Product Details
AN EXTREMELY UNUSUAL AND RARE 32-BORE PERCUSSION SILVER-MOUNTED CARBINE WITH COLLAPSIBLE BUTT, SIGNED FORSYTH & CO., no visible serial number,
the mounts hallmarked for Birmingham, 1859, with stub-twist two-stage barrel, moulded band at the intersection, the silver boat-shaped fore-sight set on an inlaid silver 'X', scroll engraved breech-block with carved and fenced snail, engraved top-tang with sighting notch, flat scroll engraved bevel-edged step-tailed lockplate signed 'FORSYTH & CO, PATENT' (possibly re-used for this application), slab-sided dolphin-headed hammer engraved with scrolls in a differing style, dark walnut half-stock chequered at the wrist and with short butt, the surface crystalised possibly from heat, rectangular clipped corner escutcheon behind top-tang, deep silver butt-cap engraved around the sides with bands of acanthus foliage and borderlines, the heel-plate face carved in relief with a figure of Death in skeletal form carrying a scythe and an hour-glass, and surrounded with a plain border engraved with a legend in ancient Greek language roughly translating as 'All enemies faced are sent dead to Hades', and above the figure of Death also in ancient Greek 'I Win', the butt-cap pulling apart to reveal a stock lengthening bar locking open on a previously concealed catch, large silver belt-hook mounted to left side-cheek, the silver trigger guard bow engraved with a seated figure of Satan holding a pipe and a skull surrounded by the engraved French legend 'A quelque chose malheur est bon' (literally 'For something bad there is good'), silver oval barrel key escutcheons, fore-end cap, ramrod throat and thimbles, silver mounted ramrod and a small square bayonet lug fitted below the muzzle (some loss to detail through polishing to silver parts, small loss to left-hand edge of fore-end).
Note: This item was featured in the October 2016 edition of Sporting Gun . Click HERE to view a copy of the article.
Other Notes: Much speculation surrounds the manufacture of this possibly unique carbine. The most likely explanation is that it was produced by persons unknown to satisfy the Victorian obsession with all things Gothic. It is unlikely to have been the work of Forsyth & Co however.
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Estimate £4,500-5,500