A Fine And Exceptionally Rare Pair Of Gold-Inlaid 28-Bore Flintlock Silver-Mounted D.B. Pistols Made For The Nawwab Of OudhBy John Manton, London, No. 1922 For 1793, London Silver Hallmarks, Maker's Mark Of Michael Barnett
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Find your local specialistA Fine And Exceptionally Rare Pair Of Gold-Inlaid 28-Bore Flintlock Silver-Mounted D.B. Pistols Made For The Nawwab Of Oudh
By John Manton, London, No. 1922 For 1793, London Silver Hallmarks, Maker's Mark Of Michael Barnett
By John Manton, London, No. 1922 For 1793, London Silver Hallmarks, Maker's Mark Of Michael Barnett
23.2 cm. barrels
Footnotes
Literature
W. Keith Neal and D.H.L. Back, The Manton Supplement, 1978, p. 35
D.H.L. Back, Great British Gunmakers The Mantons 1782-1878, 1993, p. 20
Flintlock pistols with gold-inlaid decoration by the Manton brothers are extremely rare. For other examples see a cased pair of duelling pistols and over-and-under pistols en suite, by John Manton, nos. 4207 and 4212 for 1804 (op. cit., p. 33, pls. 15a - c); a pair of over-and-under pistols, by Joseph Manton, made for the Maharaja of Tanjor in 1825 and sold in these Rooms, 29 July 2004, lot 542; and the cased pair of flintlock duelling pistols also by Joseph Manton, made for the famous sportsman Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Thornton in 1796, formerly in the Dr. Robert Rabett Collection and sold in these Rooms, 30 November 2011, lot 556
Asaf-al-Dawlah Nawwab Wazir al-Mamalik Yahya Khan Bahadur Hizbar Jang (b. 23 September 1748, d. 21 September 1797) became Nawwab at the age of 26, on the death of his father, Shuja-ud-Daula, in January 1775.
When his father died he left two million pounds sterling buried in the vaults of the zenana. His widow and mother claimed the whole of this treasure under the terms of a will which they were unable to produce. When Warren Hastings pressed the Nawwab for the payment of debt due to the British East India Company, he obtained a loan of 26 lakh (2.6 million) rupees, for which he gave her a jagir (land) of four times the value. Subsequently 30 lakh (3 million) more was obtained in return for a full acquittal, and the recognition of her lands without interference for life by the Company. These jagirs were afterwards confiscated for complicity in the rising of Chai Singh which was supported by documentary evidence. It seems that Warren Hastings did his best throughout to rescue the Nawwab from his own incapacity, and was inclined to be lenient to the begums. Self-obsessed and a heavy drinker the Nawwab was painted several times by Johann Zoffany and is now considered the architect general of Lucknow. In 1775 he moved the capital of Awadh from Faizabad to Lucknow and built various monuments in and around the city, including the Bara Imambara. With ambition to outshine the splendour of Mughal architecture, he developed Lucknow into an architectural marvel. Several of the buildings survive today, including the famed Asafi Imambara and the Qaisar Bagh area.
The Asafi Imambara is a vaulted structure surrounded by beautiful gardens, which the Nawwab started as a charitable project to generate employment during the famine of 1784. He became so famous for his generosity that it is still a well-known saying in Lucknow that 'he who does not receive (livelihood) from the Ali-Moula, will receive it from Asaf-ud-Doula' (ref.: https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/1300445)
