Flintlock rifle
W. Ketland and Co. (fl.1808-1831)
Category
Arms and armour
Date
1820 (circa)
Materials
Iron/steel, wood, brass, silver
Measurements
1223 mm (Length); 812 mm (Length); 14 mm (Length)
Place of origin
Birmingham
Order this imageCollection
Tatton Park, Cheshire
NT 1297691
Summary
American flintlock rifle of Pennsylvania or Kentucky type, c.1820, the barrel and lock by William Ketland & Co, gunmaker, Birmingham, England 1808-31. Probably assembled in America using English made barrel and lock.
Full description
American flintlock rifle of Pennsylvania or Kentucky type, c1820, the barrel and lock by William Ketland & Co, gunmaker, Birmingham, England 1808-31. Probably assembled in America using an English-made barrel and lock. Octagonal iron barrel with 9 groove rifling, the muzzle slightly swamped. The breech stamped with Tower of London private proof marks. Blade fore-sight and a peep-hole rear sight. Long tapering barrel tang. THe barrel retained to the stock by 3 barrel slides with silver diamond-shaped escutcheons. Steel ramrod. Barrel length 81.2cm. Calibre 14mm. Full stock with figured Maple?, with a curving butt, the left side formed with cheek-piece and inset with an engraved silver oval. Brass furniture comprising; strongly curved buttplate with upper and lower tangs, trigger guard formed with a finger rest, decorative patch-box with hinged cover (release catch on lower edge of butt), plain side-plate, fore-end cap and 2 ramrod pipes. Flintlock of flat form with bevelled edges and a stepped tail, signed W. Ketland & Co. The frizzen with anti-friction roller. Retained to the stock by 2 sidenails. Overall length: 122.3cm References Joseph Puleo, "Ketland Guns in America", Man at Arms magazine, Vol.33, No.2, 2011, pp.15-23
Provenance
Egerton collection devised to the National Trust in 1960 by Maurice, 4th Baron Egerton of Tatton (1874-1958)
Marks and inscriptions
Lockplate: W. Ketland[and]Co. (signed on stepped tail)
Makers and roles
W. Ketland and Co. (fl.1808-1831), manufacturer
References
Bailey & Nye, 1978: DeWitt Bailey & Douglas Nye, English Gunmakers: Birmingham & Provincial Gun Trade