Antique firearms: judged as works of decorative art, the best quality historic guns offer outstanding value for collectors outside this specialist market

Apollo, Feb, 2008 by Roger Field

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Antique firearms, a designation that covers both pistols and long arms, has been something of a niche market in recent years. With the constant tightening of gun laws in the UK and much of Europe, it is as if firearms are seen as 'difficult' by many who might otherwise value them--the better items at least--as works of art, rather than view them as mere weapons. The result is that firearms tend to be worth significantly less than items of comparable rarity., condition and age in the mainstream art market.

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The converse of this is that there is a strong collectors' market for firearms, one that is not speculative and given to wild swings in fashion and that is passionate about the subject. As a result, prices have continued to rise steadily in recent years and the consistent message from the trade is that the higher the quality the better the investment.

However, when truly superb items come onto the market the formula changes. As David Williams, head of Arms and Armour at Bonham's, is keen to emphasise, a top quality firearm will incorporate more than one of the applied arts that are so highly valued and sought after in the more mainstream markets: engraved and worked gold, silver, ivory, wood and steel. "This is why most of the major museums have an arms and armour gallery', he explains. 'A fine weapon is a showcase for the applied arts.' The highest quality items are viewed by discerning collectors as being much more than weapons and are sought beyond the specialist market and, occasionally, by museums. These objects can then fetch prices more commensurate with works of similar importance in other areas of the decorative arts.

One such example is the pair of snaphaunce pistols made by Matteo Acquafresca in about 1690 and recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Influenced by contemporary Parisian styling, these Italian pistols are stocked in ebony, the steel chiselled and engraved, and the stocks extravagantly worked in silver wire inlay with depictions of humans, birds and fantastic beasts. The likelihood is that they were created for one of Acquafresca's known clients, such as the Duke of Tuscany or the Medici court in Florence. Not least, they are in perfect condition.

It is condition, explains Nick McCullough, head of Arms and Armour at Christie's, that makes a good firearm great. With the possible exception of pieces made either as gifts or for presentation, firearms were built to be used. Just as a modern Purdey or Holland and Holland shotgun is designed to look as good as the gun maker can make it, it is also designed to shoot as well as possible. Top-quality weapons not only need to look superb, they also need to work beautifully--that is what makes them truly desirable. And, just as a modern sporting firearm needs regular servicing and occasional replacements of working parts, a weapon that regularly fired corrosive black powder needed even more servicing to keep it fully functional. So, while McCullough does not feel that contemporary repairs--minor of course--necessarily devalue a firearm, he is emphatic that inexpert modern repairs and cleaning can make a top-quality item ordinary.

Provenance is also critical. Take an object in superb condition by a top maker and then add great provenance and the price will rocket. Christie's, London, sold a cased pair of Purdey percussion target pistols in their 20 September 2007 auction (Fig. 1). Made in 1839, with browned twist barrels, inlaid with gold and in perfect--probably unfired--condition they were estimated at 25,000 [pounds sterling]-35,000 [pounds sterling]. However, they had been bought from Purdeys in 1840 (for 81 [pounds sterling] 'cash') by Jerome Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon. They sold for 66,500 [pounds sterling].

Not an over-the-top price says Peter Finer, the only British dealer still to have a gallery that deals in top-end firearms and produces a biannual catalogue. He has made several recent sales of fine cased pistols by top English makers for comparable prices, an area that he believes has potential for continued good growth. He echoes Williams's advice about the gulf between 'good' firearms and the 'exceptional' examples that can be viewed by the wider market as works of art and not just as weapons. By way of illustration, he recently sold an exceptional pair of John Knubley cased flintlock pistols, hallmarked 1786-87, for a substantial six-figure sum. Not only were these exceptional items, in superb condition, they were also reputed to have been a gift from the Duke of Wellington to the Prince Regent.

In his 2008 catalogue, Finer has a matched pair of South German wheel-lock pistols dated 1586 (Fig. 2). Their stocks are extravagantly decorated with inlaid and engraved staghorn, the barrels are blued steel and the working parts engraved, and the pommels are emblazoned with the arms of Saxony. What makes these pistols even rarer is that, given their small size, they must have been made for a boy.