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LOT 81
Historic Documented Pair of Silver Mounted H.W. Mortimer & Son Saw-Handle Flintlock Dueling Pistols Inscribed from the Prince Regent to Spanish Rebel Francisco Sayus in 1811 and Identified as Later Presented to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory -A) H.W. Mortimer & Son Dueling Pistol - NSN, 28 bore/.54 cal., 9 1/4 inch octagon bbl., brown/casehardened/blue finish, walnut stock. This is a very rare pair of royal presentation H.W. Mortimer & Son dueling pistols. The pistols have copper blade front sights on the smoothbore barrels, platinum banded and lined breech plugs with inset platinum “crown/MORTIMER/FLEET-ST” maker’s marks, notch rear sights and sight grooves on the engraved upper tangs, “H.W./Mortimer/& SON” signed locks with border and classical martial engraving, sliding safeties, waterproof pans with platinum lining, and frizzen spring rollers; “89/FLEET ST” among the martial trophies on the spurred trigger guards, single set triggers, pineapple trigger plate finials, floral engraved pommel caps, checkered saw-handle stocks, silver forend caps and wrist escutcheons, and two silver inlays on the left stock flats: the front a banner inscribed “To Don Francisco Sayus/-THE SPANISH PATRIOT-/The FRIEND of BRITAIN” and the rear a circle
108 with the arms of the Prince Regent and “From H.R.H./The PRINCE/REGENT/
of GT/BRITAIN.” The pair comes in a later case with some balls, a brass ball mold, cleaning rod, patch tin, screwdriver, and jag.
We have found previously unknown period documentation on these presentation pistols. “Gaceta de la Regencia de Espana e Indias Del
Jueves 3 de Octubre de 1811” states (translated from Spanish) that information from A Coruna on August 30, 1811, indicates three English frigates had arrived at Motrico and delivered rifles and other goods for Colonel Francisco Espoz y Mina’s division and “The Cantanabrian patriot
D. Francisco Sayus, one of the Spaniards who worked the most on the principles of our sacred insurrection to excite the patriotism of his compatriots and provide them with shelter to sustain it, has just received from H.R.H. the Prince Regent of England a very honorary office and a pair of extremely fine pistols, on each of which is engraved the following: To D. Francisco Sayus, the Spanish patriot and friend of England. From H.R.H. the Prince Regent of Great Britain.”
Francisco Sayus (Don Francisco de Sayus) was a Spanish merchant and official. The son of French parents, he was a supporter of the Bourbon monarchy and Spanish independence during the Napoleonic Wars and
attempted to free King Fernand VII who was held as a prisoner in France from 1808 to 1814 per Rafael Perez Llano but fled back to Spain when the operation proved to be a trap. Spanish sources from the 19th century indicate he was a representative Field Marshal Francisco Espoz y Mina
of the 7th Army, a Spanish guerrilla leader who later was promoted to commander-in-chief of Upper Arragon and fought under the Duke of Wellington. Sayus is listed as a member of the Real Junta de Gobierno (Royal Governing Board) in 1802, as the primary consul on the board in 1808, and as an “honorario” in the eighteen-teens and twenties. On August 8, 1809, Sayus, then treasurer, reported to the council in Santander that
he was being treated as a criminal and had been imprisoned and that
he received death threats from the French authorities and had become impoverished advancing resources to the city and its inhabitants. He indicated General Jean-Pierre-Francois, Comte de Bonnet, then based in Santander, “said that it was necessary to hang me or shoot me.” As a result, he was in constant fear for his life and resolved to leave for his own safety, noting that his current state “is not living: this is a death that is all the more cruel the longer it lasts” leaving behind his family which he asked the council to look after which they accepted. He returned home again in September 1812 and soon returned to his role as treasure.