Gavin Gardiner’s big guns

A fine 12-bore sidelock ejector, over and under, gun by the gun maker Boss & Co fetched £40,000 in Gavin Gardiner Ltd’s live/online Auction of Modern & Vintage Sporting Guns on 9 December. Dating from 1927, the gun, which had been built for von Lengerke & Detwold, New York, carried an estimate of £30,000-£40,000 and was sold to a private collector. Another 12-bore, sidelock ejector gun by Boss & Co achieved £10,625. This two-barrel set from 1915 was expected to fetch £8,000£10,000 and was bought by a private buyer in the US.

Elsewhere, a pair of 12-bore self-opening, sidelock ejector guns by prestigious Londonmaker James Purdey & Sons sold for £8,750. The guns dated from 1905.

Among the rifles, a .450 express boxlock, non-ejector rifle by Scottish gunmaker Alex Henry realised £8,125 against an estimate of £7,000-£9,000. The maker confirmed that it had been built in 1890 for W. Graw resident in India.

A 16-bore single trigger, hand detachable, boxlock ejector gun by Westley Richards sold for £7,500. The two-barrel set was purchased by a private buyer in the US, against an estimate of £4,000-£6,000.

Following the sale, auctioneer Gavin Gardiner, commented, “The sale attracted strong international interest with collector’s firearms selling especially well. Quality, condition and rarity continue to be the key factors that collectors crave.”