EXTRAORDINARILY RARE CASED PRESENTATION SHARPS MODEL 1851 SPORTING CARBINE.

EXTRAORDINARILY RARE CASED PRESENTATION SHARPS MODEL 1851 SPORTING CARBINE. SN 1747. Cal. 44. Rare sporting carbine made without sling bar and has a 21-1/2″ rnd bbl, with small globe front sight, squirrel ear rear sight and a sporting tang sight with windage adjustable aperture. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain, American walnut with brass bbl band and straight grip with brass patchbox & buttplate. Wood is high gloss varnish which may be original. Bbl is in its orig brown with color case hardened receiver & blued lockplate. Accompanied by its orig factory walnut casing with brass reinforced corners and swinging latches on the front and a mortised brass lock. Interior is green felt lined and compartmented in the bottom, French fitted for the rifle, a Sharps bullet mold in a covered compartment and an ebony handled turn screw in another covered compartment. Both covers have ivory pulls. One open compartment contains a full tin of Maynard tape primers, still in their orig paper wrapping. Also accompanying is a patch cutter and small nickeled brass oiler. Another compartment contains a German silver capping tool with screw lid marked with a seated fox over the word “FOX” and a “2” opposite on the lid. A long thin compartment in the front contains a brass tipped 1-pc hickory cleaning rod. There are two small, thin compartments in the front that are empty. A small rear compartment contains a full sealed tin of Eley percussion caps marked No. 1, for shotgun paper cases with black & smokeless powders. A German silver panel inlaid in the lid is engraved in period script “Pierre Chouteau, Jr. / St. Louis, 1853”. According to the book Sharps Firearms, Sellers, only 1,837 Model 1851 carbines were produced in the period 1852-1855 and of that total only 79 in 44 caliber had varnished stock. Pierre Chouteau, Jr. was born in 1789, the second son of Pierre Chouteau and the grandson of Pierre LaClede Liquest, who was one of the founding fathers of the City of St. Louis. About 1810 Pierre, Jr. entered the fur trade business under the name of Berthel & Chouteau. In the early 1830’s he formed Pierre Chouteau, Jr. & Company when he bought out Sublet & Campbell. He was subsequently hired by John Jacob Astor as the St. Louis manager of the Western Dept. of the American Fur Trading Company. In 1834 Pierre took over the business and the next year reorganized it under the Pierre Chouteau, Jr. & Company banner. In 1859 Pierre became blind but continued to run the business with his son, Charles, until the business closed in 1864. The entire Chouteau family was active in the fur trading business and in one form or another remained in business well into the 1860’s. During the 1850’s Pierre and his son, Charles, although still trading for furs from the Indians, shifted their primary activities to procuring buffalo robes. The 1860’s, with Charles in charge, saw the company also transporting gold seekers to the Idaho & Montana gold fields as well as furnishing supplies to miners & military units out west. The City of Chouteau, Montana is named for Pierre Chouteau, Jr. Historically this carbine was in the W.H. Everson Collection in the 1880’s and went to a private collector in 1929, only in recent years returning to the market. A previous owner stated that there were only ten cased 44 caliber Model 1851 carbines ever made and reportedly only three exist today and this may be the only inscribed case. This previous owner refers to a note which was found in the case which is now missing. This is an extremely historically significant Sharps being one of the few ever cased with even fewer known today and probably the only one for sale. PROVENANCE: W.H. Everson Collection. CONDITION: Very fine plus. Bbl retains 95-97% orig brown finish with some minor thinning and freckling. Receiver retains about 70% faded orig case colors. Lockplate & tape primer cover retain about 60% orig blue. Brass is a medium to dark mustard patina. Wood is sound with a repaired toe and retains about all of a restored varnish finish. Hammer is not solid in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine, bright shiny bore. Case has a grain check almost the length of the lid with several others in the bottom but remains sound and completely intact with light handling & storage marks and retains most of its fine orig varnish finish. Interior is lightly faded with a few scattered moth spots and light wear. Implements & accessories are fine. 4-37977 JR310 (75,000-100,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2009

