Over-and-Under Percussion Pistol bearing the Crest of the Polhill Family
Gunsmith Joseph Egg British, born France
Not on view
Joseph Egg, one of the preeminent gunmakers in London in the early 19th century, specialized in double-barreled pistols, of which this is a good example. Originally fitted with flintlocks, it was later converted by a different gunsmith to percussion locks, a more advanced mechanism, probably in the 1820s or 1830s. Conversion was a common and economical method of updating a firearm as technology advanced. The crests engraved on the butt cap and grip escutcheon indicate that it belonged to a member of the Polehill family of Sussex and Kent.
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