AAHE back home and ready for pheasant

[Corey Barrette]

Just about four years ago, I acquired an AAHE 12 ga that, come to find out, is quite a unique Parker. It’s documented as one of 3 Grade 7 guns manufactured with Damascus barrels and other features atypical of the standard AA configuration. As seen in the pics, this includes deep relief game scene engraving (William Gough?) a detailed trigger guard and initialed mother of pearl grip cap.

The gun was ordered in ‘07 by T.S. Sharretts, a US govt official in the Treasury Department, who at one time was appointed as Commissioner under Teddy Roosevelt to address affairs in China.

First, I’d like to thank each of you who provided invaluable advice via post and phone as I sought to repair the broken butt stock; a subject originally discussed in my 2018 post ‘A Grade Restoration Query’. Ultimately, following evaluation and consultation by a number of folks, which included a memorable trip to ME and afternoon spent with David Trevallion, discussing the repair/resto and a myriad of other interesting topics, I opted to re-stock the gun, an opinion David shared.

The re-stocking and metalwork was managed closer to home by a friend, Abe Chaber, with support for the checkering/fleur de lis by Brian Board and engraving of a few replaced screws and the SBP that needed some work by Frank Conroy. Kevin McCormack took care of the restoration of the original leg ‘o mutton case. My sincere thanks to each of them.

The 28” barrels are in remarkable shape with mirror bores. The gun closes like a trap and operates flawlessly. I thought I’d share some pics.

Who knows when this gun was last shot as it sat in the back of a closet in the house where I purchased it. I do know when it’s going to be next shot. That’ll be tomorrow. The forecast calls for a beautiful Fall day for a pheasant hunt. We’ll see how it goes.

[Phillip Carr]

Absolutely beautiful. Its nice to see when the new owner does a proper restoration. I am happy to hear you will be planing on shooting it. That's what these guns were made for. Thanks for sharing.

[Reggie Bishop]

What a wonderful Parker!

[Garry L Gordon]

I have come to know there are many ways to define perfection. This is one of them. :bowdown:

[Brian Dudley]

Congratulations on the gun. All of the work looks great. Good decisions made along the way toward restoration.

[Corey Barrette]

Thanks, Brian. I really appreciate your perspective. I had my fingers crossed on the selection of the blank. Turned out really well IMO and a good a match to the forend.

[Dean Romig]

This is only the second Parker I have seen with wedge engraving on Damescus barrels breech end.
A wonderful gun! David had sent me a picture of that grip cap some time ago… and now the story is known.





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[Jim Thynne]

I had a later A grade with the 3 kit foxes on the bottom of the frame. Is there a historical note on these foxes?

[charlie cleveland]

those peasants better look out....charlie

[Corey Barrette]

Interesting, Jim. I’d like to know myself how the foxes came to be a subject for engraving. Any ideas out there?

[todd allen]

That's a beautiful gun, with some very unique features! Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Thynne]

There has to be a significance to the 3 kit foxes, I for get if they were in a pyramid like the AA grade shown. The gun I remember well as we sold it at the Vintage cup 12 or 15 years ago. It was a A grade 16 ga, and a handsome gun. I think I have seen this on more than one high grade Parker, but none of the lower grades.

[dwight pugh]

My A grade 12 has a pair on it.

[Jim Thynne]

Evidently this was not as uncommon as I thought!

[Dave Noreen]

Those three foxes and the pigeon on the trigger plate of the AAHE would be a great pattern on the bottom of an XE-Grade Ansley H. Fox.

[Donald F. Mills]

Corey, I have a lithograph that is contemporary to when your gun was made. It may well have been the reference for the engraving.


https://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=2&pictureid=14101

[Corey Barrette]

That is remarkable, Don. Thank you very much for sharing.

It certainly looks like the inspiration! Any idea of the year or artist? I added another pic of the engraving and reversed the image from how it appears on the gun. I just sent you a PM as well.

The wealth of resource and knowledge in this group always amazes me. Half the fun is figuring out the story and you all do such a good job of helping to fill in known, or plausible, gaps. Thanks!

