Product Details
CHARLES LANCASTER
A 14-BORE LANCASTER PATENT SLIDE-AND-TILT ROTARY-UNDERLEVER HAMMERGUN, serial no. 4154,
29 3/4in. bold damascus barrels, the rib engraved 'CHARLES LANCASTER. 151 NEW BOND STREET. LONDON. PATENT BREECH LOADER' and '1', Lancaster patent slide-and-tilt action with recessed bosses, non-rebounding back-action locks, hammers of hare's-ear form, the breasts of the hammers striking the pins, patent grip safety (at fault), border and fine acanthus scroll engraving, brushed finish overall, 14 3/8in. well-figured stock, silver escutcheon with the Holford crest, the rear of the comb and the fore-end wood with small oval escutcheons marked '1', horn finial, weight 6lb. 12oz., in a brass-cornered two-tier oak and leather case, the lower tier blocked for cartridges
Provenance: The vendors research indicates that the gun was completed in 1867 and paired with Lancaster serial no. 4177 for R.S. Holford Esq. with 30in. barrels.
R.S. Holford is likely to be Robert Stayner Holford (1808 - 1892). Having inherited over a million pounds from his Uncle in 1838, he was responsible for the rebuilding of Westonbirt House in Gloucestershire between 1863 and 1870 (now Westonbirt School for girls) and also Dorchester House in Park Lane, London between 1851-3 (to house his extensive collection of paintings and books - known as 'The Holford Collection'). The rebuild of Westonbirt House - an extensive project on the site of an Elizabethan manor house, was reputed to be one of the most expensive houses constructed in the Victorian age
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Estimate £1,200-1,600
Sold as an exempt item under Section 58 (2) of the 1968 Firearms Act, to be held as a curiosity or ornament