Unknown whether this is George or George W. George worked in Hampshire Co, VA/W.VA and George W , according to Sellers was in Shenandoah Valley. Appears to be the gun presented by Whisker on page 33 in "Long Rifles of VA."
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Comments:
it certainly appears to be the same rifle pictured in Whisker's book, and it's a beauty! I'm not sure whether it's a George Glaze the elder, or a George W. Glaze. I don't know whether you are aware of it, but George W. Glaze worked in Hendricks County, Indiana from around 1850 on.
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(Whisker) "George W. Glaze (1780- ) gunsmith and farmer. George owned lot 48 on the South Branch, near Springfield Hampshire County West Virginia. He received his fathers tools upon the latter's death. By 1850 George had set up a gun manufactory in Belleville, Hendricks county, Indiana" ....................Frank Sellers shows George W. in Belleville, Indiana (1830 - 1850)
(Whisker) "George Glaze I ( - 1823) Gunsmith and farmer. On 9 May 1780 George obtained 133 acres of land near Romney, Hampshire County west Virginia from Eva widow of Earhart Glaze"
Pleasing rifle, I wonder if the lock is a restoration?
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A fine example of an early 1800s VA rifle. This one may have been on the cover of one of the Whisker books on VA rifles; it looks very familiar. It has characteristics that vary from what we tend to thing that most VA guns should look like. Carving, patchbox, and profile are slightly different from those preferred by Lauck and some of the other makers.
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I do think the gun has lost its original finish, and been recolored and refinished, but the artwork and patchbox are typical of Glaze. The reconversion of the lock, in my opinion, used a style hammer a little too early for the plate. The gun is an earlier Glaze with slightly taller, fuller butt than on many of his known pieces, so offers an interesting comparison piece for Glaze students.
