This gun is listed by an auction house as having the original bluing on the plate, trigger guard, etc. It certainly does appear to have some remaining case color on the frame,. What I'm wondering is how to make sense of the engraving which seems to be cut into the bluing. I don't remember seeing another vintage gun with the engraving done after the bluing, which makes me wonder if this is a reblue and re-engrave. The bluing also looks a little too fresh for a gun of this vintage, which I think dates to the first decade of the 20th century.

So well done, I would not care. But it may have been redone. If the price is right, what does it matter? It looks classy and shows up really nice in complement to the silvered frame and trigger guard.
JR

agree it's beautiful. But it should be listed correctly, and if an amateur like me can tell the difference, a gun auctioneer should be able to as well. [If I'm right, which was really my question: were any British guns done this way originally,?]

add to that the fact that original condition is considered a reason for increased value, and it seems like it surely does matter.

[There is also the question of whether cutting the engraving after bluing increases the risk of rust.]

That's original work.

How can you tell?

Hard to tell from just one pic, but looks pretty good to me. Premier? Excellencia?

NDG

are you all saying that you've seen vintage British guns with the engraving cut through the bluing like this?

Having found the original listing,it looks like the engraving has been picked out .Engraving on the barrel lump looks more worn than the rest also.
Nice looking gun though!

I noticed that too, but couldn't say for sure. Same for the barrels: the bluing shows more age than the furniture.
I also have a hard time believing those screw heads left the factory without bluing of any kind.

I'm thinking that since no one has said they've seen a vintage British gun with engraving cut after bluing, the answer is that any gun like this should be assumed not to be in original condition. Whether that matters is a different discussion

woodreaux:
the late and great Louisiana engraver, E. C. Prudhomme of Shreveport, left us with a definitive book about engraving, The Gun Engraving Review.

he also did several articles for The Gun Digest, back in the John T. Amber era....i seem to recall his saying that engraving cut through the bluing was "tacky", or something to that effect.

best regards,
tom

No question in my mind it is original. I have seen almost identical photos before showing the engraving in very similar condition. Turns out it is the way the camera sees it, lighting, etcetera. And I have no problems with the screws being in the white. Darn nice gun!

It is very unlikely. Look closely at all that you see in this photo; I have never seen British bottom plate and trigger plate screws in original condition that were not either color case hardened or blacked via some method, not to mention the fore-end iron.

I agree with this observation by imperdix. If you look at all of the engraving on the rest of the gun, it appears that the engraving on the areas where the engraving is cut into the blued metal doesn't even match the other engraved parts of this gun. bushveld makes some good points too. A closer look with a loupe would be the best way to confirm things.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/102211060_wandc-scott-and-son-16-bore-boxlock-game-gun