42 - Pocket pistol, brass cannon-muzzle barrel, engraved box lock, Liège, mid-19th c.

Pocket pistol, brass cannon-muzzle barrel, engraved box lock, Liège, mid-19th c. Brass barrel and brass box lock, wooden grip, percussion pocket pistol. The angular brass barrel with stepped breech, drawn out towards the muzzle as a cannon muzzle with a bead. The box lock engraved on both sides with scrollwork, the central hammer on top of the box strikes the nipple seated at the front of the box, iron trigger guard. The light wooden grip with rounded end. At the breech the Liège proof mark “ELG” with star in an oval. Condition commensurate with age, mechanism functional, the brass stained and rubbed, the grip with scratches. Calibre 11 mm, L. 20 cm In the 19th c. Liège was the largest arms centre in Europe. Its proof house tested every barrel and marked it with the letter mark ELG in an oval; the version with star and without crown was in use from 1846 to 1893, from 1893 the crown was added. Small pocket pistols with brass barrel and brass box lock were a mass product of this centre and were sold throughout Europe through intermediate trade. Muzzle-loading weapons with percussion ignition whose model originated before 1871 may be acquired in Germany without a licence from the age of 18.