Guns of the Concours
The Gold Medal Concours d'Elegance of Fine Guns features shotguns and rifles-new and old, from around the world-that are panel-judged in a variety of classes and categories.
It began with a call from a friend-the kind of friend who works overtime finding guns he thinks you should buy and then, if they turn out to be good deals, whines because you bought them and he didn't. The subject of one such call was an alleged Belgian "guild gun," a 16-gauge side-by-side with Damascus barrels. This is not something that normally speeds the heartbeat of fine-gun collectors but, based on the caller's description-and the attractive asking price -the gun was purchased sight unseen. The whining began almost immediately.
The term "guild gun" is often applied to a Continental sporting gun that carries no maker's name. To the degree that there is any agreed-upon meaning, "guild" guns allegedly were made by specialist outworkers who collaborated to make guns in addition to whatever they did for their name-brand employers. Dietrich Apel, founder of the German Gun Collectors Association, has written and lectured on this topic and contends, "There is no such thing as a 'guild' gun."
Guilds were established in Medieval Europe in a variety of trades to promote good craftsmanship. In the guild format an apprentice (a Lehrline, in German) worked under the direction of a Master (the Meister) and then, after a specified period of service and having demonstrated an appropriate skill level, became a journeyman (a Geselle). Advancement to Meister status required production of a masterpiece (a Meisterstueck) by the journeyman. Apel says that guilds didn't build guns and guild members didn't build guns for the guild. He believes that most unmarked German "guild" guns were made by Simpson, Sauer, Meffert or another large firm and that the lack of markings simply allowed a retailer or wholesaler to add his own trade name.
This sight-unseen purchase turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Although the London trade, with its sidelock fixation, might quibble about the action type, the gun qualifies as a "best" by anyone's standards. It is an ejector boxlock with a Greener crossbolt, color-case-hardened sideplates, sideclips and double triggers, the front articulated. The 271/2" Damascus barrels with a swamped game rib are nitro-proved for 23/4" cartridges and bored Cylinder & Modified. All proof marks are Belgian and date the gun to just before World War I.
Using Manfred Sachse's wonderful book Damascus Steel as a guide, it appears that the Damascus pattern is Crolle Extra. The straight-grip stock has stunningly figured wood and flat-top checkering, and the splinter forend has an Anson release. Engraving is full-coverage rose & scroll. The gun has three gold "2s"-one on the forend, one on the toplever and one on the top rib just in front of the breech. At least 95 percent of the original finish remains, and the case coloring on the standing breech suggests that the gun has never been fired. Everything about it looks British except for the typically Germanic deeply sculpted oak leaves on the fences. It weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces and has a 141/4" length of pull to a grooved wooden butt. The gun is otherwise unmarked except for a three-digit serial number: 885.
Roger Lake, formerly of Bonham's & Butterfields and now of Greg Martin Auctions, led the distinguished judging corps that awarded this gun a Gold Medal at Concours V, in 2003. Since then the "Belgian guild gun," or pictures of it, has been examined by many knowledgeable collectors and dealers. Each has reached the same conclusion: that it was made by Francotte of Liege, Belgium. Francotte was founded in 1805 as a producer of military weapons. Later the firm expanded into sporting arms and, as Michael McIntosh observed in Best Guns, "the old Francottes are lovely, the quality of their craftsmanship and finish on par with many of London's best."
Obvious questions remain: Why was a pair-evidently-of such fine guns made with no maker's marks? Could the gun have been the Belgian version of a Meisterstueck? Where is gun No. 1? Is it still in Belgium, resting quietly in someone's attic, or in the gun safe of a Shooting Sportsman reader? And, finally, one of life's great mysteries: Why would anyone in his right mind have passed up such a deal even if it was "only" a Belgian guild gun?
Roger Sanger is the founder of the California Side by Side Society and served as its president for 10 years. He is also the co-founder of the Gold Medal Concours. Co-author Steve Helsley is the Concours photographer.
It began with a call from a friend-the kind of friend who works overtime finding guns he thinks you should buy and then, if they turn out to be good deals, whines because you bought them and he didn't. The subject of one such call was an alleged Belgian "guild gun," a 16-gauge side-by-side with Damascus barrels. This is not something that normally speeds the heartbeat of fine-gun collectors but, based on the caller's description-and the attractive asking price -the gun was purchased sight unseen. The whining began almost immediately.
The term "guild gun" is often applied to a Continental sporting gun that carries no maker's name. To the degree that there is any agreed-upon meaning, "guild" guns allegedly were made by specialist outworkers who collaborated to make guns in addition to whatever they did for their name-brand employers. Dietrich Apel, founder of the German Gun Collectors Association, has written and lectured on this topic and contends, "There is no such thing as a 'guild' gun."
Guilds were established in Medieval Europe in a variety of trades to promote good craftsmanship. In the guild format an apprentice (a Lehrline, in German) worked under the direction of a Master (the Meister) and then, after a specified period of service and having demonstrated an appropriate skill level, became a journeyman (a Geselle). Advancement to Meister status required production of a masterpiece (a Meisterstueck) by the journeyman. Apel says that guilds didn't build guns and guild members didn't build guns for the guild. He believes that most unmarked German "guild" guns were made by Simpson, Sauer, Meffert or another large firm and that the lack of markings simply allowed a retailer or wholesaler to add his own trade name.
This sight-unseen purchase turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Although the London trade, with its sidelock fixation, might quibble about the action type, the gun qualifies as a "best" by anyone's standards. It is an ejector boxlock with a Greener crossbolt, color-case-hardened sideplates, sideclips and double triggers, the front articulated. The 271/2" Damascus barrels with a swamped game rib are nitro-proved for 23/4" cartridges and bored Cylinder & Modified. All proof marks are Belgian and date the gun to just before World War I.
Using Manfred Sachse's wonderful book Damascus Steel as a guide, it appears that the Damascus pattern is Crolle Extra. The straight-grip stock has stunningly figured wood and flat-top checkering, and the splinter forend has an Anson release. Engraving is full-coverage rose & scroll. The gun has three gold "2s"-one on the forend, one on the toplever and one on the top rib just in front of the breech. At least 95 percent of the original finish remains, and the case coloring on the standing breech suggests that the gun has never been fired. Everything about it looks British except for the typically Germanic deeply sculpted oak leaves on the fences. It weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces and has a 141/4" length of pull to a grooved wooden butt. The gun is otherwise unmarked except for a three-digit serial number: 885.
Roger Lake, formerly of Bonham's & Butterfields and now of Greg Martin Auctions, led the distinguished judging corps that awarded this gun a Gold Medal at Concours V, in 2003. Since then the "Belgian guild gun," or pictures of it, has been examined by many knowledgeable collectors and dealers. Each has reached the same conclusion: that it was made by Francotte of Liege, Belgium. Francotte was founded in 1805 as a producer of military weapons. Later the firm expanded into sporting arms and, as Michael McIntosh observed in Best Guns, "the old Francottes are lovely, the quality of their craftsmanship and finish on par with many of London's best."
Obvious questions remain: Why was a pair-evidently-of such fine guns made with no maker's marks? Could the gun have been the Belgian version of a Meisterstueck? Where is gun No. 1? Is it still in Belgium, resting quietly in someone's attic, or in the gun safe of a Shooting Sportsman reader? And, finally, one of life's great mysteries: Why would anyone in his right mind have passed up such a deal even if it was "only" a Belgian guild gun?
Roger Sanger is the founder of the California Side by Side Society and served as its president for 10 years. He is also the co-founder of the Gold Medal Concours. Co-author Steve Helsley is the Concours photographer.
- By: Steve Helsley
- and Roger Sanger
