Lot 89S1
A fine .303 sidelock ejector rifle by J. Rigby & Co., no. 16845 In its brass-mounted oak and leather case titled Marchioness of Londonderry
4 December 2013, 14:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £27,500 inc. premium
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A fine .303 sidelock ejector rifle by J. Rigby & Co., no. 16845
Optional ejector/non-ejector, treble-grip action with Rigby-Bissell patent rising third-bite, bolted automatic safe with stalking-latch, the fences relief-engraved with an acanthus-leaf motif, best bold foliate-scroll engraving, well-figured stock with pistolgrip and pistolgrip-cap and engraved chequered steel butt-plate, Rigby patent lever-latch forend, sling button and swivel, the Krupp Steel chopper-lump barrels with filecut sight-rib for 100 and 200 yards and ramp-mounted bead-foresight, the rib engraved Jn. Rigby & Co., 72 St. James's Street, London
Weight 8lb. 7oz., 14¼in. pull (14 1/8in. stock), 26in. barrels, London nitro proof
In its brass-mounted oak and leather case titled Marchioness of Londonderry
Weight 8lb. 7oz., 14¼in. pull (14 1/8in. stock), 26in. barrels, London nitro proof
In its brass-mounted oak and leather case titled Marchioness of Londonderry
Footnotes
The makers have kindly confirmed that this rifle was completed in 1904 for Viscount Castlereagh. Although the rifle is recorded as a non-ejector the makers can confirm that this rifle was almost certainly built as an ejector.
Provenance:
Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878 - 1949), Lord Steward until 1884 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1884 and 1915.
During the First World War he witnessed the horror of the Battle of the Somme and also took part in a number of the last cavalry charges for the British Army, of which his battalion, the Royal Horse Guards, unsurprisingly took heavy casualties.
He is best remembered for his tenure as Secretary of State for Air in the 1930's, where on multiple occasions visited Germany and met Hitler and his cabinet to discuss Germany's position in Europe. Hitler was an admirer of Viscount Castlereagh and famously confided in him his intended plans for both Czechoslovakia and Poland years in advance of the invasions.
He published many books, one of which 'Ourselves and Germany' was a reaction to the attacks he sustained from inside and outside of Westminster regarding his links with the Appeasement Policy towards Nazi Germany.