William Foster Painting
 

I thought I would share a photo of a original William Harnden Foster painting showing a Parker shotgun. He accomplished a lot in this life, the book New England Grouse Shooting was one of them and a good read.

Thanks Bob. Foster lived about three miles from me at 71 Chestnut Street here in Andover, until his death in 1941.

That same pose with a different make of shotgun also appears in NEGS on page 111. We have also seen it in other publications with different guns and different shooters. I guess it must have been one of Foster’s favorite themes.

Thanks for sharing it.





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Thanks
Yes very similar I have been collecting Foster stuff for years. I have not found what that painting was an illustration for.

Do you have a copy of “New England Grouse Shooting”?

Foster was a Parker man but I believe he did the one I posted as one of the dozens of illustrations for his book.





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Yes I do and have read many times. I used it for learning to hunt partridge around here in New England.
Also I had the opportunity to meet and spend a day with his son, he had a great collection of high grade Parker’s.
Foster did a huge number of illustrations for a lot of publications.

I’ll always associate Foster with the poet Robert Frost. Those guys were of the same generation and they both loved the rural New England countryside.

The Frost farm in Derry, NH isn’t too far from your neck of the woods is it Dean?

Yes Garth, and so many others as well - Burt Spiller, Gorham "Grampa Grouse" Cross, and "Tap" Tapply to name a few.

Both of my daughters are married and live in Derry and my four grandkids attend school there. I wish they were in the part of town that would have allowed them to attend the West Running Brook School. Frost published a book of poems entitled "West Running Brook." The brook, just a short distance away, flows to the West rather than toward the sea in the East.

Truth be told, I have a small lichen-covered stone on my desk I use as a paperweight that came from that wall. That stone wall, or "fence" to use the vernacular of the day, was the catalyst to Frost to pen the words "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors."
The reason they make good neighbors is because the farmers on either side of these "fences" would make a couple of days work of "mending fences" in the springtime after the winter's frost heaves would have toppled some of the rocks. They would talk of the weather, town politics, families, iron out differences of opinion and so on while doing the mindless work.

I can recite his poem "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" word for word. It is one of my favorites - I read it as part of my mother's eulogy as it was one of her favorites too.



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That picture Garth, appears to have been taken in the mid to late 1940's as he appears there to be considerably younger than he was at JFK's inauguration in '61 when he, as Poet Laureate of the United States, recited a modified version of his poem "The Gift Outright."





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Me too Dean; and also "The Road Not Taken" which has a lot of personal importance for me.

WHF's grandson, Jon, was the first person I met in the Remington offices in 1979. He was then and still is a good friend. Very much the gentleman. Jon had 'ownership' of the "Little Gun" for some time and brought it to one of the "Old Pat's Society" hunts in Maine. It was like a religious experience getting to handle and shoulder that one!!

Also in the Remington, NC offices was a dog painting by WHF that I passed almost every day. Every bit as alive as the painting photo above. A wonderful artist.

JSH

Bob's painting was used for the cover of the October 1938 "Outdoor Life"

The young man may have been Foster's son, illustrated here in 1926.
Foster Sr. shot a 27" barrel 20 gauge DHE Parker SN 225905.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../298465485.jpg

That was one of them Drew. His 28 gauge DHE mounts and swings like a dream.





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Thanks for sharing that story. He sure had a way of making us feel like we were there.

JSH
Great story very jealous would have loved to see and handle the little Gun.
Bob

This is a great thread. I love writers and those that can take you there on a cold winter’s day when you are reading by the fire. It’s timeless.

The Little Gun is currently being taken care of by RST shells owner Morris Baker (I believe). He brought it to Haussman’s a couple years ago and was more than willing to let others enjoy it. I really thought he was a super nice guy- one of us.

First I've heard of Morris having permanent possession of the "Little Gun."





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Not sure about permanent but he had it there in 2019.

Bob...

Do you own this painting?

