New England Holster Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1815
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .51 caliber smoothbore flintlock holster pistol was made in New England around 1815. It has brass furniture including a brass barrel. It is pin fastened with a Ketland lock. The lock has floral engraving and a gooseneck hammer. It is a “sleigh” design lockplate. The iron tang has a spear point filial. The stock is cherry wood with a beaver tail carving around the tang and brass nose cap.
label: Description
content: It is stamped “KETLAND” and “L” on the inside of the lockplate.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: It is impossible to identify a maker. The engravings and bluing were used by lockmakers in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, these engravings also can be found on some American pistols.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and their Values, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2007. 9th edition.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 250.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New England
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: The Bitter Collection of Firearms
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Adriana and Edwin W. Bitter Family Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1987.0014.20
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.20
label: collector/donor number
content: P-141
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Flintlock; .52 In; Smooth Bore; Muzzle Load; Sa
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 1/4 in; 33.655 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 1/4 in x 5 3/4 in x 2 in; 33.655 cm x 14.605 cm x 5.08 cm