1072

Professionally restored Dutch flintlock pistol with polished pewter eagle buttplate.

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:800.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Professionally restored Dutch flintlock pistol with polished pewter eagle buttplate.
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This item SOLD at 2013 Oct 30 @ 21:31UTC-4 : AST/EDT
All items are genuine unless noted. Most shipwreck coins and artifacts come with a certificate of authenticity (please check the description for each item). By bidding in this auction you understand and agree to the Terms and Conditions posted here.
Professionally restored Dutch flintlock pistol with polished pewter eagle buttplate. 787 grams, 13-3/4" long. Sometime in the 1990s a shipment of Dutch flintlock pistols was found on a French ship off Hispaniola, and these pistols were found to be ornate and intact, but with all the wood and iron destroyed by worms and oxidation. The pistols were then taken to Doug Armstrong, who is famous for his conservation work on shipwreck artifacts, and he preserved the surviving metal parts (pewter in this case, consisting of an eagle-head buttcap, ornately engraved trigger-guard and sideplate and simple ramrod pipe), and married them back to facsimile wooden stocks and iron barrels and locks that were molded from originals and then re-coated with shelly bits of the original encrustation that had been removed. The result: Unique, eye-catching pistols that look just like what you would expect for shipwreck salvage but without the continuing decay (most flintlocks found on wrecks are either kept "wet" in tanks or are sealed with an unnatural glossy coating that eventually bursts). We have sold two of these pistols in previous auctions (one for over $4000), but this is the first we have seen with pewter fittings and an eagle-head butt instead of the usual dog-head. With photo-certificate from the conservator who restored it (D.R. Armstrong). Recovered from: Unidentified ca.-1780 wreck off Hispaniola