The Norman R. Blank Collection’s unveiling at Rock Island Auction Company’s December opening of its new Bedford, Texas venue showed off the elaborate and intricately embellished firearms of European royalty and found a welcoming audience. Collectors seeking a piece from among the diverse offerings of this prestigious collection will find numerous opportunities in May’s Premier.

More than 40 pieces of beautiful antique European firearms, especially sporting guns from the 18th and 19th centuries will be offered at auction, May 17-19. The majority of these stunning firearms have been tucked away since the 1950s and 1960s, and all of them have been off the market for decades. Represented in this selection are many of the best gunmakers in European history such as Joseph and John Manton.

The collection as a whole offers an encyclopedic study of antique European firearms through the ages, an extraordinary collection with so much to offer to collectors and historians. As these incredible firearms have been cataloged, it has been impossible not to take notice of their individual beauty and how together they show continuity and changes across large periods of time and space. With a collection so diverse, it is easier to get a handle on it in batches rather than trying to examine them as a larger group. When the collection is examined as a whole, it is frankly overwhelming!

The Norman R. Blank Collection features such amazing depth that only a sampling can be glimpsed here. There is certainly much more to the collection, so keep your eyes out for the full catalog!

John Manton Dueling Pistols

If you like flintlock pistols, dueling pistols are always exciting, especially classic late 18th century pairs from top makers like John Manton. Manton was among the finest gunmakers in London durin gthe late 1700s and early 1800s, particularly well known for fine dueling pistols and sporting arms. The quality of Manton’s pistols is incredible. The locks alone are works of art. The sets below show an evolution in dueling pistol design across several decades while exuding that wonderful Manton quality.

This pair from John Manton dates to 1793 and has a hidden feature: the barrels are hair rifled, something that is hard to see without modern technology like a pen light. The rifling would have increased the pistols’ accuracy, although top-notch smoothbore dueling pistols were already very accurate.
This pair, exhibited at the NRA in 2004 has gold-lined touch-holes and flash-pans, and the hammers are fitted with rollers to run over ridges on the feather springs.

Featured along with the previous pair in W. Keith Neal and D.H.L. Back’s “The Mantons: Gunmakers,” and at the NRA in 2004, this pair was made in 1816 by John Manton & Son and shows the later half-stock dueling pistol style and more traditional rifling. This pair has engraved sunburst and foliate motifs including stylized pineapples on the trigger-plate finials.They each have a platinum band and vent liner.

Rounding out the dueling pistols is a pair of percussion pistols by John Manton & Son circa 1840. Like the first pair, they have “hair” or “scratch” rifling. By the 1830s and 1840s, dueling was less popular in England, but rifled barrels were the norm in continental Europe. The casehardened breeches have pierced platinum plugs and scroll engraving on the breeches and locks.

European Double Barrel Pistols

Most firearms in the muzzleloading era were single barrel and thus single shot, but gunmakers learned very early on that multiple barrels were advantageous since they increased the amount of shots before reloading was required. By far, the most popular multi-shot pistols were double barrels into the 19th century and the growing availability of percussion revolvers. While two of the following examples have fixed barrels, one has barrels the shooter has to rotate by hand.

This “Baby Egg” pistol, below, was made for the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, circa 1818. This diminutive little pistol is a very refined example of Joseph Egg’s famous double barrel single trigger flintlock pistols. Joseph Egg was the nephew of Durs Egg, known for his fine over-and-under pocket pistols.

Rock Island Auction previously sold one of the Duke of York’s larger Egg double barrel pistols, and this smaller version is even more impressive because of the intricacies of producing a pistol this size. It has beautiful embellishment, including a gold cap engraved with the royal coat of arms and the gold wrist escutcheon is engraved with a coronet.

While on the topic of the Egg family, take a look at this beautiful pair with hallmarks from 1784 by Durs Egg, Joseph’s uncle. This pair of engraved, carved, gold inlaid, and silver mounted Durs Egg double barrel flintlock pistols has silver hallmarks that date to about 1784 and demonstrate that the family was already producing fine double barrel pistols around the end of the American Revolution. The pistol is engraved with lined borders and sunbursts, floral and bird motifs.

The famous Rigby shop in Dublin was run by William and John Rigby between 1818 and 1858, and multiple pistols from the shop in that era are represented in the upcoming May auction. This attractive pair of turnover or swivel breech pistols, dating from circa 1830, have a single lock and the barrels are turned by hand between shots, unlike the Egg pistols which feature stationary barrels and dual locks.

