Perfect! The Purdey looks great in the vintage case. Any idea who "C.K.S." was?
Ken
Hi Ken, no I don't know show C.K.S is/was I'm afraid!
T
Tony,
It's beautiful! Fantastic work!
Steve
Be still, my foolish heart!
Every time I opened that case, my heart would pause, and I would have to (quietly of course; as Gentlemen make no fanfare) catch my breath.
Sam Ogle, Lincoln, NE
Tony you have shown repeatedly that you do first class work on the world's most prestigious shotguns!!
Tony, if you just happen to come across another case with the same lable then please let me know. I have a gun of similar vintage but with a thumb hole opening mechanism made in 1869. A case would just be the job for it. Thanks. Lagopus.....
Tony - am sure it has been said before, but that stock is simply superb on an already wonderful gun. Am showing my ignorance here so forgive me, but assuming it is a restock, where did such a lovely piece of wood come from?
Just gorgeous.
I love the face on the lion - very expressive. The whole label just screams "mid-19th century!"
WOW, simply WOW !!
Thanks for sharing
Mike
Yes Tony that is a nice bit O kit you have there mate
That wood looks like the figure is swirling around as I look at it,mighty fine!!
Franc
Very nice Tony. Thanks to your label, I guess we know what happened to the last Unicorn....
This is a lovely gun and you have done a great job of bring it back from the scrap pile. Your son will be very proud of the work you did on it when he uses it in years to come. The wood is really nice and in keeping with the style and period of gun.
Yes, I too love those vintage oak and leather caes---they are a work of art. I notice what appears to be tape marks on the outside of the case. I have a similar marked case and wonder why someone would apply tape---perhaps as an identification mark? The tape marks on mine are nearly impossible to remove.
The Purdey is lovely---the island locks are winners. Do you know what year the gun was made?
Hi Bill, 1873. Single Gun. The red stripes would have been identification markers. I've seen more than one case with red stripes though which is kinda funny.
Cheers
T
I think that the tape or painted lines are used for identification for shipping. I once owned a Purdey that
had black lines on it and on the top of the case under his name it was stamped "The Rifle Brigade". I now have another oak and leather case that has the same black lines on it and also a big black X on the cover centered on the center medallion. My guess is that when a military unit was being
redeployed they had the lines on the cases to make them
easier to identify. Just a guess.
I rather thought the lines were from the missing straps...where sunlight and grime had not patina-ed the leather.
The lines on both of my cases were not where the straps are. On both of them the lines were painted on.
Are the stripes related to military groups?
OWD
I've seen 3 or 4 such cases and each time there was a military connection
When I was in the army, the colour on packing cases etc often related to a particular company. A Coy, for example, was always red in my battalion (Royal Anglian Regiment). Sometimes the number of stripes might relate to a platoon within a company, so for example my platoon when I was first commissioned was 3 Pl A Coy and three stripes was the indicator. However, I suspect that each unit or battalion would have had their own system in place, so with the passage of time it would be impossible to second guess what these markings meant back in the day.
When I spent time in Belize I took my Clarke with me. At that time (1982) I had to take it as hand luggage on the RAF planes that ferried us out there. It was marked with a card label tied to the handle. I still have it in my gun case. We had a few evenings flighting whistling duck during that tour.
Tony, sorry to have moved off topic. Your Purdey looks fabulous in it's case; my congratulations.
Tim
