Pistol, Screw Barrel, one of pair

Dateca. 1735

Artist/Maker Joseph Clarkson

MediumIron/steel, silver wire inlay, and walnut stock

DimensionsOL: 15 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2000-77,1

Label TextThis pistol and its mate are a finely executed pair of breech-loading pistols based upon the La Chaumette system. The furniture is silver, and the wrist escutcheons bear a variation of the crest of the Livingston family. The barrels unscrew for unloading and cleaning.

The pair of pistols has a history of ownership in the Dunmore family of Falkirk, Scotland, and therefore of John Murray, Lord Dunmore, last royal governor of Virginia. According to the information published by Keith Neal in GREAT BRITISH GUNMAKERS 1540-1740, "the pistols came from Dunmore Park, Falkirk, a seat of the Earl of Dunmore." Livingstone is near Falkirk.
ProvenanceHistory of ownership by the Dunmore family of Falkirk, Scotland, and therefore of John Murray, Lord Dunmore, last royal governor of Virginia.