Ohio Rifle

[Avlrc]

Here is a William Folger Rifle , lots of inlays.
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/17072828_silver-inlaid-kentucky-rifle-signed-twice-on-top-of-ba?from=alert

[Shreckmeister]

Personally, I don't find it very appealing.  Lots of silver but very artistic.  I wonder if the lockmaker
Wolff and Gillespie then moved from NY to Pittsburgh and was part of Whitmore, Wolff, Duff & Co.
in the 1860-1870 era.

[Majorjoel]

 I fully agree with you on this one Rob!  Too bad the stocker didn't engrave all of the cookie cutter inlays on this rifle, patchbox included. Funny how much more interest good engraving adds to work of this type and era.

[Buck]

I kind of like it, not the greatest high art piece, but plenty of Masonic Symbolism on it.
Buck

[smokinbuck]

Folger did a number of rifles with an abundance of inlays that had no"apparent" rhhyme or reason or theme. It is aalmost like he was using left over scraps of previously cut inlays.
Mark

[JBW]

I personally find this very attractive. As a long time student of OH longrifles I can say that Folger is one of the better tradesmen. Perhaps all tyhe inlays are not readily identifiable by 2013 standards, but most are. There are many long tifles, notably of James Town, NC, area that have asymetrical and unusual shaped inlays. I hope the owner will contact me as I'd love to use that Folger rifle photos in my forthcoming book on OH gunsmiths. This gun is substantially different rom some other Folger longrifles I photographed (and we used in the 5 vols on OH guns funded by AOLRC). Much is to be said by the learned student for varying one's designs and inlays instead of making the same gun 500 times. The architecture of this Folger is very good as later guns of any area go. And I personally think the inlays go well with the general lines and designs.

[Dphariss]

At the time, late flint period onwards,  the "shotgun" approach to inlays was not uncommon. There is a pretty nice Ohio rifle there but the inlays as applied do not really help it much, at least from my perspective.  Still it is what it is, a nice historic piece.

Dan