1525

EXCEPTIONALLY FINE 18TH CENTURY JAEGER RIFLE BY CHRISTOPH WILHELM FREUND OF FURSTENAU.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:20,000.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD
EXCEPTIONALLY FINE 18TH CENTURY JAEGER RIFLE BY CHRISTOPH WILHELM FREUND OF FURSTENAU.
NSN. (ca 1760) Cal..600 Groove diameter, 7 deep rounded grooves. 24" Elegantly swamped octagon blued steel bbl, is mounted with single standing engraved steel U-notch rear sight with gold-plated brass forward extension, has simple bead front, both sights dovetailed through. Area around front sight is gold inlaid with thin wire scrolls and geometric motifs. Top of rear portion of bbl has silver poincon of leaping stag, and another gold and silver circular poincon of sun. This is an acknowledged mark of C. W. Freund of Furstenau, working 1745 - 1780, whose name and address are gold and silver inlaid on top three flats of bbl at rear. Round body lock with inset round pan has unbridled frizzen with nicely filed stop. Frizzen acts against spring with friction. Spring is nicely file cut and has bulbous finial with fleur-di-lis tip. Lockplate is engraved "C Freund" in scroll and floral terminated riband under pan. "Furstenau" is below this along bottom edge of lockplate. Round bodied, serpentine cock is relief engraved with acanthus and flowers, which have gold-plated stippled background. Steel trigger plate is mounted with double set triggers. Full length stock with sliding patch box is of well figured European walnut with finely executed moldings along bbl and ramrod channels, sides of stock toe line, and around lock, patch box, and extension of buttplate tang. Further stock carving consists of exceptionally well done scrolled vines with floral highlights at bbl tang, behind tailpipe, at both sides of wrist, and behind cheekpiece. Patch box cover is also nicely molded with relief carving at center. Deeply relief cast and chased gilded brass furniture is exceptionally well inlet and is the trademark of this highly regarded gun maker. This furniture consists of scrolled trigger guard with acanthus relief finials with shell motif transitioning to grotesque mask on bow. Scrolled outlined sideplate depicts hunter running with rifle chasing down stag, which is being worried by hound from side. Bottom edge of cheekpiece is protected by acanthus scrolled inlay surmounted by large erotic scene of nymph and satyr in sylvan setting with bemused hound looking on. Top tang of buttplate depicts Belona, Roman goddess of war. Finial is acanthus scroll. Patch box cover has acanthus scrolled inlays at either end. There is a cartouche at wrist, with blank central oval flanked by lions and surmounted by crown. Forend cap with flared tip is also decorated with relief acanthus scroll. Ramrod pipe and tailpiece are octagonal with ring terminations. Walnut ramrod has spiral fluted tip. Sling loops are mounted 3" back from muzzle and on flat toe line. "No 31" is stamped between rear sling base and scrolled buttplate return. CONDITION: Excellent. Bbl retains nearly all of an excellent quality charcoal re-blue done by noted specialist in early rifles, Ronald Scott, who used this particular rifle as a model for one of his special courses in gun making in 2010. Bright polish of lock shows some slight discoloration, as does cock and rear sight. Stock retains nearly all of its orig oil finish with a few minor marks, as might be expected in over 250 years of existence. Furniture retains essentially all of its orig fire gilt. Most all screws retain their orig fire blue. Bore is excellent, bright and shiny throughout, appears unfired. Frizzen shows evidence of some flint strikes. Pan is unstained. An exceptional Jaeger rifle by one of the acknowledged masters of all time ... his rifles appear in many museums, notably seven in the Counts gun room at Erbach Castle in the Odenwald, which are illustrated in FLINTLOCK JAEGER RIFLES, MASTERPIECES OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY GUNMAKERS by Erhard Wolf on pages 326 - 387. Many of these illustrated rifles have furniture identical to that on this rifle. A copy of this book with its English translation is included with this exceptional early piece. 4-47162 MGM34