Muzzleloading match pistols are near and dear to my heart. My father and grandfather developed some match pistols in the 80s, seeing these originals up close and how they influenced contemporary builders is so neat.
This highly embellished pair of pistols marked for Johann Springer were likely manufactured shortly after he took over the shop of Mathias Nowotny in Vienna in 1857. Springer had worked for Nowotny for 15 years before the latter took his life, and he married Nowotny's sister in 1857. He went on to be a gunmaker for the court of Emperor Franz Josef. The shop continued on after his death in 1875 and remained renowned for their quality arms.
