Page 28 - 87-BOOK1

26
Oliver Winchester’s Winchester Repeating Arms Co. produced several absolutely incredible exhibition pieces in the late 1860s and early 1870s for the World’s Fairs
and other major exhibitions both in the U.S. and abroad. Many of these rifles were then subsequently presented to important international dignitaries, some not until many years later, as part of the company’s international marketing efforts. Rock Island Auction Company has had the pleasure of bringing several of these rifles to auction in recent years such as the German silver Model 1866 sn. 36200 sold in 2016, the Herman Leslie Ulrich signed 1876 Centennial Exhibition Model 1866 sn. 109651, and the President Marco A. Soto of Honduras presentation Model 1873 rifle sn. 18264 sold last May. Winchester had these rifles engraved by the finest engravers of the period, including Gustave Young, the Ulrichs, and L.D. Nimschke, and they are among the finest works of firearms art ever created and thus are not surprisingly among
the most valuable antique American firearms. Factory records unfortunately are unavailable for many of these early rifles, but the factory records that are available for some, such as Model 1873 sn. 16139, confirms a select group of these rifles engraved by former Colt Master Engraver Gustave Young.
For those that have handled and examined many Colts engraved by Gustave Young, the master engraver’s hand in engraving this rifle is immediately evident, but this is especially noteworthy given how few Winchesters were actually engraved by Young. Very few Gustave Young engraved firearms are anything besides Colts and Smith & Wessons. The exceptional engraving on this rifle shares similarities with sn. 26283 pictured from the Johnie Bassett collection in the Antique Arms Annual from 1971 on pages 88 and 89 and noted as “A superbly engraved Model 1866 Winchester rifle, serial number 26283, made as an exhibition piece by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, c. 1867-68. The decoration is of the finest and most exquisite design and execution, and represents the superior work of the renowned Gustave Young” and also notes “He is known to have taken on commissions from Winchester, but only
on rare occasions.” That rifle is also shown on pages 24 and 42 of “Winchester: An American Legend” by R.L. Wilson and other publications. The description of that rifle could just as easily be applied to the current piece.