Beschreibung:

Comprising: 1) A pair of 12 gauge guns, serial numbers 40001/2. 28 inch barrels. 2) A pair of 20 gauge guns, serial serial numbers 40003/4. 27 inch barrels. 3) A single 28 gauge gun, serial number 40005. 26 1/2 inch barrels. All guns have blued barrels with single white bead, the breeches engraved Holland & Holland./13 Bruton Street, London. Concave ribs engraved The 1970 Set of Five, the breech end of the rib with scroll-engraved panel set with gold set number corresponding to the last serial number of each gun. The set numbers are also repeated on gold escutcheons on the balls of the pistolgrips and on bright metal panels on the fore-ends. The sidelock actions finished "brush bright" and deeply scroll-engraved overall by Ken Hunt. The actions feature panel scenes of game modeled after the work of the well-known British wildlife artist, Archibald Thorburn The details of these scenes is as follows. Right lock Left lock Underside #40001 Turkeys Grouse Canada geese #40002 Mallard Pheasants Black game #40003 Willow grouse Red-leg partridge Teal #40004 English partridges Snipe Wood Pigeon #40005 Mourning doves Bob white quail Woodcock All guns with gilded triggers, fore-end release buttons and lock and ejector mechanisms. The stocks, all with half-pistol grips, are of finely matched burl walnut showing a pale color and closely matched fiddleback figure. Undersides of the buttstocks set with gold monograms RJB. The wood for the stocks was specially selected by the Monsieur Jean Teyssier of Brive, one of the world's great experts on walnut. He obtained the wood from a walnut tree that was found in a valley in north-west Iran. Included with the guns is the original Brazilian rosewood cabinet built for Holland & Holland by George Russell of Broadway, Worcestershire on a design by Mr. Algernon Asprey, whose workshops on Bond Street did the interior leatherwork and fittings. The cabinet features flush inlaid ormolu decoration and ormolu handles. The interior is lined in beige hide. The cupboard below contains willow calf leather double cases for the 12 and 20 gauge pairs and a single case for the 28 gauge. Cases come with leather-trimmed mail canvas covers. Also included are two leather cartridge bags, three oak and leather cartridge magazines and leather carrying covers for each gun. Condition: As new, stocks appear to have been slightly shortened to fit owner. Data: Chokes: All guns having the right barrels with half-choke and left barrels with three-quarter choke. Chambers: 2 3/4 inches. Weight: 12 bore guns-6 lb. 11 1/2 oz.; 20 gauge guns-5 lb. 13 oz.; 28 gauge gun-5 lb. 9 1/4 oz. Stocks: Pull: 14 5/8" x 14 1/2" x 14 7/8". Bend: Bump 2 1/4". Comb 1 1/2". Cast off-Bump 3/16" Face: 1/8". Comb 1/16". Toe 1/4". Note: Ken Hunt is the dean of the modern British school of engravers. He started his career by apprenticing to Purdey's and then shortly after joined the famous Harry Kell in the early 1950s. He returned to Purdey's for a short while and then went out on his own. He is very much the artist and has perfected many types of engraving techniques as well as developed techniques for gold inlays. During the period of the building of the Set of 5 for 1970 he perfected his very detailed game engraving with three-dimensional backgrounds. Archibald Thorburn was the leading Victorian and Edwardian wildlife painter and illustrator. Born in 1860, he was the son of Robert Thorburn a miniaturist to Queen Victoria. He exhibited at the Royal Academy more than 20 times, the first in 1880. He was a prolific painter and his illustrations appear in many of the classic sporting books of the period. His work was known for the realism of it's representations. The 1970 Set of Five was the third in the series of Holland and Holland's Products of Excellence. According to Donald Dallas, in the book Holland and Holland, The Royal Gunmaker, the concept of the Products of Excellence was conceived my Malcolm Lyell in the 1960s. The concept was to advertise Hol