Product Details
FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF FREDERICK COURTENEY SELOUS :
GEORGE GIBBS, BRISTOL
A HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT .461 (GIBBS No. 1) FARQUHARSON PATENT FALLING-BLOCK SPORTING RIFLE, frame no. 125,
circa 1880, with 28in. black powder barrel signed 'GEORGE GIBBS, CORN STREET, BRISTOL' and inscribed 'METFORDS PATENT, 1519', block-mounted bead foresight and rear express-sight comprising a single standing leaf with platinum centre-line and folding ladder sight calibrated to 800 yards, action with faint traces of case-hardened finish and engraved 'FARQUHARSON'S PATENT 629' on the right hand side and signed 'GEORGE GIBBS BRISTOL' on the left, lever safety catch mounted on the right hand side and marked 'FREE' and 'BOLTED' in gold , figured pistolgrip stock fitted with Selous plates, chequered fore-end, chequered steel buttplate with hinged trap cover and iron sling eyes,(finish worn overall)
Provenance: Provenance : Frederick Courteney Selous, Charles D Rudd, Cecil Rhodes, Johannes Colenbrander, and by descent from Colenbrander's grand daughter to the Vendor
Literature : The African Sporting Gazette Issue No.4 (1998) . A copy is included in this lot
Lobengula. Hugh Marshall Hole. 1929. A copy is included in this lot
Other Notes: No other rifle belonging to F.C. Selous is known to still exist, and when the life of Selous is examined it is easy to see why he is regarded as Africa's premier hunter and explorer and why so few of his personal weapons have survived.
Born in 1851, Selous set off for Africa in 1871 (the year that Stanley found Livingstone) at the age of 19 with £400 in his pocket, determined to make his living as an elephant hunter. By the age of 25 he was one of the most successful hunters ever, partly through his acceptance by Lobengula, King of the Matabele as one of the few people he would allow to hunt in his dominions (now Zimbabwe and Zambia).
From the start Selous was a keen advocate of Gibbs falling block Farquharson actioned rifles and this was his rifle of choice. He bought several rifles from Gibbs and eventually asked Gibbs to strengthen the small of the stock on his rifles with supportive plates now known as 'Selous Plates'. Gibbs subsequently made this extra available to other customers as well (at a 50% surcharge on the cost of the rifle). For rifles destined to be used on safari the plates were a wise addition as a broken stock could render the rifle unusable in areas many weeks trek from the nearest gunsmith or blacksmith.
Reading any of Selous' books soon shows why none of his rifles has been identified until now. On many occasions his travels ended in his having to retreat (sometimes without his equipment) from hostile natives or with his canoe overturning in a swollen river, or with rifles being traded for other essential supplies or to placate a native chief.
Selous is famous through the books he wrote, his knowledge of natural history and through his participation in events that were pivotal in the exploration and development of Africa.
Amongst his works are;
'A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa' (1881)
'Travel and Adventures in South East Africa' (1893)
'Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia' (1896) --- an account of incidents in the Matabele wars
'Sport and Travel. East and West' (1900)
After nineteen years of hunting he joined Cecil John Rhodes' 'British South Africa Company' to guide the Pioneer Column and to cut a four hundred mile trail into Mashonaland to establish Fort Salisbury (present day Harare), in order that Rhodes and the pioneers could prospect for gold in what became Southern Rhodesia. By this stage Selous was less friendly with Lobengula (in large part no doubt through joining the Pioneer Column) and he had been replaced in Lobengula's trust by an Afrikaans hunter, Johannes Colenbrander .
In 1888 Rhodes' partner Charles Rudd found himself in Bulawayo on behalf of Rhodes to negotiate the mining concession with the Matabele king. It was believed that the source of King Solomon's gold was to be found in Mashonaland. The warlike and rather unstable Lobengula was offered 1,000 Martini Henry rifles, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, a gun boat (or more rifles and ammunition) and a monthly pension of £100 in return for the mining concession. Lobengula was assured that Rhodes had the backing of the Crown and that his interests would be protected. Although tempted, his white advisor, who was now Colenbrander, was neither convinced by the offer nor trusted Rhodes. Colenbrander needed to be 'persuaded' to swap allegiance but would not accept the promise of money alone from Rhodes.
Selous was preparing to make a trip back to England at this time. He had largely fallen out with Lobengula over the Matabele raids into Mashonaland and was only too happy to help a project that would eventually lead to his downfall. Rudd purchased this rifle, a 'salted' horse, and a cavalry saddle from Selous to give to Colenbrander (who also received 1,000 guineas!). Selous was happy to take a cheque from Rudd as he would be easily able to replace this expensive equipment in England or, on his return, in Cape Colony.
Colenbrander immediately began to push the case for the mining concession and eventually Lobengula was persuaded to sign the concession with Rhodes. A period of grace between the signing and the delivery of the arms was negotiated in which two trusted chiefs were to be sent to England to meet Queen Victoria to discover if the claims of Crown protection were true. If proved false then Lobengula would be allowed to break the concession but keep the rifles. Colenbrander accompanied the chiefs in a carefully orchestrated visit that saw them return with glowing reports of the Queen's support for Lobengula. The concession was duly ratified and the arms delivered. Colenbrander continued to sit at Lobengula's court whilst receiving a good salary from Rhodes. His presence helped to ensure the safe passage of the Pioneer Column as it made its way from Tuli to Fort Salisbury in 1890.
