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
Trokai J.
This is an elegant flintlock pistol from the collection
of the Museum Korps Rijdende Artillerie in 't Harde, the Netherlands. An old
catalog of this museum (www.korpsrijdendeartillerie.nl/museum) states that it
was made in the second half of the 18th century by J. Trokan of Liège (see below
for the spelling of the name in question). Since the Rijdende Artillerie (light
horse artillery) was founded in 1793, the Museum management considers that the
pistol indeed belonged to this branch.
There are indeed many contemporary flintlock pistols of
the same design on the Littlegun website (Netherlands section), generally signed
in Maastricht, Utrecht, or Rotterdam, see for example :
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20pays%20bas/artisan/a%20beckers%20gb.htm
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20pays%20bas/artisan/a%20behr%20j%20j%20gb.htm
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20pays%20bas/artisan/a%20de%20la%20haye%20gb.htm
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20pays%20bas/artisan/a%20haseluyn%20gb.htm
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20pays%20bas/artisan/a%20leblan%20oger%20gb.htm
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20pays%20bas/artisan/a%20van%20walsen%20gb.htm
Comparison of the pistol examined here with the examples
above suggests that it was manufactured during the first half of the 18th
century rather than the second, but without certainty...
The key question in this identification concerns the
elucidation of the marking on the lock. This marking, hand-engraved in a
"rustic" manner, allows us to read the words:
"J. TROKAI A LIEGE." The surname "Trokai" is quite common
in the Liège region and is found in various spellings. The search for a gunsmith
with this identity required the insight of a team member, who identified two
possibilities through his genealogical research:
- Jean Domino TROKAI, born around 1730, died before June
1782 - Merchant in Liège
- Jean TROKAI, born around 1749, died before June 1782 -
Merchant in Liège
It is likely that these are in fact the same person, who
is mentioned in one of the works of historian Terry Crowdy (see attached
appendix), in the following quote:
"... the sum of 1900 pounds to Jean Trokai, the merchant
of arms, for muskets, pistols and sabres..."
On this basis, it can be suggested that the flintlock pistol examined here was sold, and perhaps even manufactured, by the Liège arms dealer Jean Trokai during the 18th century.
Chris, PHL, HPH
Appendix:
Excerpt from: “Incomparable: A Collection of Essays: The
formation and early history of Napoleon’s 9th light infantry regiment”, 2012, by
Terry Crowdy, Osprey publishing.
