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LOT 19
Exceptional Antique Factory Exhibition Quality Game Scene Engraved and Gold/Platinum Inlaid Marlin Deluxe Model 1895 Lever Action .45-90 Rifle - Serial no. 140976, 45-90 cal., 26 inch part octagon bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut stock. Manufactured in 1896. The rifle is decorated with highly unusual, possibly one-of-a-kind factory engraving. The embellishment does not correspond to any of the standard factory patterns established by noted Master Engraver Conrad Friedrich Ulrich, Jr., who was the engraver for Marlin and did a majority of the engraving for the company from 1881 until 1910 when he left for Winchester. Ulrich spent a lifetime embellishing some of the finest high art firearms of the period. This Model 1895 certainly features an exhibition quality engraving that exemplifies Marlin artistry in the late 19th century. It is an unpublished work of artistry well
deserving of the finest firearms collection, and to quote firearms historian R.L. Wilson, stands as an example of the “American tradition of excellence in gunmaking.”
The receiver is engraved with a sporadic grape leaf pattern on an extensive large punch dot background that extends to the bolt. The pattern greatly differs from the leaf and berry embellishment commonly used on factory Grade No. 10 style engraving. Three game scenes are richly engraved on the receiver as well as one scene on the bolt. These wonderful, highly detailed game scenes are the following: The left side depicts a grizzly bear confronting a snake protruding from a grape vine. The right side features a stag standing alert in an open field and stalked by a mountain lion perched on a tree limb on the bolt. The underside features a menacing bear’s head in a circular panel.
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