[Donald F. Mills]

When we had the frame repaired a couple of decades ago we found that they had used newspaper as part of the backing. That newsprint was from the very late 1800’s.

I did a little research today and found the information below.
Wonderful engraving of Fox Cubs, Little Foxes. An engraved print of three fox cubs in a hollow tree by George Zobel (1810-1881) after an original painting by Samuel John Carter entitled "Little Foxes". Extra publishing details 'Painted by Samuel J. Carter, Engraved by G. Zobel, London. Printed And Published September 1st 1897 by The National Art Society, 10 Lancaster Place, Strand, W.C. The Proprietors of the original plate.

[Jim Thynne]

I really like the use of the Kit foxes!

[Dean Romig]

Very interesrting reference to foxes.
If we will all turn to the first chapter of WHF’s “New England Grouse Shooting” titled The Little Gun we will bear witness to the fact that a close-shootin’ 16 bore Parker Bros. top-action hammer gun killed a running fox at sixty yards.





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[Corey Barrette]

A bit of an update on the AAHE I acquired that may be of interest to some of you…

The foxes engraved on the triggerplate is a reproduction of Samuel John Carter’s, ‘Little Foxes’, painted in 1873. The painting was exhibited at Royal Academy in 1874. Note, the Parker was manufactured in 1907.

A member of PGCA had mentioned ownership of an engraving of the painting done by George Zobel in 1897 which got me to wondering if the original painting may still exist. Over time, I was able to find the painting was sold in the Netherlands at auction in 2018. To make a long story short, I tracked the painting to a gallery/owner in London (since closed as a result of the pandemic) and acquired it.

A couple of facts: Carter had 10 children, three which died at an early age. His tenth born was ill and sent to ‘the country’ to get better. It was there that he became fascinated with Egyptian antiquities owned by a family close to the relatives with whom he was staying. In 1922, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

While that is fascinating, at least to me, what remains a mystery is whether the inspiration for the engraving came from Gough, as part of the gun’s theme, or whether it was specifically requested to be copied by T.S. Sharretts, who ordered the gun from Parker.

Incidentally, I was also able to track down one of the original engraved prints. From pharoahs to pheasants, the stories behind these remarkable Parkers always amazes! Apologies for the orientation of a couple of the photos.

[Kevin McCormack]

If there is any connection between Sharretts and Harold Carter, my money would be on Sharretts having specified the engraving motif as having been strongly influenced by the near-Egyptian rendition of the faces of the fox kits. The style and execution of the facial features is eerily similar to those of the pre-WWII grade IV Browning Superposeds engraved by Felix Funken, FN's master engraver and founder of their engraving school. Similarly, Funken's rendition of birds and reptiles on the early highest-grade exposition guns are near heiroglyphic in their symbolisms. Definitely food for thougt!

[Phillip Carr]

I turned the pictures.

[Chris Travinski]

What an amazing story!

[Donald F. Mills]

Corey, I think this has the makings of a good Parker Pages story about the past and current history of your AAHE.

[Chris Pope]

Great work on the research and tracking down that original artwork!

[Brian Dudley]

Awesome!

[Corey Barrette]

Don, regarding a story for Parker Pages, I’m going to pull all notes together related to the history, restoration, connection to the sporting artist, Samuel Carter, and how I came to find it. Let’s see how that progresses. Thanks.

[Jim Thynne]

Interesting, Jim. I’d like to know myself how the foxes came to be a subject for engraving. Any ideas out there?

If I remember there was another I saw, but I cannot be certain. The A grade 16 had fine scroll engraving as well! I sold it at the Vintage Cup years ago!

[Mark Britton]

That's over the Rainbow ! Thanks for sharing !!

[Jim Thynne]

If I remember there was another I saw, but I cannot be certain. The A grade 16 had fine scroll engraving as well! I sold it at the Vintage Cup years ago!

The A 16 had the three fox kits on the floor plate similar to the AA shown here!

[William Woods]

Having that gun is a prize in and of itself, but to actually find and acquire the original painting that inspired the engraving is unbelievable.

Congratulations on both.