Tony
Thank you for your interesting and thoughtful piece. I have found both your postings on here and your own blog a wonderful way for me to do best English gun restoration by remote - forgive me please! I do not currently have the time to do my own work but one day soon I shall.
In addition to best guns I am also into classic Lotus cars. There is a saying there which is apposite to your views; that is a car (gun in our case, obviously) is only original once. Again, as noted previously, an original will attract a premium, because that is as near as it is possible to get to enjoying the car/gun as was intended at the time it was built.
Clearly over time we have to be aware of the safety issues and sometimes that necessitates repair or replacement, at which point of course originality reduces. Once that point is reached, then it is really up to the owner at the time to decide what they wish to live with as far as their car/gun is concerned. Some owners will have an eye on the market value, others on the use-ability, others perhaps on some degree of modification.
I believe what your piece articulated rather well was the ethos of the old craftsmen and indeed their craftsmanship, is alive and well in people like you, Tony. Thank you.
Tim
Last edited by trw999; 11/08/11 08:04 AM.
