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LOT 3331
Documented Cased Engraved Gold Accented John
Manton Flintlock Double Barrel Shotgun Made for
the Duke of Hamilton and Published in “The Mantons:
Gunmakers” - NSN, 22 gauge, 34 inch solid rib bbl., brown/
casehardened/blue finish, walnut stock. This early John Manton
shotgun from c. 1785 is listed on page 60 of “The Mantons: Gunmakers” by W. Keith Neal and D. H. L. Back and identified as
then owned by Neal and as having been originally made for the Duke of Hamilton. This would have been Douglas Hamilton,
8th Duke of Hamilton, 5th Duke of Brandon, and 2nd Baron Hamilton of Hameldon (1756-1799). The gun is illustrated in plates 35 and 36 and also mentioned on page
15: “One of his earliest double guns is a 22 gauge made for the Duke of Hamilton about 1785.” The browned Damascus barrels have a concave upper rib with a silver
blade front sight, no lower rib, “MANTON” and “LONDON” signed on the breech sections, gold bands and vent liners, and London proof marks. The standing breech has
a groove for a rear sight and foliate engraving. The locks are signed “MANTON” and have gold lined priming pans, rollers on the frizzens, ramps on the frizzen springs,
sliding safeties, and stepped tails. The blued steel mounts have foliate engraving along with a scene of a dog and fowl on the heel extension. A sling swivel is mounted
in the forend, and a sling stud is on the underside of the butt. The wedge and wrist escutcheons are silver, and the wrist escutcheon is engraved with the motto
“JAMAISE ARRIERE” (Never Behind) and the crest of the Douglas family. The stock is plain. A faint pencil marking on the forend includes “Castle”. Includes a mahogany
case with olive green baize lining and later John Manton trade label along with a suite of accessories and the tags from the
W. Keith Neal Collection. Notes indicate the gun belonged to the Duke of Hamilton and that Neal had purchased the gun
back around 1940 from a “Mr. Barlow.” It was purchased by Norman R. Blank from the sale of Neal’s collection in 2000.
LOT 3332
Superb Engraved and Gold Accented, and Silver Mounted John Knubley 16 Bore
Single Barrel Flintlock Sporting Gun - NSN, 16 gauge, 30 1/4 inch part octagon bbl.,
brown/casehardened/blue/gold/silver finish, walnut stock. John Knubley began his career
as a gunmaker in the county of Yorkshire in the 1760s before moving his business to London where he is recorded
at two addresses on Charing Cross between 1786 and 1794. He became gunmaker to the Prince of Wales, the Duke
of Clarence and Prince Edward, and was a contractor to the Board of Ordnance between 1790 and 1794. Upon his
death in 1795 his business was taken over by Samuel Brunn and continued as Knubley & Co. or Knubley & Brunn
until 1797. Norman R. Blank’s collection notes indicates he received this gun from W. Keith Neal in November 1959.
In an included description by Blank, he notes: “This is a very elaborate English gun.
The English are usually quite conservative in their use of gold and silver, and this
one shows quite a lot of it. I tried to shoot some clay birds from a hand trap with
this but without much success.” A certificate of authenticity for Mr. Blank from F.
Theodore Dexter is also included. The browned stub twist barrel has a gold front
sight with flush mounted gold “spider” base, chiseled girdles along with engraved
gold bands, engraved burst patterns, “KNUBLEY LONDON” signed in gold inlay on
the octagonal breech section, and a gold paneled breech. The standing breech
is deep relief engraved with a dog and bird scene along with scroll and foliate
patterns. The flat beveled lock has a stepped tail with a hound scene, a burst
pattern engraved on the sliding safety plate behind the bird and foliate pattern
engraved gooseneck cock, “KNUBLEY” signed in a gold oval surrounded by another
bird and dog accented by foliage, a gold lined priming pan, gold lining on the underside of the frizzen, a frizzen
roller, and a corresponding ramp on the frizzen spring. The buttplate and trigger guard are blued steel. The latter has
a silver inlaid oval inscribed with the initials “JV”.
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