So the original pair shown are signed J Sheets. Most certainly John Sheets from Winchester and later Staunton VA. I think these are really fantastic pistols that obviously were heavily influenced from English pistols of the period. Call them Kentucky pistols, call them duelers, I don't know if anyone can really be certain. In the end, it's all just a name.
As to the grip inlay, I don't know. If I decide I like it enough it might be standard. I've found that there's a group of our customers that tend to reject anything decorated to any degree (poor boy mentality) and part of my goal is to make guns that represent the decoration level of the day. Hopefully in time people will end up appreciating what these actually were a little more. As to the inlay, I think it balances the silver on the gun and actually looks pretty good. You see some originals with inlays of this sort on the grips.
