Dogs and Doubles

Tag Archive for 'engraving'

Let’s admire a beautiful old Purdey SxS shotgun…

by Gregg
Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London
Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London

I love old Purdeys, and when I take a look at the one you see here, I remember why. When this side-by-side was made around 1869, centerfire, breechloading shotguns like it were the latest-and-greatest thing. Even though its Henry Jones Screw-Grip Action looks primitive to us today, it was cutting-edge back then.

Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London
Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London

But even though this Purdey was built with the latest features from its era, it retains the understated, elegant looks that had made James Purdey’s firearms famous and that would define them throughout the 1800s and up to today.

Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London
Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London

The back-action, island locks on this gun are one of the features that make it special. So is the engraving, probably cut by Purdey’s house engraver at that time: James Lucas. The chiseled fences are also nice, and so is the teardrop shape to the triggerguard. What a gun!

Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London
Incredible island-lock hammergun by James Purdey, London

Watch & learn: What to look for, engraving…

by Gregg

Gavin Gardiner is an expert on British and European sporting arms, and he holds some of the world’s best gun auctions. Check out this video to see some of his insights into engraving patterns and styles. (BTW: The intros to all of Gavin’s videos always make me smile).

Gavin Gardiner’s Guide to Sporting Guns | What to Look for – Engraving

Gavin Gardiner’s Guide to Sporting Guns | What to Look for - Engraving
Gavin Gardiner’s Guide to Sporting Guns | What to Look for – Engraving

Fantastic engraving by the master Keith Thomas …

by Gregg
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS

Keith Thomas is one of the world’s top engravers. Check out the P.V. Nelson shotgun you see here to see why Thomas’s rose & scroll patterns are considered to be some of the finest ever cut.

P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS

Thomas began his engraving career in 1964 as an apprentice with Holland & Holland. In 1975, he went out on his own and since then he engraved guns for most of the world’s top gunmakers, including Boss & Co, W. W. Greener, Hartmann & Weiss, and A. A. Brown.

You can see more of Keith Thomas’s work here

P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS
P.V. NELSON BEST SIDELOCK SXS 20 GAUGE WITH EXTRA BARRELS

Amazing engraving & more by Phil Coggan on Boss SxSs …

by admin
Phil Coggan's work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.

Engraving’s funny. While not even the best work can make a bad gun great, lousy engraving can ruin an otherwise fantastic double.

Phil Coggan's work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.

Phil Coggan is one of world finest gun engravers; his work improves the finest shotgun and increases their value. In the pics posted here, you can see why.

Phil Coggan's work on a pair of Boss & Co SxS shotguns. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a pair of Boss & Co SxS shotguns. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan's work on a pair of Boss & Co SxS shotguns. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a pair of Boss & Co SxS shotguns. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan's work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan's work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan's work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan's work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.
Phil Coggan’s work on a Boss & Co SxS shotgun. Pic courtesy of Phil Coggan.

Keith Thomas, one of the world’s top gun engravers…

by Gregg
Keith Thomas, Gun Engraver
Keith Thomas, Gun Engraver

Last April at the 2017 Southern Side By Side Spring Classic I had the good fortune to meet Keith Thomas, one of the world’s top gun engravers. Thomas began his engraving career in 1964 as an apprentice with Holland & Holland. He stayed with that famous London firm until he went own in 1975.

Since then, he has worked for most of the work’s top gunmakers, including, including Boss & Co, W. W. Greener, Hartmann & Weiss, Asprey, Peter V. Nelson, Watson Bros, and A. A. Brown.

The Hartmann & Weiss you see here features his work and is a great example of why Thomas’s rose & scroll patterns are considered to be among the finest ever.

You can see more of Keith Thomas’s work here.

Hartmann & Weiss 28 gauge over-and-under shotgun
Hartmann & Weiss 28 gauge over-and-under shotgun
Hartmann & Weiss 28 gauge over-and-under shotgun
Hartmann & Weiss 28 gauge over-and-under shotgun

Daring! A naked 12 gauge Piotti Monaco SxS shotgun…

by Gregg
12 gauge Piotti Monaca SxS shotgun
12 gauge Piotti Monaco SxS shotgun

A best-quality shotgun with minimal engraving is a bold creation.

