David,
Please allow me to make a small correction. In the 19th century and earlier it was common for engravers to use S.C. after their name rather than the later form of Eng. (or Inc. [incisore] as used by Italian engravers). The S.C. was an abbreviation for sculptor. I realize that it seems like sculpting and engraving are two different things but it was a tradition. This does not just apply to gun engravers. On the contrary, it was mainly used by those who engraved wood blocks or copper plates to reproduce art. Gustave Dore' and his staff of engravers are a good example.
On another note, I have noted a number of threads here where someone was trying to determine an engraver's identity relative to an unsigned gun by looking at the animals and game scenes. When I am evaluating a "who dun it", it is the scrollwork that is usually the key to an engraver's identity.
Most 19th and early 20th century professional gun engravers used pattern books for their animal and game scene examples. Those who were formaly trained in Europe and England were also taught very specific ways to engrave the most common animals. Unless I am looking at animals on the level of Fugger or Churchill, I really can't make a positive ID that way. Scrollwork is almost like an engraver's fingerprints. This is especially true of American engravers who were allowed to work in their own way as contrasted with Austrian and German engravers working in their homeland where they were held to rigid standards. When it comes to what we call German scroll (called "grund Englisch" by Suhl engravers and "Altenglisch arabesken" by Austrians) it is almost impossible for me to discern the engraver's identity because of the uniform way it is executed by Suhl or Ferlach trained engravers. I could go on and on about this topic but I will just leave it by saying that good detail pictures of the scrollwork is what I and other engravers need to see for a good assessmant of the engraver's identity.
Cheers,
Roger
