Product Details
ALEX'R HENRY, EDINBURGH
AN OUTSTANDING CASED .451 PERCUSSION DOUBLE-BARRELLED SPORTING-RIFLE, serial no. 1516,
for 1866, with browned damascus 28 3/4in. Henry rifled barrels, the flat top-rib signed 'ALEXr. HENRY 12 SOUTH ST ANDREWS ST EDINBURGH', the rib matted for its full length except the signed area, beaded blade front-sight, standing notch rear-sight with additional folding leaf, the colour-hardened breech-block with scrolls to the top and engraved platinum plugs, fully scroll engraved top-tang, border and scroll engraved bar-action locks (much colour remaining) signed in a banner 'ALEXr. HENRY' below the hammers, slab-sided fully scroll engraved moulded hammers of 'Henry' form with dolphin heads and blued sliding safes, chequered figured walnut half-stock, chequered iron heel-plate, engraved and chequered iron pistol-grip spur to lower tang, engraved trigger-guard bow and finial, scroll engraved ramrod throat, plain thimbles and original ramrod, together with its manufacturers mahogany storage case compartmented and lined in pale brown embossed leatherette and containing a full complement of accessories including the bullet mould, powder flask, Allport snail capper, turn-screw, percussion caps, nipple keys and cleaners, loading rod, wad-punches, horn patch pots and further bone pots for caps and nipples, the whole in a remarkable state of preservation and retaining much finish and colour throughout (two compartment lids missing lifting knobs, two small unidentified tools absent)
Provenance: According to the Alexander Henry records, this rifle is listed as a 62-bore double barrelled rifle and was ordered by the Earl of Warwick.
George Guy Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, 4th Earl Brooke (28 March 1818 – 2 December 1893), styled Lord Brooke from 1818 to 1853, was an English Tory politician.
George was a prolific contributor to the improvements of Warwick Castle during the nineteenth century. He oversaw the redecoration of the castle's Great Hall and domestic apartments after the fire of 1871. The celebrated architect Anthony Salvin was employed to rebuild the hall in the typical Victorian 'Gothic' taste, embellished with stained glass to achieve the effect of a medieval baronial hall. The domestic apartments were also redesigned, with each room assigned a different 'historical' style, typical of the nineteenth century interest in the 'Romantic Interior'. He was thought of as being extremely creative with his designs.
George was also a great collector of arms and armour, most of which was purchased through the legendary New Bond Street dealer and forger Samuel Luke Pratt (1805–1878). Many of the greatest pieces were acquired by Pratt from the dispersed collection of Samuel Rush Meyrick and later sold to Greville. Alongside original pieces, Pratt sold the Earl several 'fake' pieces of armour, a practice that was fairly common place for dealers in antique furniture and arms and armour at the time.
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Estimate £9,500-10,500