Researching a Gun - Heraldry?

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tiriaq

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I recently acquired a single barrelled 16 bore flintlock shotgun by James Wilkinson & Son, London, Gunmakers to His Majesty. High quality London gun. According to the company records (which have survived) the gun was entered in the ledger September 7th, 1822. I have obtained a copy of page. Unfortunately, the gun was sold "over the counter" and the customer's name was not recorded.
The silver thumbpiece is engraved with a "demi wolf rampant", the head and torso of an upright wolf, facing left.
Any suggestions for how to find the family associated with this crest? I have played with google a bit, but have not found anything specific.
Incidentally, of the 15 or so guns entered on this page of the Wilkinson ledger, the majority are percussion guns, and most are smaller bore, 16 and under.
 
tiriaq said:
I recently acquired a single barrelled 16 bore flintlock shotgun by James Wilkinson & Son, London, Gunmakers to His Majesty. High quality London gun. According to the company records (which have survived) the gun was entered in the ledger September 7th, 1822. I have obtained a copy of page. Unfortunately, the gun was sold "over the counter" and the customer's name was not recorded.
The silver thumbpiece is engraved with a "demi wolf rampant", the head and torso of an upright wolf, facing left.
Any suggestions for how to find the family associated with this crest? I have played with google a bit, but have not found anything specific.
Incidentally, of the 15 or so guns entered on this page of the Wilkinson ledger, the majority are percussion guns, and most are smaller bore, 16 and under.
Click to expand...

Sir - all heraldry is described as though you were behind the 'shield', looking over it. Do you really mean 'sinister, a demi-wolf rampant' or are you mixing up your heraldic facings? If it is just a half-wolf then you are out of luck, as it probably a naming pun - the name of the owner may have been Wolf, Wolfe or Woolf/e. Heraldic heads or bodies, devoid of achievements [decoration] are usually heraldic-looking puns and are not true heraldic arms.

tac
 
From behind, looking out, it would be a dexter, demi-wolf rampant. Looking at it on the gun, the wolf's head faces left. Facing the thumbpiece, behind the wolf's back, there is another device, a tail, a frond, something like that.
Yes, it very well may be just a crest or monogram.
 
A firearm wouldn't be 'sold over the counter' with any kind of heraldry. Most likely some kind of trade mark.
Heraldic devices(Coats of arms. A 'crest' is part of that.) don't belong to a family surname. They belong to individuals. All those 'Find your family Coat of Arms' sites are fraudulent.
A coat of arms identifies the guy(you can't just decide to use one either. Has to be granted or inherited from a male who was granted arms.). Doing a search to find out who a coat of arms belongs to costs a fortune.
Just the head is a Wolf-head couped or erased. Couped means the bottom of the head is straight across. Erased has 'neck' hair.
 
Of course a firearm wouldn't be sold over the counter with any sort of heraldry.
It is very common to see plates either on the top of the wrist or on the bottom of the butt, installed for initials, etc. Usually they are blank. This was an expensive high grade gun that someone had engraved with a crest, although it was apparently not a "bespoke" gun.
This wolf is a demi, rampant. Rather dramatic under magnification.
The names of the three workmen who did the major work building the gun are recorded in the ledger, along with the date it entered inventory, gauge, type, barrel length.
 
Royal College of Heralds in London are the people you really need to ask. They are the dudes responsible for designing and handing out all those coats-of-arms and crests and so forth. They may not be able to tell you who DID it, but they WILL be able to tell you who was able to do it LEGALLY, which used to mean a lot.

Hope his helps.
.
 
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