Unusual Inlay on well known Lancaster, PA. maker signed rifle

[mbriggs]

I thought it would be nice to see some Longrifle themed post and photos on this site again.  (I was beginning to think Dennis had changed the site name to "I found this Old Gun.") (laughs)

I only collect and study Longrifles made in North Carolina.  Because of this I don't have a large base of knowledge of Longrifles from other states.

Back in 2018, the ladies at the Charlotte Museum of History called me and requested I come down and talk with a gentleman who brought an old rifle into their museum.

I went down and met with the man and he showed me his rifle. The rifle was signed by a well known Lancaster, PA. maker. I asked him how he acquired the old rifle?

He told me that in the late 1980's he had just got out of college and was looking for a job in Rhode Island. Someone he knew had recently purchased an old house in that state that was full
of junk and trash.  They brought out a 30-foot-long dumpster and hired him to put everything in the house in it.  He filled it up twice.  When he got to the attic of the old house he found an old Longrifle. He thought it might be worth something so it did not go in the dumpster.

I asked if he wanted to have it restored or wanted to sell it?  He was looking to sell so I bought it.

The rifle has an inlay behind the cheek-rest that is unlike anything on an American longrifle.

         


I have seen images on this site and in books of Pennsylvania rifles with a man's head with a Phrygian Liberty cap carved into the stock in front of the trigger guard.

Can this be what the man in the inlay has on his head?  The rifle he is aiming looks to be a flintlock.

He is wearing a coat (possibly a uniform) and pants, with shoes or moccasins.   

Have any of you ever seen anything like this on a Pennsylvania Longrifle?

I will tell you who made the rifle and provide additional photos of the rifle in the future, but for now want to focus on the inlay.

   



Thanks,

Michael Briggs

[Shreckmeister]

Elfin Magic   Nice inlay.  Never seen a similar one.  What does the rest of her look like?

[Tanselman]

There are a number of similar figures of hunters on powder horns, but I haven't seen a silver inlay like this on a rifle. Some New York rifles have rather spindly deer inlays on the butt, but not this figure. Someone must have really had time on their hands to cut/file out such a delicate inlay. Seems [to me] unlikely a gunsmith would make such a time-consuming, or spindly & delicate, inlay; probably a later addition/decoration, perhaps with meaning for the rifle's owner. Too bad his faithful dog is not in the picture.

Shelby Gallien

[okieboy]

 It reminds me of this weather vane.

[jdm]

WHAT a cool   inlay! Most of the later ones you see are mass  produced. This one is one of a kind. The rifle looks to have a fairly straight but  plate that would make it int he flint period.  RIfle   on inlay looks flint. .  My  guess  would be Dickert.   HE made  them  plain or fancy. INLAy added later by owner .

[Elnathan]

The first thing I thought of when I saw that figure's headpiece were those turbans were used to cover shaven heads when someone wanted to take their wig off. Looking at it more closely, though, I think that it is supposed to represent a wig, with the little curls along the side of the temples, or more likely, I think, simple queued hair.

As for the phrygian cap idea, hard to say. The classical depiction of the phrygian cap has the top flopped forwards, not backwards, and not so nearly as long as on this figure. A quick trip through the internet revealed a couple depictions of French revolutionary period figures with it flopped backwards, though I'm not sure that they are contemporary to the events and not later illustrations. Also, there seems to be some disagreement about when the phrygian form was adopted as a symbol of liberty - although the "Liberty Cap" was a symbol of liberty from before the American Revolution, it is possible that its identification with the Phrygian form didn't come about prior to the French Revolution, and the American Revolutionaries thought of it as a plain old conical cap such as Mr. Wilkes is holding here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/William_Hogarth_-_John_Wilkes%2C_Esq.png

[LynnC]

I know it does not really help but my honest first impression is a short rifle wielding man in a night cap.    Very unusual. Probably a Liberty cap interpretation. Just instantly struck me that way.

[Algae]

Come on Michael, You're TEASING!!

Al J.

[jdm]

I don't know what the rest of the rifle looks like but hanging on the wall with just the cheek piece side out would be good enough .

[Dutch Blacky]

I thought it would be nice to see some Longrifle themed post and photos on this site again.  (I was beginning to think Dennis had changed the site name to "I found this Old Gun.") (laughs)

I only collect and study Longrifles made in North Carolina.  Because of this I don't have a large base of knowledge of Longrifles from other states.

Back in 2018, the ladies at the Charlotte Museum of History called me and requested I come down and talk with a gentleman who brought an old rifle into their museum.

I went down and met with the man and he showed me his rifle. The rifle was signed by a well known Lancaster, PA. maker. I asked him how he acquired the old rifle?

