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Product Details
BOSS & CO.
A RARE 12-BORE SQUARE-BODY SELF-OPENING SIDELOCK EJECTOR, serial no. 8607,
circa 1939, 28in. nitro chopperlump barrels, the rib engraved 'BOSS 7 CO. 41, ALBERMARLE STREET, PICCADILLY. LONDON. W. MADE IN ENGLAND.' (rubbed) and gold-inlaid '1' at the breech end (inlay partly lost), 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. 1/4 and 3/4 choke, Boss patent full self-opening action, removable striker discs, toplever gold-inlaid '1', automatic safety with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' detail, gold-inlaid cocking-indicators, rolled-edge triggerguard, fine acanthus scroll engraving with floral bouquets, retaining some colour-hardening and finish, 14 3/4in. figured stock including 3/4in. leather covered recoil pad (some wear to leather), circular horn insert numbered '1' below the chequering, gold oval escutcheon initialled 'F.T.', weight 6lb. 9oz., in a lightweight leather case
Provenance: The makers have kindly confirmed that this gun was ordered on the 4th May 1938 as No.1 of a pair, by H.R.H. the Prince of Monaco.
Louis II (Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi; 12 July 1870 - 9 May 1949) was Prince of Monaco from 26 June 1922 to 9 May 1949.
Born in Baden Baden, Prince Louis was raised in Germany by his mother and stepfather after his parents marriage ended. He did not see his father until age 11 when he was obliged to return to Monaco to be trained for his future princely duties.
Louis went to France as soon as he was old enough to enroll in Saint-Cyr, the French national military college. Four years later, after graduating, he was attached to the French Foreign Legion and then served with a regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique in Algeria. Louis served in the French Army for four years from 1895 to 1899, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He was awarded the médaille coloniale (Colonial Medal) and the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
On 26 June 1922, Prince Albert I died in Paris. Louis Grimaldi ascended to the throne as Louis II, Prince of Monaco. While his reign never achieved the grandeur of his father, Louis II left an indelible imprint on the principality. In 1924 the Monaco Football Club was formed and in 1929, the first Grand Prix of Monaco automobile race was held, won by William Grover-Williams, driving a Bugatti painted in what would become the famous British racing green color. He collected artefacts belonging to Napoleon I which are now assembled and displayed in the Napoleon Museum attached to the Prince's Palace in Monte Carlo
Literature: In his definitive book on Boss & Co., Donald Dallas informs that Boss & Co. developed a full self-opening system in the 1930's which was used 'to a limited extent' during this decade. He states that self-opening guns are very rare, 'a mere fifty-six being recorded in the records'
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Estimate £6,000-8,000
S2 - Sold as a Section 2 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act