doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Education on Engraving

I would like to see the many different engraving styles used on our vintage shotguns. I have spent quite a few years on the forum and have heard many describe different engraving styles but I've yet to see a good reference to the many different types. Please post a pic of your engraving listing the manufacturer and if possible the style of engraving. Please be as specific as you are able because sometimes it is a generic reference such as 'germanic'. No laser engraving thank you. I will start but I am unable to tell your what engraving style is on my guns.

MacNaughton Skelaton Action



Joseph Lang Hammer Gun



Lefever C Grade

Here is a Belgium gun with 'floral germanic style' but not able to describe it further.

Aime Andre

Having been to Gardone several times and having talked with top engravers like Firmo Fracassi and Luca Casari, I got the impression from them that engraving is defined according to the tool used to make it. Bulino is fine engraving done by hand pushing a graver. Intaglio is cut engarving using a hammer and special chisel. Then comes cesello which is sculpted engraving with near three dimensional designs on the steel.

The style is another matter. Each gunmaking area reflects the general culture of its area, so central European is different to English and Italian styles and so on.

Then there is the personal style developed by top engravers, like Fracassi's bulino rendition, so fine it almost looks like photography.

Somewhere in the 1980s engraving became a separate art and a bit of a fetish. Before that it was mostly routine "house" styles repeated by hand on each gun. They call this craftsman engraving to distinguish it from artistic engraving. There is correspondence on record (by Dicksons if I recall) where three guns were sent to the engraver on Thursday and were expected to be fully covered in the "house" style and be ready by the following Tuesday. Craftsmen apparently worked fast and at a reaasonable price.

For more on art in shotguns see here: http://oplognosia.com/?p=9471

David you might consider following Pinfire’s thread on CGN for an in depth discussion and basic tutorial on engraving.

Classic German "Eichenlaub" (Oak leafs) engraving.

Cheers, Gunwolf