Flintlock gun
Edmund Weston (1683 - 1712)
Category
Arms and armour
Date
circa 1690
Materials
Steel, brass and wood
Measurements
1694 mm (Length)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Townend, Cumbria
NT 478103
Summary
Flintlock fowling gun with brass mounts, c1690, by Edmond Weston of London.
Full description
Flintlock fowling gun, c1690, by Edmond Weston, gunmaker, London 1683-1712. Long round iron barrel becoming thicker at the breech and with a slightly swamped (flared) muzzle. The breech formed with decorative moulded rings and stamped with the proof marks of the London Gunmakers Company, together with a makers mark (both very worn), but possibly the mark of Edward Nicholson (1675-1712). Brass blade foresight set back from the muzzle. Sighting groove in barrel tang. The metal pitted overall but free of rust. Retained to the stock by 4 barrel pins (1 later and loose). Later wooden ramrod with brass tip. Barrel length 129.5cm. Calibre 18mm. Wooden full-stock with false figuring to imitate root wood, the butt of club form, with some profile carving around the lock and sideplate. Brass furniture, chiselled and engraved, comprising; butt-plate with bulbous heel and long upper tang, pierced and engraved trigger guard with long reat tang and decorative finials, pierced sideplate in the form of monsters and leafy scrolls, 3 baluster form ramrod pipes and an escutcheon with grotesque mask and engraved with double-headed bird (Browne family crest). The butt plate also engraved with a curious sun-like motif. Wood in general good condition although a large piece has been lost and replaced with wood of a different type behind lock mechanism. This is probably a contemporary repair. Scroll form trigger. Flintlock with curved form plate of rounded section, engraved overall with scrolls, foliage and birds (either side of cock), similar to those on the Browne family crest. Signed on the lower edge E. WESTON. The pan relined with brass and held by a rivet (contempory repair). The metal pitted overall. Rounded swan-neck cock (slightly deformed). Retained to the stock by 2 sidenails (1 replaced and loose). Overall length: 169.5cm References Brian Godwin, “Historic Firearms of the National Trust – A Flintlock Fowling Piece at Townend”, Classic Arms & Militaria Magazine, 2013
Marks and inscriptions
Lockplate: E. Weston
Makers and roles
Edmund Weston (1683 - 1712), gunsmith
References
Blackmore, 1986: Howard Blackmore: A Dictionary of London Gunmakers 1350-1850