70 Year old project nears completion!

[Marcus Hunt]

I recently finished the No 2 gun of a pair which had been made 60 years ago. My clients father had it made after a friend who borrowed it on a shoot refused to give it back and insisted he sold it to him. After working out that he'd make a tidy profit on the deal and he could have a second gun made the sale was agreed. Unfortunately it was August 1939 and WW2 started two weeks later; the gun wasn't finished until 1947. My father's master, Harry Kell, engraved the original guns and in direct lineage I have engraved the No 2 gun 70 years later! My clients father died several years ago now but my client still wants to finally finish the project and he nearly has.

The photos show the No 1 Kell engraved Atkin gun and my efforts at No 2. Although they are a pair we engravers obviously have different styles and my client wants to show this. So although the 'orange blossom' scroll is the same pattern I was given licence to cut in my style and not to copy it exactly. I hope you like the photos but I'm going to have to use 2 posts to show all the pictures.

No 1

Snipe

Grouse

Pheasants

No 2

Hare on trigger guard of new gun

continued on new thread "70 year old project....part 2"

 

[Jack Davenport]

Old Guns

Gmorning Marcus: looking at the pictures that you just posted brings back The same feeling that I had when someone brought old guns to my fathers shop. My father worked for the Lykes family through two retirements. His gun shop at our house often had fully engraved guns waiting to be cleaned or wood refinished that came from the Lykes family collection, holding those old doubles and drillings in my hands inspired me to some day learn more about engraving. Thanks for the memory! I can hear rhe quail's wing beat looking for a place to land.

Jack Davenport