Product Details
HOLLAND & HOLLAND
A PAIR OF 12-BORE 'ROYAL' SINGLE-TRIGGER SIDELOCK EJECTORS, serial no. 23318 / 9,
28in. nitro chopperlump barrels with feathered and scroll details at the breech ends and gold-inlaid '1' and '2', tubes engraved 'HOLLAND & HOLLAND. 98. NEW BOND STREET, LONDON.', 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. true cyl. choke in all, toplevers gold-inlaid '1' and '2', automatic safeties with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' details, gold-inlaid cocking-indicators, Holland & Holland patent semi-selective single triggers, the actions, lockplates and furniture with best bold Royal scroll engraving, the undersides with 'ROYAL HAMMERLESS EJECTOR' in an elaborate cartouche, the fore of the triggerplates with ovals engraved PATENT SINGLE TRIGGER', retaining some original colour-hardening, 14 1/2in. boldly-figured replacement stocks (by the makers) slightly swept at combs, weight 6lb. 5oz., in their brass-cornered oak and leather case, the case lid outer with a myriad of vintage transport labels including 'Hotel Palatinus - Budapest Margitsziget', 'P. & O. S.N. Co. London to Bombay', 'P.& O. Steamer from Marseilles'
Provenance: The makers have kindly informed us that this pair of shotguns were completed with 30in. steel barrels (choked modified & true) in May 1904 for D.E. Higham. They subsquently re-stocked both guns and re-sold them to 'Kleinwort' but it is not recorded that they either shortened the original barrels or built new ones.
The second name refers to Sir Alexander Drake Kleinwort, 1st Baronet, who bought the guns as a 21st birthday present for his son, Ernest Greverus Kleinwort (whose name is impressed on the lid of the gun case).
Sir Alexander married Etienette Girard in the April of 1889 and Ernest Greverus was born 13th September 1901. He went up to Jesus College, Cambridge and graduated in 1922 with a B.A. before entering the family's highly successful private bank. He served with the R.A.F.V.R. in the Second World War where he gained the rank of Flight Lieutenant before returning to banking.
He was a director of Kleinwort Benson, Lonsdale Ltd. between 1961 and 1974 and also chairman of Kleinwort, Benson Ltd. a leading private bank catering to both private and corporate clients. The Kleinwort side of the company may be traced back to 1786 when Hinrich Kleinwort of Holstein, set-up a trading company between his country and England. The Benson side originated in the same year when Robert Benson joined forces with William Rathbone in a company whose principle trading partner was the United States. Both firms grew enormously in the 19th and 20th Centuries before merging to form Kleinwort, Benson in 1961. Since then the company has played a major role in privatisation and has advised on many of the key Conservative government's projects of the 1980s.
Away from the world of banking, Ernest Kleinwort was a keen sportsman with a deep interest in the conservation of wildlife. He was heavily involved in the formation of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and his services to conservation were recognised in 1974 when the Dutch bestowed the Order of the Golden Ark on him. He was also founder of the Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust, an organisation that complemented his support for conservation with the encouragement of youth enterprise and outdoor pursuits.
Kleinwort died on 3rd November 1977 and his son, Sir Kenneth Drake became the 3rd Baronet.
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Estimate £18,000-22,000
S2