Rifles

[Preacher Dave]

Amazing details and execution! They are wonderful examples of your evolution and development of your style.

[oldtravler61]

   Exceptional workmanship Ian.....!!!

[Ian Pratt]

Thank you everyone! All really nice to hear and much appreciated.

Fantastic work, what profile is the rifle stocks?

Best regards
Rolf

The rifle in the last two photos has a step wristed architecture. I have been trying to adopt the step wrist feature and make my own style of rifle with it.  For a time I had several of them that I was working on simultaneously so I could see how subtle changes and different combinations would affect on the overall character of each gun.

The rifle in the first two photos shares some of the same architectural details as the other guns (minus the stepped wrist) with its own variations on the relief carved elements. These aren't copies of existing pieces.

[Ian Pratt]

Life prefers Liberty?

"Vita potior libertas" - seen emblazoned on flags, engraved on gorgets etc.  I have seen it worded in that order and also with the first and last words transposed.  I have been told that it means pretty much the same thing in either order -  "Liberty rather than life ".

[Tony N]

Stunning work as always Ian!!  Thank you for sharing

Tony

[Marcruger]

All aspects show your finely developed skills and artistic talent. Love those scallops, and especially the serpent/serpentine line along the cheekpiece.  God bless, Marc

[alacran]

Life prefers Liberty?

"Vita potior libertas" - seen emblazoned on flags, engraved on gorgets etc.  I have seen it worded in that order and also with the first and last words transposed.  I have been told that it means pretty much the same thing in either order -  "Liberty rather than life ".

Indeed this moto is on a 1775 South Carolina regimental flag.
However, the word potior is problematic. I did a search on a Latin translation site," Vita Potior Libertas" and it comes up as "Life is more important than Freedom". However if you change the wording to "Libertas Potior Vita", it translates to Freedom is more important than life.
Given as Latin is a "dead" language just as it was in the 18th century, the motto could have been a phrase interpreted by a lawyer or a doctor.
Lawyers and Doctors needed to know rudimentary Latin as it applies to their profession. Writing the phrase in Latin was probably meant to give it more gravitas.
 A priest I would think would have been better versed in the language and would maybe have gotten it right.

[Ian Pratt]

Indeed this moto is on a 1775 South Carolina regimental flag.
However, the word potior is problematic. I did a search on a Latin translation site," Vita Potior Libertas" and it comes up as "Life is more important than Freedom". However if you change the wording to "Libertas Potior Vita", it translates to Freedom is more important than life.
Given as Latin is a "dead" language just as it was in the 18th century, the motto could have been a phrase interpreted by a lawyer or a doctor.
Lawyers and Doctors needed to know rudimentary Latin as it applies to their profession. Writing the phrase in Latin was probably meant to give it more gravitas.
 A priest I would think would have been better versed in the language and would maybe have gotten it right.

I'm with you on all counts. I found similar information when I looked into it. Other sources supported the exact opposite. I'm not a Latin speaker at all so I consulted with a relative who is and he gave me the version I mentioned already. Ultimately I decided to engrave it as I'd seen it on the aforementioned flag and other objects as a nod to the history. We know what their intent was in using the phrase.

A while back I did some engraving work on a version of an original tomahawk that someone else had made. We got in a bit of a debate about whether or not I should use the original misspellings or correct them. Kind of the same thing as my patchbox engraving, but also kind of not. The tomahawk wasn't a bench copy of the original but was obviously based on it and I felt the misspelled words were an important part of the story. In the end I think I corrected the spelling how he wanted it. It's part of being a gunmaker -  oftentimes when the bills start piling up, suddenly your artistic convictions become markedly less fierce.   

[alacran]

In any case the men following the flag believed, the motto stood for freedom is more important than life. That is why they followed it.
Like I stated before the PB lid is special and looks great with the carving.
I know just enough Latin to get arrested at a Roman pub.

[ScottNE]

Life prefers Liberty?

"Vita potior libertas" - seen emblazoned on flags, engraved on gorgets etc.  I have seen it worded in that order and also with the first and last words transposed.  I have been told that it means pretty much the same thing in either order -  "Liberty rather than life ".

Indeed this moto is on a 1775 South Carolina regimental flag.
However, the word potior is problematic. I did a search on a Latin translation site," Vita Potior Libertas" and it comes up as "Life is more important than Freedom". However if you change the wording to "Libertas Potior Vita", it translates to Freedom is more important than life.
Given as Latin is a "dead" language just as it was in the 18th century, the motto could have been a phrase interpreted by a lawyer or a doctor.
Lawyers and Doctors needed to know rudimentary Latin as it applies to their profession. Writing the phrase in Latin was probably meant to give it more gravitas.
 A priest I would think would have been better versed in the language and would maybe have gotten it right.

Latin, in addition to lacking articles, allows for a variable, even somewhat random word order (or at least, seemingly random to those of us who aren't Latin scholars). As with the lack of articles, wider context is what provides clarity on the correct reading of a sentence with regards to word order. Different Roman writers even had different tendencies in how they arranged the words of a any given sentence. For a battle flag, I suppose the men beneath it marching into the teeth of shot and shell would provide the context necessary to understand the intended meaning of the phrase

I never managed to get much of a grasp on Latin, although it is a beautiful language. I had several acquaintance who studied for the (Catholic) priesthood. A couple of them who studied in Rome became fluent in Liturgical Latin.

[Old Time Hunter]

The word that comes to mind , as I view these pieces , would be flow! The use of early design elements , coming together in a manner that they compliment and , not contradict each other is no small feat to pull off with an original design!  I for one can`t wait to see them finished!! Beautiful work!!!

[Daryl]

Beautifully executed and exceptionally CRISP!

[godutch]

  Those are beyond impressive! Outstanding would be a better word.  There's much fun to be had going back over the pics several times and discovering elements you'd over looked before. I'm sure we'd all love to see completed pics also. Thanks for posting!

[Ian Pratt]

I never took any good photos of the rifle before it was delivered, but fortunately my friend Ethan Yazel took some photos of the rifle at the CLA show where Maryellen and I split a booth with our partner in creative destruction Ken Gahagan. 

[Ian Pratt]

net photo upload

[Ian Pratt]

[Tim Crosby]

 A May Zing!! I'd ask "how ya gonna top that?" but I'm sure it is in the works.

   Tim

[Robert Wolfe]

Wonderful!

[JTR]

Wow! What a treat to see!
John

[Spalding]

Stunning, beautifully aged, too.

Bob

[godutch]

  Such outstanding imagination and execution. Beautiful !  As I'd mentioned regarding the 'in process' pics posted earlier, you can 'go over' them several times and find details you'd missed previously. That's a wonderful thing I think on any heavily embellished piece. 

[Ian Pratt]

Thanks guys! Here is the second rifle I had originally posted. Photos again by Ethan Yazel from the 2023 CLA show.

[Ian Pratt]

[Ian Pratt]

[aaronc]

Stunning work Mr. Pratt.