Serial numbers 220885 and 222115, .45 Colt. 6 1/2 inch barrels. Nickel-plated finish. Deeply engraved en suite with cattle brands and scrollwork, the barrels featuring steer heads. Cylinders bear the 2 Lazy 2 P brand often used by Bledsoe as a signature. Fitted with finely scroll-engraved sterling silver grips bearing gilt monograms JMR. With letter of provenance. (See below) Condition: Excellent as reconfigured. See Illustration Note: According to the family provenance, these guns were purchased by the present owner's father, James R. Merritt from Tom Chauncey, a well-know Arizona media mogul and Arabian horse breeder. Mr. Chauncey was a business partner of Gene Autry's since World War II and the two owned a number of television and radio stations together. The guns had been given by Mr. Autry to Mr. Chauncey and had been admired by Mr. Merritt for a number of years. Mr. Merritt was an electrical contractor and had done quite a bit of work for Mr. Chauncey and around 1961 Mr. Chauncey sold him the guns. Mrs. Merritt had the silver grips made for the guns as a present for her husband. Further information on Mr. Chauncey can be found in Gene Autry's autobiography Back in the Saddle Again. Weldon Bledsoe was born in 1916. He is noted for his cattle brand engraving, a style greatly influenced by Cole Agee. While the present examples are not signed, Mr. Merritt was told by Tom Chauncey that the guns had been engraved by Bledsoe.
Serial numbers 220885 and 222115, .45 Colt. 6 1/2 inch barrels. Nickel-plated finish. Deeply engraved en suite with cattle brands and scrollwork, the barrels featuring steer heads. Cylinders bear the 2 Lazy 2 P brand often used by Bledsoe as a signature. Fitted with finely scroll-engraved sterling silver grips bearing gilt monograms JMR. With letter of provenance. (See below) Condition: Excellent as reconfigured. See Illustration Note: According to the family provenance, these guns were purchased by the present owner's father, James R. Merritt from Tom Chauncey, a well-know Arizona media mogul and Arabian horse breeder. Mr. Chauncey was a business partner of Gene Autry's since World War II and the two owned a number of television and radio stations together. The guns had been given by Mr. Autry to Mr. Chauncey and had been admired by Mr. Merritt for a number of years. Mr. Merritt was an electrical contractor and had done quite a bit of work for Mr. Chauncey and around 1961 Mr. Chauncey sold him the guns. Mrs. Merritt had the silver grips made for the guns as a present for her husband. Further information on Mr. Chauncey can be found in Gene Autry's autobiography Back in the Saddle Again. Weldon Bledsoe was born in 1916. He is noted for his cattle brand engraving, a style greatly influenced by Cole Agee. While the present examples are not signed, Mr. Merritt was told by Tom Chauncey that the guns had been engraved by Bledsoe.
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/118987/Internet%20Image%201.jpg "Source: Dix Noonan Webb")
