.

Kornbrath on Gun Engraving

Sitting at his workbench with a wall of animal drawings and photographs behind him in 1933, he opined to the reporter for “The Hartford Courant” newspaper about his work and gun engraving.

“It is an old art, and a beautiful one. Man’s passion for decoration has come down through the ages unchanged.” He said in the article. “Have you ever seen a collection of fine tools of the chase? To see them is to marvel. The beautifully worked blades of swords and daggers, the carving on old crossbows, the engravings on ancient muskets are irresistibly beautiful. It is the same with engravings on guns when they are executed by a competent craftsman. The work is fascinating.”

Kornbrath said he rarely pencils in a design, devising what he wants to do in his head and simply executing that plan. He talked about research on animals in order to translate them to the gunmetal.

This exquisite pair of Kornbrath engraved Hoffman Arms shotguns offer a small canvas that the master engraver made the most of, with a pheasant in a hunter’s sight on one side and bird dogs on the other with tight scrolling surrounding them. The underside of each shotgun shows a duck in flight along with gold inlays including the gold signatures of “E.D. Nunns” and “R.J. Bresnahan.”

“You’d be surprised what a wide range of knowledge a person in my trade must possess to comply with the demands of his clients,” he told the reporter. “I doubt there is if there is an animal in existence whose likeness I have not, at some time or other, engraved on a gun. To be able to do this I must know all about their anatomies, how they move, how they look in action and what postures they assume when at rest.”

Kornbrath told the reporter he had done work for nearly every weapons manufacturer in the United States. “If you do good work, people will tell each other about you.”

This Fox A.H. Sterlingworth side-by-side shotgun was engraved by two giants of 20th century engraving, master engravers Rudolph Kornbrath and William Gough, both whose signatures are on the gun. Kornbrath signed the barrel engraving of Native American Huntresses. On the left is a woman with a bow crouching in woodlands lining up a shot on a buck, while the right side shows a woman who has just shot a bear with an arrow and is reaching for a second arrow. The gun is also adorned with floral scrolling but also has gold inlaid bands at the breech and gold inlays include dogs on the frame and flowers on the recoil shields. Gough was Fox’s in-house engraving foreman.

Kornbrath’s Gun Engraving

Kornbrath’s work is recognizable by its tight scrolling and precision while still portraying movement. He frames his animal panel scenes closely, making the space tight but not so small that the rocky crags of the mountainside aren’t detailed. His animal engravings shows game ready to spring, dogs sniffing at the wind and birds taking to the air. A true master of his craft, Kornbrath was bold enough to see the whole gun as a canvas whether it is a revolver, shotgun or rifle.

As it states in his brochure of the time, “Kornbrath artistic engravure on your gun will enhance its value in the same degree that proper landscaping adds to the living worth of a home, or beautiful settings increase the loveliness of fine gems.”

This BSA 12/15 rifle is a beautiful example of the work of Joseph Fugger who was mentored by Rudolph Kornbrath. The rifle shows the exquisite, flowing scrollwork that surrounds Fugger’s game scenes and impressive animal details he would’ve learned working with Kornbrath. Chambered in .22 LR, one side of the frame has a whimsical game scene of a hunter taking aim at a pair of treed squirrels.

Sources:

The Hartford Courant, July 2, 1933

"The Colt Engraving Book," by R.L. Wilson

This Walther/Talo PPK/S-1 is one of 400 manufactured to celebrate Master Engraver Rudolph Kornbrath. The gun bears Kornbrath-style engraving and Kornbrath’s initials on the grips and a gold inlaid oval with “RKE” on the rear of the slide. This gun is a fine tribute to one of the great engravers of the 20th century.