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LOT 3213
Exceptional Cased Colt “Root” Model 1855 Sidehammer
Pocket Percussion Revolver - Serial no. 3340, 31 cal., 3 1/2 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. The Colt Model
1855 Sidehammer Pocket Revolver was the only handgun designed by Samuel Colt using a solid frame and was nicknamed after his foreman and superintendent Elisha K. Root who took over as the company
president after Colt’s death. They were manufactured first in .28 caliber and then in .31 caliber and are certainly among the finest pocket handguns of the era. Only approximately 14,000 of the .31 caliber Model 1855 Pocket Revolvers were manufactured c. 1860-1870 across multiple variations.
This “Model 5” variant was manufactured in 1861 with a two-stage barrel
with a cone front sight and “ADDRESS COL. COLT/NEW-YORK U.S.A” marking, fluted cylinder with “PATENTED SEPT. 10th 1850” in one of the flutes, varnished one-piece grip, and matching serial numbers visible on the bottom of the barrel and butt. The case contains an eagle pattern powder flask, blued Colt’s patent ball/bullet mold, and a cartridge pack.
CONDITION: Exceptionally fine with 85% plus original bright blue finish, some minor fating mainly
at the edges and back strap, bright original case colors, and some minor marks and scratches. The
grip is excellent and has most of the original varnish remaining, a slight chip at the heel on the left,
and a few minor handling and storage marks. Mechanically excellent. The case is fine and has mild
age and storage related wear. The accessories are very fine and the bullet mold is excellent with 95% strong original blue finish and minor wear. Provenance: The Don and Carol Wilkerson Collection.
Estimate: 7,000 - 9,000
LOT 3214
Rare and Historic First Edition Elizabeth H. Colt Presentation Signed Copy of “Armsmear” - Offered here is a first edition (1866, printer: Alvord, New York) of the privately printed biography of famed firearms inventor and manufacturer Samuel Colt, “Armsmear: the Home, the Arm, and the Armory of Samuel Colt. A Memorial.” The book features a handwritten dated presentation inscription by Samuel Colt’s widow, Elizabeth. The inscription reads, “Mr & Mrs F.W.H. Sheffield,/With the affectionate regards of/Mrs Samuel Colt./Armsmear/Christmas 1866.” Elizabeth or Samuel Colt’s connection to the Sheffield family remains unknown at the time of the writing. F.W.H. Sheffield appears to have been a banker in Dubuque, Iowa, who in 1873
was caught up in a scandal involving defrauding the customers of two banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. When Samuel died Elizabeth inherited control of her husband’s famed firearms manufacturing company worth $3.5 million dollars in 1862 or nearly $97 million in 2021 dollars,
and she is largely credited for rebuilding the company in the aftermath of the 1864 fire. Following the death of Elisha Root in 1865, her brother, Richard Jarvis, became company president, and the brother-sister duo oversaw the company’s successful transition from manufacturing percussion arms of the second half of the 19th century to semi-automatic and machine guns of the early years of the 20th century. Outside the firearms business, Elizabeth was an active community leader in Hartford. For over 20 years she served as president of the Union for Home Work, an organization that provided daycare services for children of working mothers. She was the first president of the Hartford Soldiers Aid Society, a Civil War woman’s charity organization that organized the delivery of donated goods to soldiers both
in the field and in the hospital. She organized the first suffragette convention
in Connecticut in 1869. Due to her charitable civic actions she was given the
honorary title “The First Lady of Hartford.” Upon her death in 1905, Elizabeth Colt
willed to the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford an extensive
collection of American and European art, furnishings from her Armsmear estate,
and her husband’s personal collection of firearms, edged weapons and armor.
Much of the collection is displayed in the Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Memorial
Wing, which was the first American museum wing to be
named after a woman donor.
CONDITION: Very fine overall, showing little wear for its advanced age. The gilt
embossing is bright. Elizabeth Colt’s signature is clearly legible as is the rest of
the inscription. A truly
wonderful piece of Colt
history that would look
great in any Colt collection!
Estimate: 5,500 - 8,500
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