Hi,
Further to my previous post here is the information supplied by the Dutch military museum.
Normally the name of the manufacturer can be deducted from the butt stamp, but unfortunately, the original stamp was replaced by the Delft stamp at the time of the conversion to percussion in 1845. The letters GH in the middle stand for “geheel hersteld”, meaning: completely overhauled. The only way to find the manufacturer is with help of the controlstamps on the gun. Unfortunately, these are not all identifiable. I have checked your musket with examples from our own collection, and found ones that have the same stamps. These have been identified by us as being made by the Frères Malherbe (Malherbe brothers). Your gun was probably part of the 1819 contract for the manufacture of 3000 muskets no.1 and 3000 muskets no.2.
The literature does not definitively says that it is from Dujardin, but that it is possibly from Dujardin. Unfortunately, we have no contemporary lists of inspectors and their stamps. It is all based on names that are encountered in archives, connected with letters that we find on guns from about the same date that those names worked there. When looking in my documentation, I also encounter the crowned GB stamp that you have on various parts. That is probably from George Boussu who worked in Delft as an arms controller.
Regards,
Norman.
P.S. I would like to thank Mr Willemsen of the museum for taking the time to reply to my enquiry, as you know not all museum staff make the effort to acknowledge an enquiry much less take the time to give an answer.
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