Product Details
ALEX'R HENRY, EDINBURGH
A SCARCE .450 (3 1/4IN.) SINGLE-SHOT FALLING-BLOCK MODEL 'HENRY PATENT' SEALING RIFLE, serial no. 5767,
for between 1886-89, with round tapering 29 3/4in. barrel, the top forwards of rear-sight signed 'ALEX. HENRY LONDON & EDINBURGH', block and beaded blade fore-sight, standing notch rear-sight, top of nocksform marked 'PATENT No. 2187', plain slab-sided receiver marked 'ALEX HENRY' on the left face, under-lever operated falling block, right hand back-action lock with exposed hammer and signed 'A. HENRY', walnut straight-hand butt-stock, iron heel-plate, smooth walnut fore-end, fair traces of finish
Provenance: Approximately 478 rifles were built by Alex. Henry specifically for usage on sealing and whaling ships - and few have survived the hard usage and poor conditions they were exposed to.
Literature: In his book 'Alexander Henry Rifle Maker', Donald Dallas devotes a chapter on the history of the Henry sealing rifles, mostly 'bought in' from makers such as BSA and of plain or third quality. In this chapter (pages 131-133) he covers details of the fleets and individual ships Henry supplied between 1870 and 1910, their hunting grounds and also some fascinating anecdotal information - including a copy of an illustrated diary entry (with a sketch of a sailor in 'Sealing Costume') by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who accompanied Captain John Gray of the SS Hope on a six month voyage in 1879. Captain Gray was Henry's first client for his sealing rifles in 1870.
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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