Lobengula soon became alarmed at the rate of European settlement in Mashonaland and attempted to pitch the British Empire against the German Empire by offering a farming concession to the Kaiser's representative. Colenbrander was one step ahead of Lobengula and had bribed the German diplomat so that the concession was handed straight over to Rhodes. Lobengula's next plan was to form a mutual defence treaty with the Transvaal, but again Colenbrander was able to stop proceedings, this time by force. The Boer ambassador was intercepted by Colenbrander with the aid of some Tswana warriors. In the ensuing fight the Ambassador was killed and the actual treaty stolen.
Colenbrander then lead the surviving Boers and a regiment of Lobengula's warriors to take revenge on the Tswana who had helped him. Using a small cannon and incendiary shells the Tswana town of Palape was destroyed and its inhabitants slaughtered by the Matabele. The Tswana chief Khama called on the British High Commissioner in the Cape for protection against the Matabele. This proved to be the excuse Rhodes had been waiting for and his troops occupied Bulawayo before the border police could be mobilised. Almost unbelievably Colenbrander's involvement in these events went un-noticed by the Matabele and he remained a trusted link to the new Government .
In his book 'Lobengula' published in 1929, Hugh Marshall Hole relates the final conversation between Lobengula and Colenbrander as Lobengula finally rebels against the intrusion of the white settlers:
"First he must send for Johann Colenbrander -- Rhodes' man --- who was stationed at Bulawayo to act as his adviser in all matters arising between the Matabele and the whites, and who had given him wise counsel on many occasions when there had been trouble in the air. Hardly had he come to this decision when Colenbrander himself rode up, and, to the King's annoyance, there came with him his wife, mounted on a handsome white stallion. They tied their horses to posts outside the enclosure and advanced towards the King, who was seated on a chair under the shade of his favourite indaba tree. For a few minutes he ignored them, and ostentatiously busied himself with a large calabash of beer which a crouching slave girl held up to him. At last, looking up and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he hailed them in an off hand, blustering manner, assumed to impress his councillors with his contempt for people whose countrymen had committed so grave an outrage. He swept aside a plate of steaming beef that another girl offered.
"Begone all of you!" he exclaimed "I wish to speak my mind to Johann".
Of all the white people who came and went in and out of Matabeleland, these were the two for whom Lobengula had the greatest esteem. Colenbrander a broad stocky Natalian, with sunburnt face and short fair beard, had won his confidence by an open manner and unfailing good temper. He had an extraordinary command of the Zulu language, and more importantly, an intuitive knowledge of the workings of the native mind, which enabled him to read Lobengula's thoughts even when they were not translated into speech. For Colenbrander's wife, who was also a skilled linguist, the King had no feelings of friendship, but he stood in considerable awe of her on account of her stately presence, her contempt for danger and the easy nonchalance - so far removed from the deference of other white people -with which she treated him . She was, in truth, a very striking figure as she now stood before him in the unpleasant squalor of the goat kraal. A tall brunette, with flashing eyes and stately, almost arrogant carriage, she was in the full prime of womanly maturity. With one hand she held up the folds of her khaki drill habit, and in the other she grasped the handle and lash of a hunting crop stuck under her arm. Over her shoulder was a strap supporting a revolver in its holster. A broad brimmed felt hat was perched rather jauntily on her head, shading her clear cut features from the scorching sun. Her full lipped mouth was curved in a faint smile, which froze into contempt as the King upset the plate of beef.
"Johann" he said "I gave Ulodzi (Rhodes) and Dakatela (Dr Jameson) leave to dig for gold. I did not give them my country. Yet they have brought up an army, and now the land is full of young men who call it their own. Dakatela tells me I must not send out my impis, but his soldiers go everywhere, and now they have killed some of my matjaha. Am I no longer the King? Is Dakatela the King that he talks to me like this? Answer me Johann. Why do they do these things to my country?"
Lobengula was the loser in all these events, eventually dying in a cave, abandoned by his own people and overrun by white settlements.
Selous remained in Rhodesia for some years taking part in the first Matabele War in 1893 and as leader of the Bulawayo Field Force in the second Matabele War of which his book 'Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia' is an account. In 1915, at the age of 64, he joined the 25th Frontiersman Battalion as a Captain to do his part in fighting for the British cause in the First World War in what is now Tanzania and was awarded the D.S.O. for gallant action, but on 4th January 1917, by the Rufiji River, he was shot by a german sniper. He is buried nearby in the huge national game reserve that now bears his name.
Johannes Colenbrander left Africa, but luckily left the .461 Gibbs rifle with his family in Bulawayo (from whom it came to the current vendor) and travelled to America where he forged a new career acting in the early Hollywood silent movies. He was to appear in several films and acted alongside Tom Mix on more than one occasion. Ironically, having survived all the perils to which Lobengula and Africa could subject him, he drowned while crossing a swollen river on horseback while working on the production of a film.
Picture 1. Frederick Selous sitting beside his trekkers wagon
Caption " Selous completes his journal somewhere in Mashonaland with one of his favoured falling block action rifles beside him "
Picture 2. Scene with people sitting.[ at a picnic ?]
Caption " In the Matopas 1889 .Left to right .Johannes Colenbrander , Charles Rudd , Dr Jameson , Cecil Rhodes , Mrs Colenbrander "
Estimate £20,000-25,000