Oval Engraving

[Bill Tullis]

I have a partially re-finished CHE that I am having restored by Turnbull. The gun was shipped to an individual in 1904. According to the research letter the order states "Engrave name on shield". I'm used to seeing initials engraved on shields or ovals. I've not seen examples of full names engraved other than on presentation guns. Is it more common for order instructions to state "Engrave initials on shield"? As a result of the refinish, there is no engraving. The owner was a very interesting individual (Parker Pages article....?) and I'd like to have his name engraved. Do any of you have examples of full name engraving style that you would share a photo of that I could give Turnbull to match? I haven't ruled out initials since they were so beautifully done by the factory engravers. Thanks.

[John Campbell]

... As a result of the refinish, there is no engraving.


Perhaps I'm not understanding you. But, WAS there anything on the oval to begin with? And if so, why was it removed?

[Bill Tullis]

When I bought the gun the stock had been refinished and the oval did not have any engraving, so it was polished out or the oval replaced. As shipped, per the factory order, it had engraving.

[John Campbell]

In that case, I'd have the fellow's name engraved on the shield in classic lettering. Noelle Feucht is excellent:
http://engravingbynoelle.com

[Brian Dudley]

Bill,

If the gun is at Turnbulls shop now, then leave it there and ask them to do what you want.

Their House engraver (Tom) is excellent. And lettering is a specialty of his. He is known as Tommy the Typewriter for a good reason. Not that you need execution that precise for a stock oval.

[Larry Frey]

Bill,
Below are a couple of examples of other than just initials. The first is a DH 28, the second is a DHE 20, and the third is a BHE 16.

[Bill Tullis]

Gents, please re-read my original post. My intention has only been to get Turnbull to do the engraving on the oval. They are going to refresh some engraving on the butt plate and trigger guard per their recommendations. I met Doug, Jack, and others at the Dallas NRA show in 2018. I brought the gun to the show the next day for them to take back with them. I’m just looking for correct period examples if the original purchasers full name was engraved as stated in the research letter. I’ve really only seen initials in pictures and I’m leaning towards that. Turnbull has many examples of their work at the show and was quite a treat to see! Thanks!

[Bill Tullis]

Larry, great examples. Thanks for sharing.

[Jack Cronkhite]

If it were mine I would go with name as per research letter given the request was for name not initials. If the current oval was also the original you might luck out with acid etching to reveal some of the engraving - maybe enough to see if it included an initial or two with the surname or just the surname. If it is a replacement shield then nothing will show. I can’t imagine the factory getting an order for name to be engraved and then only supplying initials. Cheers Jack

[Bill Tullis]

Jack, thanks for the advice. I’ll have Turnbull see if they can find evidence or not. From what I could see there isn’t any. I will have the original owner’s name engraved. I agree with you that if the order book states buyer’s name, they probably would not have done initials.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Bill. Another possibility if the current oval shows nothing after acid etching is to check descendants of original owner. That would take some sleuthing but it’s all a fun game. One of the descendants may have removed the oval as a keepsake. If you luck out and find it still in that family you could beg and plead to have it reunited with the original gun. If that doesn’t work then you could at least get a picture so that the new oval would match the old one. Quite amazing all the possibilities Google can find. Cheers Jack

[Joe Graziano]

Or, you could engrave your initials in the oval since you are the owner of the gun. The original owner did it and so can you. The stock oval is blank so you are not erasing any history, simply making it your own.