Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman, and many others, are in this book “Liège Gunmakers through their Work. 1800 - 1950”.
For more detail see: LIEGE GUNMAKERS
Chouvel R.
Very nice
box containing two beautifully crafted percussion pistols as well as the tools
(mallet, screwdriver, bullet mould, powder bulb and cleaning rod) needed for
proper operation. These pistols are of Liège origin, as indicated by the ELG
mark.
The
hexagonal barrel is made of beautiful damas. The lock is of "back" type with
nice small engraving. The trigger is straight protected by a finger-rest trigger
guard. The butt is empire type and has a starter box with a shell-shaped metal
lid.
These two
weapons have different markings that gave me concern, namely:
ELG* in a
vertical oval: the star has 5 branches, which gives us a manufacturing period
ranging from 1818 to 1893! This mark belongs to the proofhouse of Liège.
The mark
(unreadable) M or N B on the barrel could belong to the barrel manufacturer but
I could not identify it!
The other
mark on the barrel (L interlaced with two C so well read?) is equally unknown to
me. It could possibly be a manufacturer's mark but my documentation is silent on
this point !
965:
numbering ?
RC
crowned: here too sorry to admit my ignorance.
GG
The only one who could fit the dates from 1818 to 1893
is a certain Chouvel R.
(Belgian profhouse 1878/1879) He takes over
Robert's
business (1876/1879)
No
certainty, just a suggestion !
