Product Details
THOMAS JOHNSON
A 16-BORE TOPLEVER BAR-IN-WOOD HAMMERGUN, serial no. 3444,
30in. black powder only damascus barrels, rib engraved '3' and 'THOMAS JOHNSON (LATE PARSONS) SWAFFHAM', 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. true cyl. in both, heavily pitted internally and wall thicknesses below recommended minimum, slender toplever engraved '3', carved percussion fences, rebounding sidelocks with dolphin hammers, grip safety engraved with the serial number and a further '3', finely engraved with scrolling acanthus, retaining traces of original colour-hardening,14in. stock including horn buttplate, fore-end with Scott patent 'key' release catch, light damage to tip and missing finial, weight 6lb. 5oz.
Provenance: The crest on the escutcheon would indicate that the gun was previously the property of William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney
William Tyssen-Amherst (1835 - 1909), Member of Parliament for West Norfolk between 1880 and 1885, High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1866 and a Justice of the Peace for Norfolk, Middlesex and Westminster is most notable for his passion for collecting books, manuscripts, works of art and Egyptian artifacts.
He built a museum especially for his Egyptian collection at Didlington Hall (East Anglia) and is recorded as having exhibited many items at the Swaffham Museum - thus inspiring a young (Swaffham based) Howard Carter into studying Egyptology. The most notable piece from his collection is probably the 'Leopold II and Amherst Papyrus', a document of court records dating to the 20th Dynasty under Ramesses IX, detailing the trial and conviction of eight men charged with tomb raiding, giving an unprecedented insight into not just court practices, but also the importance placed on burial and the afterlife at this time. It is now held at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.
He was forced to sell the collection in 1906 following the revelation that his solicitor had entirely mismanaged and embezzled from his entire estate. He died just six weeks after the auction.
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Estimate £500-700
S2