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LOT 3154
One-of-a-Kind Documented Colt Patent Model 1851 Squareback Navy Percussion Revolver Made as a Prototype for French Patent Approval and Future Manufacture in France - NSN, 36 cal., 7 1/2 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut grips. From the Samuel Colt Personal Collection, this revolver at first glance looks like rare and desirable but standard “Second Model Squareback Trigger Guard” configuration Colt Model 1851 Navy manufactured c. 1851 in very nice condition; however, closer inspection quickly reveals that this revolver is anything but a standard Colt. First off, the revolver has no serial numbers nor any Colt patent markings on the cylinder or frame (a “4” internally has been previously noted possibly an assembly number). The cylinder does have the classic Naval Battle of Campeche scene, but has a blank area where the patent marking is usually found. Turning our attention to the barrel, we find that the barrel is inscribed with “SAMUEL COLT BREVETE A PARIS” rather than stamped with a standard barrel address. This marking is a key clue as to the likely origin of the revolver. The revolver is finished in the typical fashion with a blued barrel and cylinder, casehardened frame as well as loading lever and hammer, nitre blue screws and trigger, military style non-plated brass grip frame, and a varnished walnut grip. It has an atypical bead on post style front sight and a small notch on the hammer for a rear sight. All identifiable parts except the barrel are Hartford 1851 2nd Model squareback parts.
The revolver is featured and discussed on pages 92 and 93 of “Samuel Colt: Arms, Art & Invention” by Herbert G. Houze where it is identified as a “Sample Patent Verification Belt Pistol” with no serial number from the Derek Povah Collection and identified as manufactured in November 1851. The book was published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name organized by The Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. Documents from the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art relating to the revolver being loaned to them for their exhibit are included. Only two firearms were borrowed from private collections for the Wadsworth exhibition, and this was the only Colt. This historic revolver is completely original, and one-of-a-kind, and is certainly of museum quality and importance.
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The
To satisfy French patent law, verification samples of patented
designs had to be submitted to government officials within six
months of a patent’s issuance. To satisfy these requirements, William E. Newton, Colt’s European
patent attorney, initially hired a Parisian gunmaker to build a sample in September 1851, based upon the
enrolled patent drawings. However, the arrangements came to naught when this maker, whose name is not known,
became ‘terribly frightened at the amount of work in it’ and withdrew from the project. As a result, Newton decided to
have the verification sample made from ‘the pieces of the one you let me have.’ Problems were evidently encountered
in carrying out this plan, as Newton informed Colt in November 1851 that the maker he had engaged to do the work, Louis-Francois Devisme, had to make ‘a barrel following your plan’ before the pistol could be finished. Interestingly, the cylinder of this revolver was roll-engraved with an unfinished die that did not include the standard COLT’S PATENT / No. panel.” William Edward Newton (1818-1879) was a London born surveyor and civil engineer. He joined Newton, Berry & Son
(later Newton & Son) with his father and spent much of his career working as a patent agent. In an included letter from
Arnold M. Chernoff to Mark Schumann, the revolver is also noted as featured on page 700 of the two-volume record of
the Nunnemacher Collection, and Chernoff’s letter also provided the additional provenance details below.
CONDITION: Extremely fine with 80% plus original blue finish on the barrel, 30% of original blue on the cylinder, 50%
plus original case colors, generally smooth gray and brown patina on the balance of the steel, aged patina on the grip
straps, and mild overall wear. The cylinder scene and barrel markings are distinct. The grip is also very fine and has some
nice figure and grain, general small scratches and dings, and mild edge wear. The loading lever latch must be manually
pulled forward to latch. Mechanically excellent. Overall, this is a very fine early prototype Colt Model 1851 Navy with the
book also notes that Samuel Colt’s
1861 inventory of his “small office” notably listed “1 Navy Pistol marked in French” suggesting this revolver became part of Colt’s collection. The revolver is further described as: “Although the revolver illustrated here has long been regarded as a French copy or counterfeit of a Colt Belt Pistol, it is actually something entirely different.
desirable squareback trigger guard furthered greatly in its importance by being un-serialized and marked “Samuel Colt Brevete a Paris” on the barrel.
Provenance: The Samuel Colt Small Office Collection; The Rudolph J. Nunnemacher Collection;
The Milwaukee Public Museum; The John Solley III Collection; The Antique Armory Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Arnold Marcus Chernoff Ltd.; The Mark Schumann Collection; The Derek Povah Collection.
Estimate: 75,000 - 100,000
AS PICTURED AND DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK SAMUEL COLT: ARMS, ART AND INVENTION BY HOUZE