He told me that in the late 1980's he had just got out of college and was looking for a job in Rhode Island. Someone he knew had recently purchased an old house in that state that was full
of junk and trash.  They brought out a 30-foot-long dumpster and hired him to put everything in the house in it.  He filled it up twice.  When he got to the attic of the old house he found an old Longrifle. He thought it might be worth something so it did not go in the dumpster.

I asked if he wanted to have it restored or wanted to sell it?  He was looking to sell so I bought it.

The rifle has an inlay behind the cheek-rest that is unlike anything on an American longrifle.

         


I have seen images on this site and in books of Pennsylvania rifles with a man's head with a Phrygian Liberty cap carved into the stock in front of the trigger guard.

Can this be what the man in the inlay has on his head?  The rifle he is aiming looks to be a flintlock.

He is wearing a coat (possibly a uniform) and pants, with shoes or moccasins.   

Have any of you ever seen anything like this on a Pennsylvania Longrifle?

I will tell you who made the rifle and provide additional photos of the rifle in the future, but for now want to focus on the inlay.

   



Thanks,

Michael Briggs

At first glace the figure really looks  like a man with a short gun wearing a night cap.
But then I thought, why should' nt it be a french voyageur with a mousqueton, and the typical cap?⁸
"tuque de voyageur'' 

https://www.google.com/search?q=french+voyageur+hat&source=hp&ei=kD82YuykMqKMlwSv5ZHYDQ&oq=french+voyageur+hat&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBADMgQIABATMggIABAWEB4QEzIICAAQFhAeEBM6EQguEIAEELEDEIMBEMcBENEDOgsILhCABBCxAxCDAToFCAAQgAQ6CwguEIAEEMcBEK8BOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToFCC4QgAQ6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBEKMCOggIABCABBCxAzoICAAQsQMQgwE6CAguELEDEIMBOggILhCABBCxAzoLCC4QgAQQsQMQ1AI6EAguELEDEIMBEMcBENEDEAo6BAguEBM6BggAEBYQHjoICAAQFhAKEB46CAgAEA0QHhATOgUIIRCgAVDaDViUZ2D8cWgAcAB4AIAB-wKIAaEZkgEIMC4xNy4xLjGYAQCgAQGwAQA&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp#imgrc=V7taJvIjx7I5DM

[T*O*F]

At first glace the figure really looks  like a man with a short gun wearing a night cap.
But then I thought, why should' nt it be a french voyageur with a mousqueton, and the typical cap?⁸
"tuque de voyageur''

That was my 1st impression as well.  Especially since he is wearing a hunting shirt and mocassins as well.

[Mike Brooks]

Struck me as Pee Wee Herman with a BB gun.

[Robby]

.............or the Keebler Elf eating an over size fudge bar.
Robby

[mbriggs]

I want to thank everyone for your kind comments. JDM wins the prize for guessing the Longrifle was made by Dickert.  Okieboy, please let me know if you ever see that weathervane for sale, I would love to buy one.

Below are photos of the rest of the Longrifle.












The engraved powder horn in the photograph was found in a Corner Cupboard in an old house in Rhode Island. It was not found with the Dickert rifle.

   

[mbriggs]

Additional photos.






























Sorry it took me a while to follow up, but I was out of state at the Baltimore Antique Gun Show for several days and got to see many collecting friends and share the Dickert and powder horn with them.

Thanks for the interest. Let's keep adding some interesting Longrifles on this site.

Michael

[mr. no gold]

Thanks Michael! Great commentary and a great rifle. The 'shooter' silver inlay is very interesting and it has some unusual features including what appears to be frontier foot wear of some variety. Thanks again!
Dick

[Dutch Blacky]

Thanks for the pics of this wonderful Dickert rifle.

Back to the "shooter" silver  inlay. I was looking in the net for voyageurs caps and found variations of this cap with a long tail. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/voyageur-hat

They call it a "Classic Métis style voyageur hat. A functional warm hat – the tail was used to carry small light objects."

So I think  the figure probably  shows a french voyageur.

[JTR]

Michael, Thanks for posting that one up. Interesting to say the least, and I would never have thought it a Dickert. Great find!
John

[BarryE]

I didn’t reply as it would have been cheating.  I got to meet that fellow at the show who had the rifle and horn.  The inlay is most unusual and the rifle is a great example of Dickert’s work.  Could the inlay have been added later by another?

[mbriggs]

BarryE,
Anything is possible, but there is no way for me to know.  This is how I found it.


Michael

[longcruise]

I wonder if the inlay might have been added at a later date?

[Craig Wilcox]

That inlay is clearly a man in nightcap and nightshirt, out to kill the bear that is molesting his piggies.

If indeed Dickert stuck that on the buttstock, he had quite a sense of humor.  More likely by the man who shot the pig-eating bear.