A VERY DECORATED FLINTLOCK PISTOL FOR ID

rickystl · 19th November 2017, 06:28 PM

Hi Cerjak.

WOW!!! What a beautiful pistol !! And a real curiosity.
It has styling cues of both earlier and later periods. Which is actually common for pistols made in/for the Eastern market. But this one is exceptional. The decoration, with it's face masks on the lock plate and barrel look like a mix of English and Indian. So the final assembly possibly in India may be as good a guess as any. The spurios "variation" of the Twigg name makes me think the pistol was not assembled in Europe. It does seem this pistol was commissioned for a specific customer. And the workmanship is top notch. The lock is very high quality, and certainly up to European snuff. I notice it has the bridless pan, an earlier feature. As Richard mentions, I too can see the difference in patina of the hammer, pan, frizzen, and even the frizzen spring. If they were replaced, it was certainly a first class job. The face of the frizzen looks like it has never seen a flint struck against it. Curious. But the one photo showing the vent hole does not, to me, look like the barrel had been altered previously. And the vent hole sits at the perfect position above the pan. Just my observations.

Again, it's a beautiful and super interesting pistol.

Rick

19th November 2017, 06:28 PM	#25
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,630	Hi Cerjak. WOW!!! What a beautiful pistol !! And a real curiosity. It has styling cues of both earlier and later periods. Which is actually common for pistols made in/for the Eastern market. But this one is exceptional. The decoration, with it's face masks on the lock plate and barrel look like a mix of English and Indian. So the final assembly possibly in India may be as good a guess as any. The spurios "variation" of the Twigg name makes me think the pistol was not assembled in Europe. It does seem this pistol was commissioned for a specific customer. And the workmanship is top notch. The lock is very high quality, and certainly up to European snuff. I notice it has the bridless pan, an earlier feature. As Richard mentions, I too can see the difference in patina of the hammer, pan, frizzen, and even the frizzen spring. If they were replaced, it was certainly a first class job. The face of the frizzen looks like it has never seen a flint struck against it. Curious. But the one photo showing the vent hole does not, to me, look like the barrel had been altered previously. And the vent hole sits at the perfect position above the pan. Just my observations. Again, it's a beautiful and super interesting pistol. Rick