Some people just like the look of plain guns.
There are just a few months before the 8th Annual Upper Canada Double Gun Classic, so it's time to think about doubles! As usual, there will be fantastically decorated guns, but unadorned guns can be just as fine and just as interesting. This desire for simple lines is not new, and considering the high cost of the gun versus the pennies for decoration in Victorian times, a plain gun was a matter of choice and a fashion statement.
This is despite the fact that decorating one's hunting weapons is amongst the oldest expressions of human art. Engraving is the next-oldest form of decoration on weaponry after colouration, and can be found on weapons and hunting tools dating as far back as the Stone and Bronze Ages. From the fifteenth century onwards, engraving has been the favoured means of decorating firearms. The typical British gun decoration of the mid-Victorian period was the subtle application of acanthus-leaf scroll, border patterns, occasional bucolic hunting scenes, chequering, and horn inlays on the fore-end. Some engraving motifs are bolder than others, with deftly-hidden fantastical designs that only appear upon close inspection, or starburst/lightning flash motifs added around the barrel pin holes, a hold-over from the decoration surrounding flint-lock priming pans. British tastes generally did not go for the chiselled relief engraving, flashy precious metal, bone and ivory inlays, carved stocks, and other visual distractions popular on the Continent. And yet, while the British game gun was an example of artistic restraint, some clients went further in choosing or ordering guns with the most minimal decoration.
Here is a plainly decorated gun, yet the construction quality is evident. It is signed E M Reilly & Co., an important name in British pin-fire history. The business started with Joseph Charles Reilly, who was born in Ireland and moved to London. In 1814 he opened a business as a jeweller at 12 Middle Row, Holborn and, typically for jewellers at the time, he also traded in guns. In 1832 Joseph's son Edward Michael joined the firm, and by 1833 the business was entirely about guns. In 1835 the firm moved to 316 High Holborn, trading as J C Reilly until 1840, then as just Reilly, probably when Edward Michael became a partner. In 1847 the business moved to 502 New Oxford Street, and in 1857 Joseph Charles Reilly retired. The firm was re-named Reilly & Co in 1858, and in 1859 was re-named again as E M Reilly & Co, moving to 315 Oxford Street, at premises formerly occupied by Joseph Manton, nearby to the premises of James Purdey.
Gun number 14672 dates from 1867. Reilly was, with Joseph Lang and John Blanch, a prominent London advocate of the pin-fire system. If comparable to other prominent gunmakers at the time, I would fathom the annual number of pin-fires produced by Reilly around that time to have been about 80 or fewer. It is a 12-bore with a double-bite screw grip action, and the 29 7/8" laminated-steel barrels are signed "E. M. Reilly & Co Oxford Street London" on the top rib. The rounded hammers are left plain, and most metal parts only have a plain border engraving. The chequered butt has heel and toe plates, not a common feature at the time. Why the client preferred an unadorned gun will never be known. The gun weighs 6 lb 15 oz.
I don't think this one ever made it to the Oshawa get-together. Still trying to figure out what to bring this year, and whether to bring a haphazard mix, or a themed selection.
