Friday, May 9, 2008

An ‘Old’ Relic

Old English lock marked 'Brooke'.

Lock.

Close view of lock.

Sheet wrist repair.

Another view of wrist repair.

Sideplate repair also.

Large wood screw adds strength (to repair).

Folk-carved wood lid.

Interior or box mortise.

Closer view of carving.

Carving.

Cheek view.

Cheek side view.

Lock side view.

A pre-War gun of likely Carolina or East Tennessee origin. A great deal of secondary work is in evidence: wrist repair, replacement of (apparently) simple brass box with even more simplistic wood lid, brass tacks etc. I would imagine that these piece saw hard usage before, during and after the Revolution and possibly even into the Civil War-era. The stock is maple, the octagonal/round barrel is 20 gauge smoothbore and 46 inches long and the lock is obviously a very old English ‘3-screw’ trade or pistol lock which was remounted. A classic example of a ‘backwoods’ piece created via necessity. The stocking is relatively rough but displays some evidence of a practiced hand.

Photos and copy from Eric Kettenburg.

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