In 1805 James finished his apprenticeship at Hutchinson and subsequently earned a position with Joseph Manton of Oxford Street. Manton was hailed as “The greatest artist in firearms that ever the world produced” by the illustrious marksman, Colonel Peter Hawker. After three years at Manton, James had risen to Head Stocker. A Rare 38 Bore Flintlock Box-Lock Pocket Pistol Ref: 546. Price: £1,200 Maker: Joseph Manton Date: 1812 With 2 ½ inch turn-off barrel engraved with a band of foliage and numbered ‘2’ at the barrel lug and at the breech, the latter with serial number, border engraved action signed on an oval against a trophy on the left, and engraved ‘London’ on a scroll against a differing trophy on. It says J.Manton London Fine Twist on the steel on top between the barrels. It has a gold shield like pc secured on the bottom near the back of the stock. The barrels are about 31' long; the total gun length about 47-1/2'. I cant find a serial number if there is one and not sure how to remove the barrels if nescessary.
Joseph Manton, London. Cased Pair of 38-Bore Flintlock Duelling Pistols. Originally Owned by General Sir Martin Hunter
Description: 10' full octagon barrels with fine silver blade front sight, discrete scratch rifling, platinum inlaid breechblock, touch-hole and inlaid maker's cartouche. Figured fruitwood stocks with flat-point-checkered bag-handle grips, horn forend tips, steel ramrod finials, horn-tipped ramrods, silver-escutcheoned crosspin fasteners, steel triggerguards with pineapple finials, seminal teardrops, steel gripcaps, vacant silver ovals and standing rear sights integral with standing breeches. Border-engraved rain-proof locks with self-priming pans, manual safeties and roller-bearing frizzens. In their mahogany case with flush-fitting brass carrying handle the lid with maker’s trade label and the compartment lids each inscribed with the serial number in ink and accessories including a 3 way flask, ball mould and cleaning rod. Built in 1814; the archetype of the English duelling pistol at its peak. Listed by number in W. Keith Neal and D. H. L. Back The Mantons: Gunmakers, London, 1966 p.254.
This shotgun has a single bead sight on an elevated concave solid rib marked 'JOSEPH MANTONS. The serial number (faded) is marked on the underside of each barrel. The rib extension, locks, hammers, trigger guard, and forearm forend are engraved with floral leaf designs. The locks are marked 'JOSEPH MANTON/LONDON'. Joseph Manton was a London gun maker active from. There were two Manton brothers, John was the elder and Joseph the younger. John Manton was born in 1752 and after his apprenticeship, set up in London in Piccadilly. Manton began producing percussion guns in 1825 and Manton himself died in 1834, leaving the business in the hands of his son.
Provenance: According to Neal & Black, The Mantons, the duelers were originally owned by General, Sir Martin Hunter, the last surviving British officer to have fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord. Passed by decent to J. Bates, being in his possession at the date of the book. Disposed by him through Thomas Del Mar Ltd, London. Purchased by Geoff Walker. Acquired by Hallowell & Co. March 2012.
General Sir Martin Hunter,GCH,GCMG (1757–1846) was aBritish Army officer, andgovernor of Stirling Castle. He joined the army in 1771, as anensign in the52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot, and was madeLieutenant in 1775. He accompanied his regiment to America, where he saw action during theAmerican Revolutionary War atBunker Hill, Lexington and Concord, Brooklyn,Brandywine, andFort Washington. He was wounded during a night attack on General Wayne's brigade.
In 1777 Hunter was made captain in the 52nd. He served in India, commanding the corps who attacked the breach atCannanore in 1785, and commanded the 52nd at various sieges during the campaign under Lord Cornwallis. He was wounded during the battle atSeringapatam in 1792. In 1793, Hunter obtained a majority in the91st Foot, and in 1794, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In 1797, he married Scottish heiress Jean Dickson (d. 1845). They had a large family. Hunter held a commissions in the 60th Foot, and also the48th Foot, which he commanded inGibraltar, Trinidad and Puerto Rico. In 1800 he became Colonel, and in 1801,Brigadier-General. Hunter was made lieutenant-general in 1812, and General in 1825. Hunter died in 1846, the last surviving British officer to have fought at Lexington and Concord.
The Hallowell & Co. Historical Gallery portrays fine guns we have handled over the years and is for informational purposes only. These guns are no longer available today. Please click on any of the links below to see what we actually do have available for purchase.
American ShotgunsEnglish ShotgunsEuropean ShotgunsDouble RiflesMagazineRiflesSingle Shot RiflesCombination Guns
Hallowell & Co., Inc. PO Box 1445. Livingston, Montana 59047 USA Tel: 406 222-4770 Fax: 406 222-4792 Email: [email protected]
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 - 6. (Mountain Time) Our inventory is constantly changing. Please bookmark this site and return often.
London, England
Wood, platinum, steel, silver, brass, textile and paper
Pistols are 38 cm / 15 in each
Provenance:
Private Collection, United Kingdom Private Collection, USA
Marked with a platinum-lined maker’s stamp
Literature: D.H.L. Back, TheMantons1782-1878, Norwich 1993, pp. 76, 108. W. Keith Neal & D.H.L. Back, TheMantonSupplement, Tisbury 1978, p. 246. P.A. Scott-Edeson, ‘Dating the Firearms of Joseph Manton: 1792-1825’, in CanadianJournalofArmsCollecting, Vol. 38, No. 3 (August, 2000), p.76
This pair of pistols is recorded in the three most significant studies of Joseph Manton’s firearms, listed above.
A near-identical pair in their case, No. 6255 for 1814, is illustrated in Neal & Back 1967, colour plate 6 (opposite p. 224). The configuration of the case and the type of trade label in the lid are identical also. The label is in fact Joseph Manton’s third type, introduced in 1812 to reflect his patent No. 3558 for ‘Inverted Breeches and Gravitating Stops’.
The numbers which are engraved on the backs of the steels are from the serial numbering sequence of the externally contracted lock engraver, most probably William Leykauss. Leykauss engraved locks for nearly all of the leading London gunmakers of the period, a fact he attested to in the evidence he gave in the legal proceedings of Manton v. Parker, 6th July 1814: see Neal & Back 1978, pp.139-142. For a tabulation of the numbering of the steels of Joseph Manton’s flintlock firearms see Back 1993, pp. 75-6.
Joseph Manton (1766-1835) was the younger brother of the renowned gunmaker John Manton. In the course of his apprenticeship Joseph had been turned over to his brother in about 1784, serving the remainder of his apprenticeship for probably another four years. Thereafter Joseph worked initially for John before setting up on his own in Davies Street, Berkley Square, in the summer of 1791 and commencing business in the following year.
Joseph Manton Serial Numbers By Name
These pistols have scratch rifled browned twist octagonal sighted barrels, forged by Charles Lancaster, with case-hardened recessed patent breeches, each with platinum line and touch-hole, and with platinum lined maker’s stamp. The engraved case-hardened tangs each incorporate the back-sight. The signed engraved case-hardened detented locks each have a safety-catch and rainproof pan, and the steels are each engraved ‘Joseph Manton Patent’ and numbered respectively 8028 and 8029. The figured walnut half-stocks have chequered butts, fitted with engraved blued iron mounts including, serial numbered (6255) trigger-guards, silver escutcheons, and blued trigger-plates each with pineapple finial. This pistols have horn fore-end caps and original horn-tipped ramrods, and sit in their original lined and fitted serial numbered mahogany case with accessories including associated four-way flask covered in red leather. The lid shows a trade label for 1819-20 and is fitted on the outside with flush fitting carrying handle and circular escutcheon.