Engraving Breakdown - Chapter 1
Third time’s a charm as they say……. (I managed to lose the first two attempted versions of this post )
The PGCA website and this forum has been such a tremendous source of information as I navigate the rich history and lore of Parker Shotguns. Being somewhat a new owner of a Parker, I find all this information to be fresh and interesting to me as I continue learn more. This would not be possible without the PGCA and this great website.
In the Preview post I outlined my thoughts regarding the significance of the gun’s engraving as providing one sense of identity to these great guns. Let’s try to breakdown some of the finer aspects of these unique engravings, I in particular am interested in learning the terminology and identity of engraved features used then and now in the engraving trade. One note, at times I may refer to some of the great threads on this forum, in particular “Who Let the Dogs Out” is a favorite. I’ll refer to it as: WLTDO
Chapter 1 – The Side Lockplate: Refer to the numbered photo attached below as I comment on the different engraved attributes of the gun. I hope to generate some constructive dialogue for each of these numbered features.
BTW….Q: Is the term, “side lockplate” or “sidelock plate”, Can someone clarify??
Here we go….
1.) Floral Enhancement, that’s what I call this engraved feature located at the heel of the plate. Is there a trade name for this? Appears to be a Daisy-like flower, Sunflower, Black-eyed Susan etc.. I have seen a similar floral engraving on a gun or two on WLTDO. I find it an interesting choice by the engraver and assume reflects his personal style?
2.) Mini-Arrowhead Trim, as I call it. Have seen this used as circular trim around smaller pins as seen here as well as fine border trim like on forends & hammers. Is there a trade name? Interesting in this cluster of four pins that just one is often trimmed out while the other three simply get a single engraved circle. Have seen this on other early mid-grade guns. (Glahn?)
3.) Barley Chain Border, as I call it because they look like the little barleys you see in soup. Trade name? I have seen this border type and variations of it used often on other early guns.
***Regarding the border of this particular sideplate, I don’t recall seeing another gun with as much border variation on a single component. This plate has 4 or 5 different borders blended together to complete the overall border. The fifth border being just the two fine lines that border the front end of the vignettes. Has anyone seen a plate border vary as much as seen on this gun? (Reference pls.)***
4.) Bouncing Ribbon Border, as I call it. Is there a formal trade name for this? Now this enhancement I have not seen yet on another gun. Many of you have viewed more guns than I and may be able to reference others. Please do, because I like the look of this ribbon border and would like to see other guns that might have it. I have seen ribbon used to frame the Parker Bros” nameplate on several guns and like that look. (Gough?)
5.) Spikey- Bush Adornment, as I call it. A unique graphic and I believe I saw a variation of this on WLTDO. Trade name? Interesting use of this image, seen here above the triggers seemingly used to transition between two border types. There is a similar adornment like this with less spikes used on the top of the bolsters where the hammers strike on this gun. This feature we will see in a subsequent Chapter and discuss the significance of then. Curious what others think of the “Spikey-Bush”?
6.) Reverse “C” Border, now this one I might actually have the correct name for? If not please specify. This border and variations (like “Reversing C”) of it seem to be a fairly common and appealing border type used on guns of this era and beyond. It has great eye appeal and is seen on most grades of guns.
7.) Fine Rolling Ripple Border, as I call it. This is an attractive border with the rolling ripple and black background. I would expect this type still commonly used by today’s engravers. It would great if there was a standard graphic reference for the common border types used in the industry. Any references?
8.) Circular Enhancement, I don’t have a catchy name for this enhancement, hopefully the industry does? Seen commonly used on larger pins, these always have nice eye appeal. I’ll freelance a little here and say it looks like a rather simple 3 or 4 step cut. Such that these pins can be adorned and obscured efficiently for the engraver to move on to more significant parts of the gun. Now the exception would be the large pin down on the floor plate that is much more elaborately adorned. We’ll get to that one in another chapter.
9.) The Hammers, enough said as far as a name goes. The general shape and styling of the hammers is so unique and visually appealing. They exude a sense of force and power while elegant in adornment. The crisp milled flat of the hammer provides a nice creative canvass for the engraver. The hammers pictured here feature our first look at any scroll on this gun. That’s a nice kinda “double-glob” of scroll seen here that I’m guessing might be termed or described as German Scroll? I say that because I like to think Jacob Glahn engraved my gun sitting at that table with the derby on as seen in the picture I posted previously. Along with the scroll is some barley chain border below and a variation on the mini-arrowhead border going up to the thumb tang. A pictorial thread dedicated to hammer styles and décor might be an interesting one, perhaps already been done?
10.) The Scenic Vignettes, appropriately named these creative features tend to define the base theme to most guns. The crisp, light handedly engraved scenes here are something to marvel at up close. Amazed to see the etched detail that captures hair flow and texture. This engravers ability to express a sense of life and motion in these engravings is something to marvel at. I like how the two sideplate vignettes on this gun are sculpted from two different source viewpoints. In other words picture where you’d be standing looking at these two different dogs working. You’ll see they are sculpted from different perspectives. The flowing plant life in this engravers scenes always seem to capture the wind blowing and movement. This adds “life” to these fine portraits.
XX.) Parker Bros” , the nameplate I forgot to number (11). This is the formal company signature of these guns. Tremendous variation is seen in size, font style and flair. Many are relatively simplistic and don’t necessarily dominate the sideplate décor. Tends to be secondary to the other decorative aspects of the gun. One of the nicest variations I’ve seen was rather large script and I think “Brothers” was actually spelled out rather than the shortened Bros”. Kinda surprising they always went with the shortened Bros” rather than Brothers written out. You wonder why with so much room on the side plates. Interesting too that usually only a single quotation mark after Bros”, but not in Front of Parker. Maybe there’s a story behind all that? Please reference if so.
So, that wraps up the sideplate breakdown for engraved adornments at least to the extent that my gun is engraved. It’s been identified as a $105 dollar grade gun. The extra $5 for 10ga. It has been mentioned that this gun seems to have a “little extra” engraving for the grade that it is. It has been said that the early grading was less defined and perhaps regulated. Chief Engravers may have had more creative latitude early on. Another explanation was the “Friday Afternoon Gun”, meaning after a busy week the engraver kinda doodles and adds extra adornments rather than start another gun. Whatever the case, I’m interested especially in comments relative to the multiple border types used on just the sideplate alone on this gun. That seems unusual to me as I have not seen that before.
Thanks for reading and look forward to some interesting and educational dialogue. I have also included a un-numbered photo of side plate and a close-up of the Setter Vignette.
Jeffrey Smith
Parker $105 Grade
10ga. Lifter #4084
Mfg. 1874
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03-04-2016, 03:52 AM
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