A sturdy feeling and comfortable to the hand example of a gentleman’s pistol. Once a beautiful piece with floral engravings to the trigger guard, lock plate and barrel tang (complete with decorated screw). The wood has aged nicely, however, at some point in its life it has suffered a catastrophic hit which has removed a large portion of wood beneath the lock plate right down to the trigger guard. This has opened up access to the internal workings underneath the lock plate. The lock has been converted to percussion at some point in its working life, and with such a beautiful piece, why not? The conversion has not been done to a high degree of skill and has unfortunately stripped away some of the elegance it once held. What is still present of this piece is sturdy with no creaking. It has experienced a long life and I am sure it has many stories to tell.

The trigger guard is maker marked to Birmingham general gunsmith, Blakemore, who was in business from 1775 – 1790 (Carey, A. Merwyn, English, Irish and Scottish Firearms Makers, Page 9). The barrel faintly sports Birmingham proof marks.