Cased Pair of Joseph Harkom Pistols……….SOLD

 A Splendid Cased Pair of Joseph Harkom Percussion Pistols.

Joseph Harkom founded his business in 1840, at the address inside the lid and was there until 1855 when he moved to 32 Princess Street, it is a fair guess to say these guns were made within that 15 year period.  “Manstoppers” by name – there is no doubt that this would be the principle effect if you were unlucky enough to be caught in their sights. The caliber looks to be .58 percussion. The rifling is extremely course and can not fail to be noticed when looking at the business end of these impressive pistols.

No visible serial numbers, but without a doubt, a pair. In their excellent red mahogany leather lined box. Everything about this cased set hints at the strong Scottish influence. The handsome tooled pigskin partitioned case was a favourite method of containing pistols in Scotland at the time.

The wooden case measures 13″ by 9.1/4″ by 2.3/4″ deep, with rounded edges and a blank round brass disc inset to the lid. The corners are hand cut dovetails and the case shows the obvious dents and knocks that time has impressed upon it.  There is a round key escutcheon in the front but no key.  The case is highly polished and in good condition with two splits in the lid which have been filled and polished over but are still eveident, there is a split in the base board.  The leather or pigskin interior has not fared particularly well at points where sharp protruberances come into contact with it;  there is damage for instance, at the point where the fore-sights have worn on the partitions.

The lid has its original trade label which reads; “JOSEPH HARKOM / GUN MAKER / 31 West Register Street / EDINBURGH”  There is one lid compartment missing from the top left hand corner looking at the open case. The case lid is secured with two brass hinges with steel slotted screws. There is a good selection of accessories in the six open compartments of the case, which includes a single  bullet scissor mold, a wad/patch cutter marked 1.1/4, a jappanned “Waterproof” cap tin with caps, an ivory cap container and caps, a double faced eagle powder flask, a pewter oil bottle and a hammer where the handle also acts as a ramrod. The pistols sit neatly in the two main compartments.

The Pistols are identically engraved.  They feature scroll engraved frames covered in silver and a lower silver covered rib.  Silver butt caps with engraving each contain compartments for caps etc.  The actions have the rear sights mounted halfway along, beside the blued engraved hammers.  Blued belt hooks are attached to the left side of the engraved actions.  The 4″ blued  octagonal barrels are engraved with the makers name and city on the top flat, “HARKOM.EDINBURGH.” with a light engraved pattern around the muzzles.  There is a silver rib under the barrels on which is mounted the captive ramrod.  The engraved insert on one of the ramrod ends is absent.  The rifling is extremely course but impressive and the bores do not seem to have suffered the ravages of time too badly.  The barrels are sighted with a “pin” foresight.  Both barrels retain a good percentage of original blueing and a good shine externally.  The trigger guards were blued but are still showing strong scroll engraving.

Both pistols have hammer safetys and engraved monster head hammers with hatched cocking spurs.  The safetys work on half cock.  The pistol grips are extremely impressive with silver decoration on almost all of their surface in one way or another.  The one piece grips are finely cross-hatched with multiple diamond shapes each with a tiny silver pin in the middle. There are strong floral designs on both sides of the grips made from multiple pin heads.  At the back of each grip is a blank silver escutcheon also surrounded with designs.  At the rear base of each grip is another floral design and also a stronger pattern all around the butt cap.  The silver and dark wood grips compliment each other beautifully and are a rare and asthetically pleasing use of the basic elements of gun making.  These pistols were not only effective killing devices but extremely handsome decorative items as well.

All marks on the inside of the case reinforce the notion that these pistols have been in this box since the day they left the maker with their undoubtedly proud owner.  It could be said that these fine pistols should reside either in a Scottish Pistol Collection or a large enough collection that will accentuate their strong Scottish roots;  ultimately we present arms enthusiasts are only temparary keepers of these things. One has to wonder;  How long will these beautiful pistols survive – for ever!  They have outlasted their maker, their first owner, they have seen conflict and battle, they truely seem to be capable, with care, of out-lasting us all. Man travelled by horse and was at the mercy of the elements, there was no flight, no internal combustion engine. Major world shaping conflicts had not even been thought of. Kings and Queens are dead and gone yet, these finely crafted personal side arms are still with us almost unchanged from the day they were completed. And we can hold them in our hands – Tangible history.

£6750.00 Reduced to £5600.

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