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Product Details
PETER DYSON 'THE LEEDS GUN'
A FINE SILVER-MOUNTED 14-BORE DOUBLE-BARRELLED FLINTLOCK SPORTING GUN BY PETER DYSON & SONS TO COMMEMORATE THE OPENING OF THE ROYAL ARMOURIES IN LEEDS IN 1996, serial no. 764,
31in. black powder proof (3 1/4 drs blk pdr 1 1/4oz. shot) browned twist barrels signed 'PETER DYSON & SON LTD. GUNMAKERS TO THE ROYAL ARMOURIES' in gold on the rib, gold fore-sight with gold-inlaid three-ray sunburst at the base, the breech ends decorated with gold-inlaid Royal Armouries cypher picked out in oak branches, case-hardened Henry Nock patent breeches each with recessed gold-lined touch-hole and decorated with gold-inlaid symbolic motifs, on the right a raven (guardian of the Tower of London) and on the left an owl (heraldic supporter to the Arms of Leeds), the rib between decorated with a gold-inlaid rose and sunburst, case-hardened standing breech engraved with martial trophies and with the shields of the cities of London and Leeds inlaid in gold, flat bevelled case-hardened locks (of the type used by William Smith in circa 1820) each with engraved border, the main surface with a matt stippled finish with gold-inlaid decoration comprising a trophy of arms, a ribbon signed 'PETER DYSON & SON LTD.' and a sunburst on the right plate and a pheasant on the left, each tail squared off and decorated with a cast and chased gold lion-mask (inspired by the lion armour in the Royal Armouries collection), the cocks each of Smith 'pigeon breasted' form with gold-inlaid oak leaves and blued and gilt top-jaw, rainproof-pans each with gold lining and case-hardened steels each decorated with a further gold-inlaid trophy of arms and blued steel-springs each with roller, highly figured Turkish walnut half-stock with chequered grip, cast and chased silver mounts comprising butt-plate decorated with running foliage entwining two versions of the Royal Armouries cypher (one reversed) and decorated with a large lion-mask en suite with those on the locks, the mane forming the tang, two symbolical panels set either side of the butt, on the right depicting London with a figure of Father Thames pouring out his river with a large sunburst behind, the White Tower of the Tower of London forms the central image with the river disappearing behind a stand of arms resting on a bed of kettle drums and cannon, the Royal Armouries cypher surmounting the shields of the City of London and the United Kingdom, the tail depicting the double rose of Henry VII, the plate on the left side depicting Leeds, a youth representing the source of the river Aire pouring out his river mirroring the theme on the London plate, the river becoming a canal flowing through Clarence Docks in front of the Royal Armouries Museum, a cannon barrel is depicted in front of the building with the Maximilian helmet adopted as the Museum's logo perched on top, a further Royal Armouries cypher surmounts shields showing the arms of the City of Leeds and the Union flag, the county of Yorkshire is represented on the tail by the white rose of York, scrolled trigger-guard decorated on the bow with a framed panel showing the shields of the cities of London and Leeds against a trophy of arms with the Royal Armouries cypher below, border engraved trigger-plate signed 'DESIGNED BY B. DICKENS' and with finial depicting the plumed helmet from the Earl of Leicester's armour above the rose of York, escutcheon formed as a baroque shield against a trophy of arms surmounted by a morion and engraved with the initials 'BD' (for Bernard Dickens, the designer of the Leeds gun), barrel-bolt escutcheons respectively depicting a raven of the Tower of London on the right and an owl, supporter of the arms of the City of Leeds on the left and rear-ramrod pipe bearing the legend 'LEEDS' and the date '1996' with a further Royal Armouries cypher, blued barrel-bolt, and silver-mounted ebony ramrod with engraved head and worm, London black powder proof marks, Sheffield hallmarks for 1996
Provenance: The Leeds Gun was conceived by Bernard Dickens as a commemorative arme de luxe to celebrate opening of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds by Her Majesty the Queen on 13th March 1996. It is unique being the only specially commissioned item to commemorate this important event in the history of the Royal Armouries and the City of Leeds. A detailed illustrated file on the gun accompanies the Lot
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Estimate £6,000-8,000
S2 - Sold as a Section 2 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act