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William H. Vanderbilt
Featured in the books "The William Locke Collection" by Sellers & "Colt Engraving" by Wilson
LOT 3205
Historic Documented Cased Factory Engraved Colt Model 1851 Navy
Percussion Revolver with Extraordinary Relief Carved Grip Formerly in
the William M. Locke Collection and Identified as Presented to William H.
Vanderbilt - Serial no. 92286, 36 cal., 7 1/2 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened/
silver finish, antique ivory grips. Dating to 1859, this beautiful deluxe Colt Model
1851 Navy revolver features beautiful factory engraving consisting of Germanic
style scrollwork inhabited by a dog or bear’s head on the left by the wedge, floral
blooms, beaded backgrounds, rayed/shell accents, a dot motif along the edge
of the barrel lug on the left, and beaded backgrounds. The hammer features the
classic dog/wolf head motif. The left side of the frame features the inscribed “COLTS/
PATENT” marking rather than the usual stamped marking. The patterns are similar
to the example attributed to Georg Sterzing on page 83 of “Colt Factory Engravers
of the Nineteenth Century” by Herbert Houze. His style is very similar to the work
of Gustave Young who would have been out of the country at the time. The barrel
features a dovetailed blade front sight and the “-ADDRESS SAML COLT HARTFORD
CT.-” address. The left side of the trigger guard has a “3”. Matching serial numbers
are visible on the cylinder, loading lever (partial), barrel lug, frame, trigger guard,
and back strap, and the factory dot marking denoting special finishing and/or engraving is stamped above or below the serial numbers along the bottom of the revolver. The grip features a highly detailed raised relief carved bust of a dragoon officer. The revolver comes in a fitted case with wine colored lining, several projectiles, key, cartridge pack, blued L-shaped combination tool, Colt patent martial pattern flask with angled charger, blued ball/bullet mold, and an Eley Bros. cap tin.
This stunning revolver is featured in “The William M. Locke Collection” by Frank Sellers. The revolver is first illustrated on
page 6 within a selection of Colt Model 1851 Navy revolvers with a variety of carved grips that are illustrated again on page 103, and the cased set is then illustrated and described on page 106 where Sellers states: “Accompanying this revolver are letters and affidavits tracing the history of this gun from its original presentation by the Colt factory to William H. Vanderbilt, aide de camp to the Prince of Wales when he was on a visit to this country in 1865. Passed down through the family of Vanderbilt to an H.R. Lehman who sold it in 1936 to George W. Pariso whose collection was sold at auction in the early
1940’s.” It is also illustrated on page 85 of “Colt Engraving” by R.L. Wilson where it is noted as having been “accompanied by papers documenting its presentation to William H. Vanderbilt by the factory (papers have since been lost)”, and the historical attribution is discussed in the include 1979 letter from Arnold Marcus Chernoff to Dr. Jon Parker to whom he had recently sold the set. Per Chernoff, the original provenance documentation, which he had personally seen, had been lost after the set was sold from Locke’s collection.
Without the documentation, the revolver’s origin story has been difficult to pin down, and at least some of the history appears to be confused. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, (1841-1910), later King Edward VII, was the first Prince of Wales to tour North America and visited British North America (present day Canada) and the United Sates, but he made this tour in 1860 when he was just 18 rather than 1865. The revolver being presented in 1860 would be more logical given it was produced in around the latter part of 1859. The trip was initially planned to only include present day Canada, but the prince was invited
by President James Buchanan as well as by the leading men of New York, and additional cities subsequently extended invitations. The young prince saw much of the country by train in a short period and was hosted by leading men at many
of his various stops, sometimes harassed by rowdy crowds, particularly by Irish-Americans. After his arrival in New York City
on October 11, 1860, he was honored by multiple large parades, and a ball on the evening of October 12 at the Academy of Music paid for by 400 members of the New York elite who each contributed $100. Thousands of guests
showed up, leading to the floor partially caving under their weight, and the prince was moved away from the crown to the safety of the super room with the elite and later returned to dance with some of the ladies in the ballroom. He subsequently visited the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Boston, and then finally Portland, Maine, before returning home.
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