Deluxe European Single Barrel Sporting Guns

Norman R. Blank’s collection has one of the most impressive array of muzzleloading sporting guns ever seen. A single barrel smoothbore firearm was the most popular and practical firearm of the muzzleloading era, and naturally they are well-represented in the collection, but these aren’t just plain sporting guns. With kings, princes, and other noblemen as their clients, many of Europe’s best gunmakers produced extraordinary smoothbore sporting guns that were fully functional but also works of art.

The superb gun by Trois Fontaine, seen below, dates to circa 1725 and features elaborate engraved and chiseled designs, including floral, scroll, bird, and mask patterns on the breech section. It came from the collection of the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar at Schloss Ettersburg.

This intriguing sporting arm was made by Trois Fontaine. It’s lock and steel mounts are engraved and chiseled en suite and feature a variety of finely executed patterns and motifs. The side-plate has pierced serpentine scroll designs and a portrait bust of a man wearing armor and a helmet. The wrist escutcheon is pierced with scrollwork and has a second portrait bust of apparently the same armored man with a coronet above.

This circa 1730-1740 sporting gun also came from the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar at Schloss Ettersberg but was the work of Johann Jacob Behr who had tenures in Wurzburg, Maastricht, and Liege. This firearm displays beautiful metal work and stock carving. The mounts are gilt brass cast with rococo ornamentation. A pierced side-plate has classical figures, a lion and a classical trophy of arms. The full stock has fine relief foliate carving and carved scroll accents.

This very rare and attractive pair was made by Johann Jacob Behr and features rare flat beveled enclosed locks which serve as a flat canvas for elaborate scroll engraving inhabited by monster heads against stippled backgrounds and enclosed by ornate borders. Its finely embellished stocks have pierced scroll pattern side-plates with a classical figure and an eagle.

This ostentatious piece features gold inlays, engraving, silver furniture, and a carved and silver wire inlaid stock. It was crafted by Jean-Baptiste la Roche and his son Jean. Jean-Baptiste la Roche was gunmaker to Louis XV and received lodgings in the Louvre in 1743 and was later joined by his son who succeeded him in 1763. Together they signed their guns with the plural “Les La Roche.” Several examples of their work can be found within major institutional collections in Europe.

This miquelet sporting gun by Fernando Olave of Placentia, Spain, circa 1805 is described in detail in W. Keith Neal’s “Spanish Guns and Pistols,” stating, “This gun is the last word in fine production and compares with the best work of Boutet and of the finest artists to be found anywhere in Europe.” This exceptional Spanish muzzleloader features deeply chiseled steel, gold inlays on the barrel and breech, and extensive carving. The burnished lock has chiseled and engraved floral, scroll, and mask motifs, a seated figure on the frizzen, and gold-lined priming-pan and frizzen.

This rare Holland & Holland Paradox ball and shot gun, dating to 1898, is one of only three single barrel 10 bore Paradox guns made by Holland & Holland and is 17 of 101 Paradox guns made with a 10 bore barrel. It is a rare variation of a model already popular with collectors. The Paradox guns featured smoothbore barrels with essentially fixed rifled chokes near the muzzles that allowed them to shoot balls more accurately without disrupting the patterns when shooting shot.

Deluxe European Double Barrel Sporting Guns

Not surprisingly, this is one of the larger portions of the second batch of the Blank Collection. Smoothbores were by far the main firearms of the muzzleloading era, and double barrels were the natural solution to get more than one shot before reloading. Blank’s collection demonstrates the incredible variety of these sporting guns produced for wealthy sportsmen over the centuries, including different configurations. This group also highlights the wide array of decorative motifs from scrollwork to classical Greco-Roman gods and goddesses and the lighter and more floral patterns of the French gunmakers. This is a selection of some favorites.

This fine Parisian turn-over sporting gun or “wender” by Thuraine of Paris was made circa 1685 and restocked and partially remounted during the 18th century. The elaborate engraving has floral scroll patterns with a mask and figure. The 18th century buttplate features the distinctive serpent finial inspired by the patterns of Claude Simonin, and this serpent design happens to be a favorite among Simonin’s diverse motifs.

This very attractive deluxe sporting gun from the early 19th century seen below features silver mounts and is a combination rifle and shotgun from gunmaker Carl Philipp Crause of Cassel with French barrels by Claude Berthon-Boulier. Berthon-Boulier of St. Etienne worked from 1777-1831, specializing in higher end arms for the Eastern markets. Crause was identified as active about 1802-1828.

This combination rifle and shotgun from gunmaker Carl Philipp Crause left barrel has seven-groove rifling with the left barrel while the right is smoothbore.The standing breech has floral engraving while the lock is engraved with hanging game, a sunburst design and foliate patterns and borders. The trigger guard has a large hunting trophy involving a spear, quiver of arrows and a longbow surmounted by a stag’s head. A smaller trophy on the heel-plate tang shows a spear, hunting sword and hunting horn with a boar’s head in the center.

