The sometimes odd-looking birds we see are primarily on Grade 2 guns and where the engraving needed to be very simple and this work on these lower grades were necessarily done byvapprentices and journeymen in the field. No artistic impression was required or even necessary to a large degree.
Grade 3 Parkers are where we begin to see some very nice artistic expression which was necessary to depict more realistic dogs requiring the hand of more experienced engravers.
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"I'm a Setter man.
Not because I think they're better than the other breeds,
but because I'm a romantic - stuck on tradition - and to me, a Setter just "belongs" in the grouse picture."
George King, "That's Ruff", 2010 - a timeless classic.
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