Engraving can make or break shotgun. Done right, it adds to a shotgun’s overall beauty. Done wrong, it calls too much attention to itself by garish, crude, or just plain ugly.

Engraving can also hide the crisper details of a gun, Like a sheet tossed over a chair. The proud roundness of the fences and the curves of the action  — stuff like this gets a little lost under bouquets of flowers and the swirls of scrollwork. Less-than-perfect craftsmanship can also be obscured with by the same flourishes.

12 gauge Piotti Monaca SxS shotgun
12 gauge Piotti Monaco SxS shotgun

When you take away the engraving, you take away all these possibilities. That’s why this Piotti Monaco caught my eye. If you take a looks at it, you’ll see what I mean. Here’s more info about the gun from the seller:

PIOTTI MONACO SIDELOCK SXS 12 GAUGE: MADE 1994 CREATIVE ARTS BORDER ENGRAVED BEST QUALITY GUN 30″ HOLLAND SELF OPENER 010 AND 027 WITH FACTORY 3″ CHAMBERS SINGLE TRIGGER EJECTOR SPLINTER FOREARM ENGLISH GRIP INCREDIBLE WOOD MAKERS CASE  NEW CONDITION 7LBS 9 OZ X 2 1/2 X 1 5/8 X 14 3/4 TO LEATHER COVERED PAD 1/2 REPLACEMENT COST. Price: $27,500.00

12 gauge Piotti Monaca SxS shotgun
12 gauge Piotti Monaco SxS shotgun
12 gauge Piotti Monaca SxS shotgun
12 gauge Piotti Monaca SxS shotgun

A master’s work: Lucas scroll on an early Purdey shotgun…

by Gregg
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun. Click for a closer look.

Engraving on top-quality doubles is unusual. While it’s one of the least functional features, it’s also one of the most important. Done right, engraving can make a gun (and a gunmaker); done wrong it can ruin both. London’s top firms realized this early only. To ensure that their best-quality guns featured equally impressive engraving, gunmakers paid their best engravers top wages.

James Lucas was one of these top engravers, and at the peak of his career he was earning one of the highest salaries in London gunmaking trade. He was worth it, too. From 1855 to 1915, Lucas was Purdey’s head engraver, and during that time worked with another Purdey engraver named J. Mace, Sr. to develop the fine, tight scroll work that went on to be come the “rose & scroll”  pattern that defined Purdey’s doubles.

The shotgun you see here is one of James Purdey & Sons first breechloading centerfire shotguns. Made in 1867,  You can see how the engraver (proably Mr Lucas himself) was working out the tight, densely-packed scrollwork that would become Purdey’s famous house style.

Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun. Click for a closer look.
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun. Click for a closer look.
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun. Click for a closer look.
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun
Lucas scroll on an early J. Purdey & Son, Double Barrel, Centerfire shotgun. Click for a closer look.

Introducing Lisa Tomlin, Gun Engraver…

by Gregg

Engraving is one of those things that can make or break a shotgun. When it’s done right,  it add to a double’s overall elegance,  and pushes it to the level of a real Best gun.

Tomlin working on her latest project. Pic by Stacey Van Berkel
Tomlin working on her latest project. Pic by Stacey Van Berkel

Lisa Tomlin is an engraver who is a master engraver who’s an expert at doing it right. She started engraving in 1983 when she was hired by Ken Hurst. Eventually she went out on her own, working on custom knives and then firearms.

Today, she has engraved firearms for everyone from former President George H.W. Bush and General Normal Schwarzkopf to movie director/screen writer John Milius.

You can read more about her in the latest issue of Garden & Gun magazine:

One of the Country’s Finest Gun Engravers

“Constrained by trigger and bolt and breech, the gun engraver’s canvas is hardly the size of a playing card. A few square inches with possibly another stamp-size space or two. That’s where she is asked to express the surprise flush of a pheasant, the quiver of a pointing dog’s flank, the thunder of an elephant scenting danger…”

Read the entire article here.

You can see some photos of Lisa Tomlin’s work here and here.