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LOT 1416
Exceptional Documented Award Winning Exhibition Engraved and Relief Chiseled J. Purdey & Sons .450 3 1⁄4 Inch (Black Powder Express) Push-Forward Underlever Hammer Double Rifle Displayed at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in
1878 and the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 and Subsequently Owned by Baron Keane with Case - Serial no.
9568, 450 Black Powder Express cal., 28 inch solid rib bbl., blue/gray
finish, walnut stock. This incredible double rifle was manufactured
in 1876 per the information on page 193 of Donald Dallas’s “Purdey
Gun & Rifle Makers: The Definitive History,” and it has been identified by
Dr. Nicholas Harlow, Gunroom Manager at James Purdey & Sons in London, as one of the guns displayed by Purdey at both the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1878 where the firm won a gold medal and subsequently at
the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 before being sold to the 3rd Baron Keane in July 1884. John Manly Arbuthnot Keane (1816-1901) is
a noteworthy figure when it comes to fine Purdeys from the late 19th century. He was the son of Lieutenant-General John Keane (1781-1844) who was created Baron Keane on August 12, 1839. Like his father, the younger John Keane also served in the army and was as a captain for thirteen years prior to his retirement in 1848. His elder brother, Edward (1815-1882), became the 2nd Baron Keane in 1844 with their father’s death but himself died without an heir leaving John to become 3rd Baron Keane. Keane purchased four of the eight guns previously mentioned in George Sala’s description of Purdey’s exhibit at the Exposition Universelle in 1878. When he died in 1901, the newspapers reported that he “bequeathed to the Duke of York his guns, gun cases and cabinets, his pistols, walking- sticks, and hunting and riding whips. The late Lord Keane’s estate has been valued at £11,789 gross, and £11,534 net.” Three of the four Purdey’s from the 1878 Exhibition thus became part of the Keane Bequest with another Purdey and four pistols and are preserved within the Royal Gunroom at Sandringham (for further reading on the Keane Bequest please read “The Royal Gunroom at Sandringham” by David Baker, p. 105-117), and only this
354 stunning double rifle remains in private hands.