I know Morris owns the 20 gauge VH that was Burt Spiller’s which was auctioned at The Cobb’s Auctions in Peterboro, NH probably 13 or 14 years ago. I don’t know who dubbed it the “Little Gun” but it was a recent thing, certainly since the auction.

The original “The Little Gun” was the 16 gauge Grade-2 hammer gun written about in Foster’s “New England Grouse Shooting” and the story of it begins on page 1 of his book.
This isn’t to say the Baker/Spiller VH 20 isn’t a sweetheart with lots of history as well. It was actually made famous by Bill Tapply in his story “Burt’s Gun.”

First I've heard of the "Little Gun" in the possession of my friend Morris. Maybe a confusion of particular guns.

Yes, I’m referring to Burt Spiller’s Parker, my mistake. This thread mentioned many great authors and I was referencing Spiller. Morris had a small sign made up with the gun dubbing “the little gun”. That’s what made me think of it. If they are Parker’s, I’m sure they’re both nice!

That’s right Rick. Morris would leave “Burt’s Gun” at the PGCA booth for us to display at Ernie’s probably every year since he acquired it just a couple of years after Bill Tapply auctioned it. The first time I was aware it was in Morris’ possession was at Pintail Point in 2009 or ‘10. He knew I was a big fan of that gun and while I was at his RST booth he quietly said “Come with me Dean, I’ve got something to show you.” We went to his truck and he put this ratty soft case in my hands and said “Open this.” I did and there for the second time was Burt’s Gun in my hands. The first time was at the auction where I had brought $7k to be the hugh bidder on a gun worth $2k if it didn’t have the Spiller connection. Well, it hammered at something like $10,500 and I never knew who the high bidder was. Morris bought it as part of a multi gun deal and the rest is history. Morris gave me two boxes of shells he had cooked up for it and told me “ Go shoot it, you’ll love it.”

I do remember that sign he made up for it. And we always displayed it proudly.





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I have in my files a National Sportsman issue with WHF's DHE .410 offered for sale. I wonder where that one is today?

Bill, please email me a picture of that ad if you would be so kind.

Jon Foster told me several years ago that WHF sold a higher grade Parker .410 to help pay for college tuitions for his kids. I wonder if the ad for the DHE might be the one Jon remembered him selling.





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Dean, I'm sure it is that gun. The ad was placed in Foster's magazine with the magazine as the contact source. I will try to locate and copy the ad.

Now that you mention that, I think I might have that issue with that ad... for ridiculous money by today's standards, something like $100 or so - certainly not a bank-breaker.





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Let me know if you still need the copy.

Thanks Bill - I’ll go down to my gun room/office/library/reloading room sometime this afternoon.





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Found it Bill. April 1935 issue. Offered at probably half the price or less of a new DHE .410 at the time.

But who is L.H. c/o Hunting and Fishing?


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Drew
Thanks for the info on the issue of outdoor life.
I was able to find one and should be here in a few days.
Bob

Glad to be of help Bob

https://photos.smugmug.com/Vintage-S...%201938-XL.jpg

I especially like that that one has a graded Parker. Very nice!





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THIS would be a neat Outdoor Life find, though not likely by Foster. I can't read the artisit's name.
A Trojan skeet gun!

https://photos.smugmug.com/Vintage-S...%20Skeet-M.jpg

...and with a straight stock(!), but, alas, only one trigger.:rotf:

And with a Parker Trojan prototype Skeet gun!!
Is that painting signed by someone other than WHF?
Many of Foster’s magazine illustrations only had an F as his signature.




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Incidentally, yours are excellent contributions to this thread Drew. Thank you!





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I just received my copy of the magazine today
Looking forward to a few good articles. One of the articles is filled with foster illustrations from his book.
Thanks guys.
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of knowledge in this group.
I have a few other illustrations that I could use help in finding what they where done for.
I will start a new post with one tonight with some photos

Bob, are they Foster illustrations?





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Please alert me to all the single trigger Parkers you run across! :rolleyes: