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The rainproof locks have the noted oval gold makers’ marks, frizzen spring rollers, burst and floral engraving, stepped tails and sliding half-cock safeties. The locks are fired using adjustable single set triggers. The triggers are enclosed by spurred trigger guards with pineapple finials. The forend caps and wedge escutcheons are silver. The half-length stocks have multi-point checkered wrists with a swirl designs carved on the pommels, a feature noted on other Cooper dueling pistols as well as those by H.W. Mortimer. The
stocks have a slightly humped profile at the top of the wrist, possibly indicating they were originally going to be made as saw handle stock, a design the company also produced, or perhaps to fit the pair to the original owner. The pair comes in a fitted mahogany case with green baize lining, Cooper trade label inside the lid, rod with rammer and covered worm as well as a jag, powder flask, “22” marked ball mold (22 bore is around .596 caliber), some patches and balls,
a casehardened mainspring vice, screwdriver, and brush. The lid has a flat folding handle and an oval escutcheon inscribed “ROBT. NEILSON/SAINT CROIX.”
A biography of Robert Neilson of Beck’s Grove Plantation, St. Croix, written by Greg Lampe is included. It indicates Neilson was a plantation and slave owner/”planter” on St. Croix in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands). His “Beck’s Grove” plantation was purchased from Jens Michelson Beck (1721-1791, a Danish surveyor and cartographer) in 1787 after the plantation had been damaged by a hurricane.
Beck had purchased the land in 1750 after surveying and mapping the island. In 1816, Neilson is noted to have 124 slaves and 310 acres, 150 of the acres dedicated to sugar production. Neilson’s wife, Mary, died in 1807. Neilson
died in 1821. The plantation and the adjoining plantation Clearmount/Clairmount was sold at auction on May 23, 1834, and purchased by Samuel Betts, originally of New York. As part of the stipulations of the sale, any owners of the property had to pay Neilson’s daughter Jane Mathilde Neilson (1807-1883) a 700 pound annuity. Betts was married to Neilson’s half-sister Susannah Lake. Lampe theorizes that Neilson may have been from Ireland and that the pair of pistols may have thus been returned to family members in Ireland after the sale of the plantation in 1834. The pair was sold to Irish collector Morris Cohen of Dublin by an Irish family in the 1950s.
CONDITION: Fine overall with bright original gold inlay, aged patina on the silver, 60% plus distinct Damascus patterns along the barrel along with a mix of light original brown finish and gray and brown patina, traces of case colors, strong original blue on the entry pipe and trigger guard bow, mild oxidation, and general mild overall wear. The stock is very fine and has crisp carving and checkering, small flakes by the tumbler, tension crack and scratches by the lock screw, and general mild wear. Mechanically fine. The case and accessories are also fine and have mild age and storage related wear. The mainspring vice has nearly all of the vibrant case colors remaining.
B) B. & J. Cooper Dueling Pistol - NSN, 62 cal., 9 1/4 inch octagon bbl., brown/
casehardened/blue/gold finish, walnut stock. See “A.”
CONDITION: Fine overall with bright original gold inlay, attractive aged patina on the silver, 70% distinct Damascus patterns along with a mix of fading original brown and gray and brown patina along the barrel, patterns of original case colors, a faint crack in the neck of the cock, strong original blue on the trigger guard bow and entry pipe, minor oxidation, and general mild overall wear. The stock is also fine and has distinct checkering and carving and some mild scratches and dings mainly by the wedge and lock screw. The adjustment screw from the set trigger is absent; otherwise mechanically fine. Overall, a very interesting and rare cased pair of American dueling pistols from New York that were well-traveled and have been in several prominent collections.
Provenance: The Morris Cohen Collection; The Louis Cohen Collection; The Gary Friedland Collection; The Charles duPont Collection; The Greg Lampe Collection.
Estimate: 27,500 - 40,000