John Rigby & Co, still trading in London and well known to all aficionados of fine guns and rifles has been through several generations of owners since it was founded by the first John Rigby in 1775.
The company styled itself W&J Rigby in 1823, when William Rigby (John's eldest son and successor) was joined in partnership by his younger brother John Jason Rigby, who had been working for the family firm since joining in 1818, at the age of twenty-one (the traditional age at which an apprenticeship would end).
The serial number sequenced order books from the period in which W&J Rigby traded were entitled 'Best Guns and Pistols Made' and they are referenced repeatedly by D.H.L. Back in his book 'Great Irish Gunmakers: Messrs Rigby', wich was published in 1992.
Paul Roberts was then Chairman of Rigby and lent the books, which covered the period 1822-1838 and 1838-1869 to Back and his co-author at the start of the project, W. Keith Neil (who died before it was completed). Unfortunately, these books have disappeared and are no longer in the Rigby archives.
Fortunately, much of the content has been transcribed (more or less accurately by David Back) in the book and can, therefore be retreived, though only a condesned version of the available data has been recorded. For example, serial number notations do specify the type of gun, the customer and the price but the date records only the year, not the day nor the month.
The gun illustrated here is from the W&J Rigby period, as evidenced by the engraving on the lock and the rib. It dates from 1845 and carries serial number 9441. It is a 16-bore percussion muzzle-loader described as a 'best double gun with 30" barrels' for the customer 'Lord Gormaurt'. However, a search has provided no entries anywhere for a man of that name. Major Back may well have mis-read the old Victorian script in the original book.
The price paid is not recorded but guns descrbed the same way in the same serial number range sold for £39.18.0d., including case, which gives a reliable indication of the cost of buying a gun like this in 1845.
The gun today remains in lovely condition. It is apparent that it has had some sympathetic restoration, largely to the woodowork, which is attractive but has none of the patina, dents and scratches one would expect of an unrestored antique entering its one hunderd and eighty first year. Thankfully, the re-finishing has been minimal and the chequer is untouched.
We can see from the name on the rib that Rigby's iconic gothic script, which must have been a challenge for the engraver, was already well established as the company style at the time. It has been retained by subsequent generations and is still used on new Rigby guns and rifles.
The engraving is bold scrolls and rope motifs and is full coverage. The forepart was always free of chequer and the full length steel bar running from guard to finial is unusual and very skilled work.
The barrels are what the trade today calls 'acid etched' but this finish, created by bathing the Damascus barrels in sulphuric acid so that the softer iron is eroded lower than the harder iron, producing a stippled effect, was described in Rigby's ledgers as 'pickled'. The finish is beautiful and very much a feature of Irish guns. It may bee seen most commonly on Rigby and on Trulock & Harris guns of the 19th century. Both firms had their own barrel-making facilities in Dublin.
As was once remarked by Richard Arnold, one of my favourite gun writers of old, nothing comes up with the grace and poise of a best muzzle-loader and this dainty 16-bore Rigby exemplifies that. It exudes levels of quality, style, and hand-crafted beauty of a level that is lost today.
What a wonderful reminder of the cleverness, taste and capability of the men designing and making sporting firearms in Dublin at the start of the Irish famine in the year in which Texas became part of the United States.
Published by Vintage Guns Ltd on
