Expo number 407

 

(A) HV-860/861        

Lock

Lock and breech contained in a long, browned iron rectangular block with flat surfaces and with a centrally-mounted ring-necked cock with rounded jaws and a thick strongly chamfered frizzle with its spring mounted on top of the pan-cover; the front of the block, with the mouth of the chambered breech, is pivoted upwards by pulling a strong curved hook which protrudes underneath the fore-end; block of HV- 860 stamped JOHN H. HALL / PATENT in front of the frizzle, and `38' on the right side; HV-861 without signature on top, but its right side stamped `RB' and `38'.

 

Barrel

Browned, of octagonal section throughout and held to the stock by two sliding keys; bore rifled with eight grooves; brass bead front-sight.

 

Stock

With French-style butt of early-19th-C First Empire type (Blair Type XXII hh), flaring slightly into a pommel with a flat base; the areas flanking the breech area raised and flat, the grip chequered; the upper borders of the fore-end reinforced at the rear by a thick, browned iron frame which widens slightly at the front to accomodate the wider front of the breech­block.

 

Mounts

Silver and flat, comprising: fore-end band, plate surrounding the aperture for the breech-hook, wide trigger-guard forking at the rear and pommel-plate; no provision for a ramrod.

 

(B) HV-862    

Combination priming flask/bullet magazine Sheet iron, painted dark green, of circular section, slightly tapering overall and with a domed base, the top with a tapering brass nozzle with cutter valve working against a circular spring; flat suspension loop soldered to the flask at mid-length; soldered longitudinally to the flask, and of equal length, is a tubular bullet magazine of sheet iron, closed off by a lid operated by a curved thumb-lever which works against a circular spring.

 

Remarks

Although neither a product of Dutch gunmaking nor having been in official Dutch service, this set is included in this catalogue because of its extreme rarity, and its old and interesting Dutch provenance.

(MAKER) According to Heer/Støckel, John Hancock Hall, 1778-1841, was a gunmaker working in Portland, Maine, and later at Harper's Ferry Armory in Virginia. He became famous for his breech-loading rifle which was taken into U.S. service as the M 1819 rifle, considered to be the earliest successful standard-issue breechloading rifle with truly interchangeable parts.

(MARKS) According to Chernoff, the letters RB on the breech-block are the initials of Robert Blanchard, one of Hall's employees.

(TECHNOLOGICAL) The breech-block can be taken out of the stock easily and there is historical evidence that an example removed from an M1819 rifle was actually used as a pistol on its own in at least one case of emergency. The idea of a 'tip-up' breech was not in itself new, but Hall's patent (dated 21 May 1811) was significant since `...he had also devised the machinery to manufacture it on an assembly line basis with completely interchangeable parts.' (cf. Peterson, and cf. also Blackmore, Blair and Hoff). It should be understood, though, that these tools were only developed after 1818 and that complete interchangeability does not apply to the pistols (cf. Huntington).

(HISTORY) There are only a few Hall pistols known, which are all assumed to be Civilian and to have been made before 1818. Only one other pair has ever appeared in literature (see CF. below) and the Combination priming-flask/bullet loader is apparently unique.

(COLLECTION) The Visser pair originally came from the Collection of the Dutch Cavalry general C.A. Geisweit van der Netten (1771-1846) who had built up a large and interesting collection of arms during his lifetime. He was also a technical specialist on firearms and claimed several inventions (for him, cf. Schulten (1)). It is known that he travelled to Washington where he could have acquired the Hall pistols and flask. Six years after his death his widow sold the collection to King William III of the Netherlands, who deposited it at the Royal Military Academy at Breda in 1856. Subsequently, the Academy published an inventory (2) in which the pistols and the flask/loader appeared under entry No. 114. In 1869, the arms were exhibited in the first Dutch arms exhibition ever to be organised, held in the art society Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam. An exhibition Catalogue was published (3) in which the Hall set appears as No. 202. Geisweit van der Netten's collection remained at Breda until 1913, when Queen Wilhelmina ordained that it should be entirely deposited in the new Artillery Museum at Doorwerth Castle near Arnhem, the predecessor of the Legermuseum of today. During and after World War II, the Doorwerth collection moved to new museum premises at Leiden. The Hall set was subsequently re-inventoried several times, its latest inventory number being 282/HC-65 (A & B). In the 1970s it came into Mr Visser's possession through exchange.

(CF.) As far as can be ascertained, the only other pair of Hall pistols known to the cataloguer, but without the combination flask/loader, which seems to be the only one of its type known, was stated by Hoff and by Blair to be in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. It bears the same signature as the Visser pair, but the breech-blocks are numbered `RB 40'. Chernoff, apparently describing the identical pair since they also bear the number RB 40 on their breech-blocks, states that they carry the serial numbers `1' and `2' in addition. (4)

(OBSERVATIONS) It has been doubted that the Visser pistols are a pair, perhaps on account of their slight difference in overall length and because the Hall signature is missing on HV 861. However, they are both numbered RB 38 and it is possible that Hall signed only one pistol of his pairs.

 

Provenance

Legermuseum

Koninklijke Militaire Academie (Breda)

Koning Willem III der Nederlanden

Geisweit van der Netten

 

Literature

-Beschrijving (after 1856?) No. 114

-Katalogus (1869) No. 202

-Peterson (1963) p. 168-170

-Blackmore (1965) p. 63 & Nos. 379, 380

-Blair (1968) p. 26, 118, 179, No. 445

-Hoff (Vol. 11, 1969) p. 244-245

-Heer/Støckel (Vol. 1, 1978) p. 488

-Chernoff (1985) p. 29-34

-Huntington (1993) p. 3-11

 

1          C.M. Schulten, 'Cornelis Antonie Geisweit van der Netten : (Den Haag, 19 juli 1771- Delft, 27 mei 1847)' Armamentaria; II (1976) p. 20-30.

2          Beschrijving der wapen-verzameling van wijlen den generaal-majoor Geisweit van der Netten (`Description of the arms collection of the late Major-General Geisweit van der Netten'); no date.

3          Katalogus der tentoonstelling van wapenen, krijgsattributen, enz. [etc.] Amsterdam 1869.

4          Chernoff states that this pair is in the A.T. Seymour III collection of Fort Worth, Texas. In a letter of 6 Sept. 1994 (No. AFH94-393) to the Legermuseum, the National Museum of American History, which is part of the Smithsonian, stated that the pair in question `... is not a part of the national collections, but that at one time they must have been photographed there, but were not retained.'