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Lot 181

An Exceptional Cased Russian Presentation 54-Bore Percussion Double-Action Five-Shot Revolver
Dated 1860

Antique Arms and Armour

24 November 2021, 10:30 GMT

London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £77,750 inc. premium

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An Exceptional Cased Russian Presentation 54-Bore Percussion Double-Action Five-Shot Revolver
Dated 1860

With long blued octagonal sighted rifled barrel inlaid with gold C-scrolls around the muzzle, fitted with a blued fore-sight and folding adjustable back-sight, the top flat inlaid in gold with the arms of Tula and inscribed 'Tula Gunsmiths' in gold-inlaid Cyrillic capitals, blued top-strap with gold-inlaid presentation inscription 'TO CAPTAIN PHILPOTTS IN REMEMBRANCE OF TORQUAY 1860', a gold-inlaid crowned gothic 'M' of the donor beyond, all within slender gold line borders, blued cylinder finely engraved against an etched matted ground with a sportsman shooting chamois in a mountainous landscape, his attendant and hound standing nearby, the nipple recesses numbered '1' to '5' (nipples removed and now kept in a corner compartment), blued frame engraved over each side with scrolling foliage within gold-inlaid line borders and involving two Crimean war scenes, a soldier praying over his wounded comrade on one side, and on the other a contemplative soldier seated in a graveyard, and at the rear of the frame a foliate scroll engraved circular mount with interrupted thread for the attachment of the shoulder-stock, blued trigger-guard engraved with foliage en suite with the action and with a chiselled frond at the front, blued trigger, hammer, arbor pin and spring-catch, case-hardened rammer, highly figured butt carved in low relief with scrolling foliage against a finely punched ground, the pommel carved in the round as a snarling lion's head with glass eyes and bone or staghorn teeth, and in exceptional, probably unfired condition, retaining nearly all its original finish (minor areas of old surface rust): in original mahogany case fitted and lined in navy blue velvet with full accessories comprising brass powder-flask, percussion cap dispenser with suspension ring, blued and case-hardened bullet mould engraved with initials, probably of Johann Normann, combined nipple-key and turnscrew, and skeleton butt covered in red morocco leather (minor damage), the foliate engraved blued mount with interrupted thread and sprung catch, the compartment lid knobs of bone or staghorn, and complete with its original key
23 cm. barrel

Footnotes

Provenance
Captain Henry Phillpotts
Thence by descent to the vendor

The recipient appears to be Henry Phillpotts who was born on 23 February 1809. He was appointed Captain in the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment on 27 June 1834 and retired to Torquay in 1851 where he became a Magistrate. He died on 9 July 1880 at Hazlemere, Torquay

Despite research, the reason for the presentation of this revolver remains obscure however the donor, Grand Duke Michael Nikolayevich, is known to have been visiting Torquay according to a surviving letter written from the town and dated 18/30 September 1860, probably while staying at the Romanov family villa named The Villa Syracusa (now the Headland Hotel). Grand Duke Michael was born in 1832 and served as Governor General of Caucasia between 1862 and 1882. During the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) he was nominal Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops in the Caucasus and was appointed Field-Marshal General in April 1778. He died in Cannes, France on 18 December 1909, the last surviving legitimate grandchild of Paul I of Russia

The decoration on this revolver can be attributed to Nikolai Goltyakov and can be compared to a revolver of Colt type with very similar shoulder-stock in the Hermitage, Leningrad. See Valentin Mavrodin, Firearms and Edged Weapons in the Hermitage, Leningrad, 1977, figs. 131 and 132; and Yuri Miller, The Art of 18th-19th Century Tula Arms in the Hermitage Collection, 2005, p. 104, No. 82. See also Nos. 87 and 89 for other related firearms

For a cased pair of related revolvers (in the Moscow Museum of History) of Adams Patent type and with lion-head butts, by Ivan Formin, and dated 1864 and 1865 respectively, see Vladimir Berman (compiler), Masterpieces of Tula Gun-Makers, 1981, p. 90. See also Yuri Miller (Ed.), Russian Arms And Armour, The Armoury of The Moscow Kremlin, The Historical Museum, Moscow, 1982, p. 197, fig. 143

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An Exceptional Cased Russian Presentation 54-Bore Percussion Double-Action Five-Shot RevolverDated 1860

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An Exceptional Cased Russian Presentation 54-Bore Percussion Double-Action Five-Shot RevolverDated 1860

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An Exceptional Cased Russian Presentation 54-Bore Percussion Double-Action Five-Shot Revolver
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