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
Dehan Gérard
Here is a superimposed rifle of Liège manufacture, perhaps of Gérard Dehan, master gunsmith, street Jean Jaurès in Vivegnis:
he deposited three Belgian patents between 1919
and 1932 of which two relate precisely to the superimposed rifles...it is of
course the mention
G. DEH. &. Cie Bté
which makes us think of him....
The
markings
"r":
annual letter of 1939;
EL:
provisional test, in use since 1852;
ELG on
star in crowned oval: acceptance, in use since 1893;
z under
star: countermark of a controller; it could be Théodore Degobert, active between
1924 and 1949;
lion on
PV: test with the modern powder, in use since 1924;
20-70 in
omega lying: nominal gauge and length of the casing, in use since 1924;
1KG237:
weight of the barrel;
crowned D:
almost certainly the gunner
Delcour,
undoubtedly
Oscar and Lucien,
of Fraipont-Nessonvaux, registered with the Proofhouse of Liege from 1930 to
1940.
GP
Concerning
Gerard Dehan,
he would have died in 1939!
It would
seem, according to a local historian from Vivegnis, that it was a family of
gunsmiths who were known in the region. But were they gunsmiths, parts
manufacturers, homeworkers?
Unfortunately for the moment, Vivegnis's "memory" cannot tell me more.
Concerning the address: rue "A la curée" in Vivegnis, it doesn't even evoke
anything, not even a locality!
Strange,
isn't it?
PHL
