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Product Details
HOLLAND & HOLLAND
A MATCHED PAIR OF 12-BORE 'ROYAL' SELF-OPENING HAND-DETACHABLE SIDELOCK EJECTORS, serial no. 33657 / 33508,
for 1961 and 1946, 27 1/2in. nitro chopperlump barrels, the ribs engraved in script 'Royal' and gold-inlaid '1' and '2', the tubes engraved 'HOLLAND & HOLLAND. 13. BRUTON STREET, LONDON.' (No.1) and 'HOLLAND & HOLLAND. 98. NEW BOND STREET, LONDON.' (No.2), 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. imp. cyl. and 1/4 choke, toplevers gold-inlaid '1' and '2', automatic safeties with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' details, hand-detachable lockplates, gold-inlaid cocking-indicators (No.2 right indicator missing inlay), articulated front triggers, rolled-edge triggerguards, best Royal 'new light pattern' engraving of acanthus scrollwork surrounding floral bouquets, the undersides with oval cartouches engraved 'ROYAL MODEL', No.1 crosspin cover with 'MADE IN ENGLAND', bright finish, 15in. well-figured stocks with diamond grips, including 5/8in. Kick-Eez recoil pads (distressed), small crack to fore-end wood No.1 at knuckle, weight 6lb. 9oz. (No.1) and 6lb. 10oz. (No.2)
Provenance: The makers have kindly confirmed that gun serial number 33508 was originally made as the No.2 of a pair of Royal self-opening model guns with 27 1/2in. barrels in 1946 for a Mr J.D. Greenway, (to be sent to him in Panama via the S.S. Raranga in 1948)
Ownership of the gun is subsequently amended in the day book to a 'Reeves' (with the No.1 gun being listed as belonging to 'Whitby')
Gun no. 36657 is made for a D.W. Reeves as a 'B/Q 12 bore Royal model h'less ejector game gun with self-opening action, 27 1/2in. barrels, to be a No.1 gun to match 12 RE 33508', the record dated 30th May 1961.
J.D. Greenway is likely to refer to the diplomat and author John D. Greenway, C.M.G., (1896 - 1967) who held positions as Counsellor, Embassy, Iran, 1941-1942; Head, Dominions Intelligence Department. Foreign Office, 1942-1944; Counsellor, Embassy, Brazil, 1944-1946; Minister to Panama, 1946-1950; Minister to Iceland, 1950-1953. In 1950 his book 'Fish, Fowl and Foreign Lands' was published, following his travels and adventures as both a diplomat and a keen angler. The book introduces itself with the following:
"We must leave it to the reader to argue whether this is primarily: 1. An intensely amusing book about the oddities of diplomatic life, chock-full of stories and adventures, by a diplomat who has ranged from Peking to Paris and from Russia to Panama. 2. An unusually delightful book about fishing in most corners of the globe by a fisherman with a very endearing personality."
Other Notes: The original No.1 gun of the pair, serial no. 33507 was sold through these rooms, Lot 1457, in our March 2025 auction
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Estimate £10,000-15,000
S2 - Sold as a Section 2 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act