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LOT 170
Excellent, Exceedingly Rare Wilbur Glahn Factory
Master Engraved and Gold Inlaid Colt Police Positive
Double Action Revolver with Relief Carved Steer Head Ivory Grips and Factory
Letter - Serial no. 223102, 32 police cal., 4 inch round bbl., blue finish, carved ivory grips.
With the factory engraving from Master Engraver Wilbur Glahn, eight gold inlays, and relief
carved steer head Colt medallion grips, this Colt Police Positive DA revolver makes for a
striking, highly sought after, and rare pre-World War II decorative arm. According to noted
Colt historian R.L. Wilson Colt factory records account for about 150 Police Positives engraved
with only four out of the 150 having gold inlay (see “The Book of Colt Firearms” page 376). In
conjunction with the factory engraving and inlay, the revolver features a set of factory relief
steer head grips with silver Rampant Colt medallions. The revolver has Glahn’s distinctive style
of engraving with panels of scrollwork on the barrel, frame, cylinder, trigger guard, and back strap. The
eight gold inlays at the tips of the scrollwork are equally divided on each side of the frame. These are unusual
and rare features, in terms of the existence of gold inlays at all and based on what and where the gold inlays
are. Colt generally restricted gold inlay to barrel bands and inscriptions. The factory letter lists the revolver as
shipped to Alfredo Gottling in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 13, 1927 with a 4 inch barrel in .32 caliber, blue
finish, carved steer head motif ivory grips, and factory engraving and gold inlay.
According to "The Book of Colt Firearms"
by R.L. Wilson, approximately 150 Colt Police
Positive Revolvers were factory engraved, of which
only 4 were also gold inlaid.
There are other known Colt arms similarly adorned with Glahn’s most distinctive and rare
embellishment. First, there is Police Positive Special revolver serial number 378539 which was sold
by Rock Island Auction Company in December 2023 (lot 142, $28,750). The engraving is nearly
identical to the pattern featured on this revolver, including the scroll flourishes on each cylinder
chamber. The differences are in the number and styling of the inlay. The second Colt arm that shares
a similar embellishment is a Colt Single Action Army revolver serial no. 352655 Rock Island Auction
had the pleasure of selling in May 2022 (lot 199, $411,250). The Single Action Army has a more
elaborate and profuse engraving. Like its Police Positive no. 223102 counterpart, it too letters as
factory engraved and gold inlaid. Both the Police Positive and Single Action Army were shipped to
Buenos Aires, Argentina, retailer Alfredo Gottling. Gottling’s shop, “La Portena,” catered to the elite
in Argentina and thus was a key buyer of some of the most extravagant Colt revolvers and other
fine arms and in fact received a large portion of the known factory engraved and gold inlaid Colt
revolvers. Includes a leather bound case fitted to the gun and containing a bore brush and cartridge
block with a full complement of cartridges.
CONDITION: Excellent, retaining 95% original blue finish with some thinning on the back strap and
a rust patch visible on the rear of cylinder. The engraving is crisp. The grips are also excellent with
crisp carving and highly attractive color and grain. Mechanically excellent. The case is very fine. A
masterwork of Colt firearms artistry that will bring added dimension to any collection.
Provenance: The Charles Marx Collection.
Estimate: 20,000 - 35,000 177