The first, Lot 1800 with an estimate of £5,000-7,000, is an unusual 12-bore rotary-underlever double-barrelled hammergun made in 1899 by London gunmaker James Purdey & Sons. The second, Lot 917 with an estimate of £8,000-12,000, is a fine 4-bore single-barrelled rotary-underlever hammer 'duck gun’ made by Edinburgh gunmaker John Dickson & Son.
Between 1868 and 1906 Charles Gordon ordered more than 300 new guns, rifles and pistols from the finest makers Scotland and England had to offer. According to historian Donald Dallas, Gordon “was a gentleman of substantial means, profligate in his purchase of hundreds of guns, yet very eccentric, eventually losing his estate, wealth and personal power, ending his days alone and humble, living in a small cottage on his once large estate.”
Holt’s Auctioneers’ Chris Beaumont revealed why the provenance of these Lots will command such interest from buyers: “Charles Gordon undoubtedly rates as one of the most prolific collectors the British gun trade has ever encountered. John Dickson and Son was a particular favourite of his and for some years he was responsible for between a quarter and a third of their entire output. What makes his patronage particularly extraordinary was his love of ‘obsolete’ gun designs.
When the world had firmly moved into modern breech loading guns, Gordon was ordering muzzle loading guns with percussion, tubelock and even flintlock mechanisms. In the same year the Dickson 4-bore was ordered (for him an unusually contemporary piece) he redressed the balance by ordering a pair of flintlock blunderbusses...the like of which had probably not been ordered by anyone for over 80 years!”
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