2540

EXTREMELY RARE HIGH ART GOLD INLAID RUSSIAN PINFIRE REVOLVER OF PRESENTATION QUALITY BY JOHANN NORMA

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:10,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
EXTREMELY RARE HIGH ART GOLD INLAID RUSSIAN PINFIRE REVOLVER OF PRESENTATION QUALITY BY JOHANN NORMA
NSN. Cal. approximately 7.5mm pinfire. 4-7/8" bbl, 10.4" overall. Bbl inlaid in raised gold "GH. I NORMANN IN TULA". Bbl is fluted and oct at muzzle. This unique revolver has the finest etching portraying Russian officers hunting on the cylinder of a quality virtually unknown on European pinfire revolvers. One can see the actual cut of the uniform coats and hats and the eyes on the small game they are hunting. The leaves on the trees are accurately delineated as well. The frame is etched with a Russian hunter holding a long gun and the other side a recumbent Russian with what appears to be a European man with long hair picking up his blanket. The etching on frame is accented in gold. Oct section of the bbl is inlaid in gold. Trigger guard is etched, as is the recoil shield on the rim. Perhaps the most Russian and the most wonderful feature of this gun is the elaborately carved ebony grip. On the right side amidst florals in raised relief is a raised relief boy with a fig leaf covering his private parts beating a drum. The other side depicts a boy with a pair of cymbals. Butt ends in an incredibly realistic lion head with teeth so accurately rendered one can see the facets of the molars. The eyes are pale amber inlaid with dark amber. Altogether a piece fit for the Hermitage Museum. NOTES: The etching on this revolver closely resembles two revolvers in the collection of Robert M. Lee, one of which was presented to the German Kaiser. Russian revolvers of this quality are seldom, if ever, encountered. Fewer than 5 have surfaced in the past two decades. PROVENANCE: Capt. Clair F. Ogden, Laurel, MD, 1951 by descent to the present owner. See letter from Theodore Dexter to Capt. Ogden dated May 20, 1951. CONDITION: Metal surfaces retain much of their original bright bluing. Hammer retains almost all of its original bluing. Gold is in pristine condition with the exception of a minuscule amount missing from the "L" and "A" in Tula. The ebony grip is pristine except for a very small chip where the top of the grip meets the frame. 4-48396 MZ18