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2357A	$0.00	EXTRAORDINARILY RARE CASED PRESENTATION SHARPS MODEL 1851 SPORTING CARBINE. SN 1747. Cal. 44. Rare sporting carbine made without sling bar and has a 21-1/2″ rnd bbl, with small globe front sight, squirrel ear rear sight and a sporting tang sight with windage adjustable aperture. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain, American walnut with brass bbl band and straight grip with brass patchbox & buttplate. Wood is high gloss varnish which may be original. Bbl is in its orig brown with color case hardened receiver & blued lockplate. Accompanied by its orig factory walnut casing with brass reinforced corners and swinging latches on the front and a mortised brass lock. Interior is green felt lined and compartmented in the bottom, French fitted for the rifle, a Sharps bullet mold in a covered compartment and an ebony handled turn screw in another covered compartment. Both covers have ivory pulls. One open compartment contains a full tin of Maynard tape primers, still in their orig paper wrapping. Also accompanying is a patch cutter and small nickeled brass oiler. Another compartment contains a German silver capping tool with screw lid marked with a seated fox over the word “FOX” and a “2” opposite on the lid. A long thin compartment in the front contains a brass tipped 1-pc hickory cleaning rod. There are two small, thin compartments in the front that are empty. A small rear compartment contains a full sealed tin of Eley percussion caps marked No. 1, for shotgun paper cases with black & smokeless powders. A German silver panel inlaid in the lid is engraved in period script “Pierre Chouteau, Jr. / St. Louis, 1853”. According to the book Sharps Firearms, Sellers, only 1,837 Model 1851 carbines were produced in the period 1852-1855 and of that total only 79 in 44 caliber had varnished stock. Pierre Chouteau, Jr. was born in 1789, the second son of Pierre Chouteau and the grandson of Pierre LaClede Liquest, who was one of the founding fathers of the City of St. Louis. About 1810 Pierre, Jr. entered the fur trade business under the name of Berthel & Chouteau. In the early 1830’s he formed Pierre Chouteau, Jr. & Company when he bought out Sublet & Campbell. He was subsequently hired by John Jacob Astor as the St. Louis manager of the Western Dept. of the American Fur Trading Company. In 1834 Pierre took over the business and the next year reorganized it under the Pierre Chouteau, Jr. & Company banner. In 1859 Pierre became blind but continued to run the business with his son, Charles, until the business closed in 1864. The entire Chouteau family was active in the fur trading business and in one form or another remained in business well into the 1860’s. During the 1850’s Pierre and his son, Charles, although still trading for furs from the Indians, shifted their primary activities to procuring buffalo robes. The 1860’s, with Charles in charge, saw the company also transporting gold seekers to the Idaho & Montana gold fields as well as furnishing supplies to miners & military units out west. The City of Chouteau, Montana is named for Pierre Chouteau, Jr. Historically this carbine was in the W.H. Everson Collection in the 1880’s and went to a private collector in 1929, only in recent years returning to the market. A previous owner stated that there were only ten cased 44 caliber Model 1851 carbines ever made and reportedly only three exist today and this may be the only inscribed case. This previous owner refers to a note which was found in the case which is now missing. This is an extremely historically significant Sharps being one of the few ever cased with even fewer known today and probably the only one for sale. PROVENANCE: W.H. Everson Collection. CONDITION: Very fine plus. Bbl retains 95-97% orig brown finish with some minor thinning and freckling. Receiver retains about 70% faded orig case colors. Lockplate & tape primer cover retain about 60% orig blue. Brass is a medium to dark mustard patina. Wood is sound with a repaired toe and retains about all of a restored varnish finish. Hammer is not solid in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine, bright shiny bore. Case has a grain check almost the length of the lid with several others in the bottom but remains sound and completely intact with light handling & storage marks and retains most of its fine orig varnish finish. Interior is lightly faded with a few scattered moth spots and light wear. Implements & accessories are fine. 4-37977 JR310 (75,000-100,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2009 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

.red{fill:#B50938;} .white{fill:#FFFFFF;} .blue{fill:#005596;}