This cased 20 bore double barrel flintlock shotgun is another fine example from John Manton & Son and dates to 1819. The locks have John Manton’s V design priming pans and frizzens covered by patent No. 3942 from July 21, 1815, and feature a separate rod dividing the powder into two lines in an effort to improve ignition consistency and speed.

This rare double shotgun was made while William Peacock was located at 26 Duke Street, Grosvenor Square, London in 1821-1824 using tubelock ignition. Instead of a more traditional percussion cap, this system used priming tubes held in place at the vent to ignite the main charge.

The breeches of this rare double shotgun by William Peacock have inset “WILLIAM PEACOCK LONDON” platinum-lined maker’s marks and inlaid platinum bands. The locks feature differing scroll engraving inhabited by monster-heads. Scroll engraved blued mounts with pineapple finials.

This cased Holland & Holland single barrel 4-bore percussion duck gun, below, was made for Roderick Donald Matheson Chisholm of Chisholm (1862-1887), the 28th chief of Clan Chisholm in the brief period of 1885-1887. A silver escutcheon on the bottom of the stock has the clan motto “FEROS FERIO” over the Chisholm crest and the initials “R.D.M.C.” in Gothic script for the clan chief.

The breech, lock, and mounts of this Holland & Holland single barrel 4-bore duck gun are nickel-plated with scroll and foliate engraving while the trigger-plate finial is a stylized pineapple.

Antique European Rifles

Norman R. Blank acquired an incredible selection of antique European sporting rifles, especially antique muzzleloading rifles. Rifles were far from the norm in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially outside of Germanic regions, but by the mid-19th century, rifles were well-established as the preferred firearms for hunting most game as well as for the highly competitive long range matches. With the adoption of self-contained metallic cartridges, rifles came into their own.

The May auction has two beautiful early muzzle-loading rifles featuring precious metals: an unusual European wheellock rifle with an engraved and gilt brass barrel and a beautiful silver mounted flintlock jaeger rifle. After those are a Manton percussion sporting rifle, a classic single shot express rifle, and then jumping forward into the later part of the 19th century, we have two Alexander Henry breech-loading express caliber firearms.

This unusual mid-17th century wheellock rifle features an engraved and gilt barrel and was previously in the collection of the Princes of Hohenzollern,Sigmaringen at Schloss Sigmaringen from around the mid-17th century. The flat lock has an enclosed wheel and is also gilded and decorated with punched floral patterns.

This circa 1730-1735 flintlock jaeger rifle by Paul Ignazius Poser features beautiful silver mounts. It appears to be the mate to a rifle within the famous Victoria & Albert Museum (accession number M.120-1953). The decorative metalwork attributed to Franz Matzenkopf on the flat lock plate alone is a work of art and with its finely detailed scene of a hunter with his dog and a slain hare in a wooded scene and a putto pulling on a scroll pattern disgorging from a bestial mask on the cock. The side plate is also very distinctive and shows putti and bound captives.

This Manton sporting rifle, dating to 1819, is an excellent example of a British half-stock sporting rifle from the early 19th century when rifles were steadily gaining in popularity. The flat casehardened detented lock is signed “JNO MANTON & SON/PATENT” and has a blued sliding half-cock safety. The casehardened patent breech has a vented rosette engraved platinum plug and scroll engraving en suite with the standing breech, lock, and mounts.

This elaborate Alexander Henry double rifle in .577 Black Powder Express shown below is identified in a note inside the case as having belonged to Mir Turab Ali Khan, Salar Jung I, who was Prime Minister of Hyderabad from 1853 to 1883 and was succeeded by his son Salar Jung II. Hyderabad, in southern India, was known for its pearl industry until the 19th century. There were no modern industries there until 1874.

This Alexander Henry double rifle features beautiful gold inlays that were factory order for the prime minister of Hyderabad. The Damascus barrels are profusely decorated with gold-inlaid floral scrollwork. The flat raised rib has an “SJ” monogram over Urdu script in gold inlay and the action and mounts feature gold inlays, too.

This classic Alexander Henry falling block express rifle was completed on May 25, 1880. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, single and double barrel express rifles were the preferred tools of many British hunters seeking out large and dangerous game throughout the British Empire, and single shot rifles steadily grew in popularity among competitive marksmen competing in long range matches. This gun features a casehardened border and scroll-engraved action.

Norman R. Blank Collection at Auction

After the reception of the first offerings from Norman R. Blank’s outstanding collection of European percussion firearms, as much or more is expected when the exquisite pieces highlighted here cross the podium in Rock Island Auction Company’s May 17-19 Premier Auction in Bedford, Texas. Keep following as we profile many of these firearms through articles and videos.