Product Details
A CASED 38-BORE DEANE ADAMS & DEANE 1851 PERCUSSION REVOLVER, serial no. 12603R, with provenance to H.M.S. Sylvia,
the revolver circa 1853, with octagonal 7 5/8in. barrel, dove-tailed beaded blade fore-sight, standing notch rear-sight, the solid top-strap signed 'DEANE ADAMS & DEANE 30 KING WILLIAM ST'T, LONDON BRIDGE', borderline engraved five-shot cylinder, borderline engraved solid frame with spring safe to the left side, self-cocking mechanism with spur-less hammer, chequered walnut semi saw-handled grip with shallow domed butt-cap with central trapdoor, guarded trigger and no provision for rammer, traces of original finish only and complete with its manufacturer's oak storage case lined and compartmented in green baize and complete with flask, suede pouch for shot, caps, wads, oil bottle, nipple key and loading rod with interchangeable jag tip
Provenance: This revolver was the property of Peter Hutchinson, Engineer on the Royal Navy Survey vessel, H.M.S. Sylvia and has been handed down by descent through five generations of the same family.
H.M.S. Sylvia was a wooden screw gun vessel designed and built for the Royal Navy specifically as a survey ship. After her launch in March 1866, she was commissioned for service on the China Station and under command of Edward Wolfe Brooker and conducted survey work in Chinese and Japanese waters.
By early 1868 – not least due to growing Western influence and aggression – Japan was reopening its borders after over 250 years of foreign isolation and had started to go through rapid socio-political changes. The same year, H.M.S. Sylvia replaced the Serpent as the main surveying ship in the region and over the next three years would survey the Japanese coast and Seto Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), to establish new, safer sea routes for the ever-growing fleets of Western and local trade and naval ships.
In spring of 1871, after more surveying work in the Seto Inland Sea, H.M.S. Sylvia accompanied by the Japanese vessel Kasugamaru set off to survey and circumnavigate ‘the almost unknown region of the Island of Yesso'. The island and its locals had only just been annexed in 1868 and the Japanese themselves had yet to fully explore and survey their newly acquired lands, waters (and citizens).
The voyage was early on plagued by bad weather. With strong headwinds slowing them down, it took the steamer nearly a week after setting off from Yokohama on 5 April 1871 to reach the northernmost tip of the Japanese main island, Honshu, and soon after, their designated goal.
The crew would spend the next weeks up and down the eastern coast of Hokkaido, visiting the city of Hakodate and other smaller ports and villages along the way. Although already well into spring, they were surprised by the rather cold temperatures and stormy weather, and their work often stalled due to squalls of wind, rain, and even snowfall.
On 29 July 1871, after weeks of exploring the eastern coast of Hokkaido, H.M.S. Sylvia coaled in the harbour of Hakodate and finally set off to circumnavigate the island. Proceeding north-eastwards, stopping in harbours and villages along the way, they eventually passed Hokkaido's northernmost point at Cape Soya, before catching a glimpse of the newly designated city of Sapporo and anchoring back at Hakodate harbour at 2:30am on 24 August – having taken nearly a month to complete their voyage.
After having finished their assignment at Hokkaido, H.M.S. Sylvia and her crew returned to waters around the main island of Japan and in August 1872 were ordered back to England.
A scrap-book of period photographs and Japanese hand-painted watercolours accompanies the lot, together with a framed photograph of the ship's crew on deck and a copy of the Royal Navy crew list from 1870 expedition. It is possible some of the photographs were taken by Lt. Swinton Colthurst, a serving officer on the voyage. An archive of material relating to the Sylvia and Lt. Colthurst is held in the Greenwich Maritime Museum, to whom we are gratefully indebted for the above information
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Estimate £800-1,200