Catherine Williamson
VP/Director
Lot 13
SMITH & WESSON SCHOFIELD REVOLVER ATTRIBUTED TO JESSE JAMES.
Serial no. 2921, circa 1875, .38 caliber 7 inch barrel with fluted sighting channel German silver sight.
27 August 2021, 15:00 EDT
Los AngelesSold for US$175,312.50 inc. premium
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SMITH & WESSON SCHOFIELD REVOLVER ATTRIBUTED TO JESSE JAMES.
Serial no. 2921, circa 1875, .38 caliber 7 inch barrel with fluted sighting channel German silver sight. Sighted barrel release blued finish. Martial US Stamp on bottom of gripstrap. Left walnut grip stamped with the number 45,292. The right grip stamped MRS38M (The Ms upside down). Condition: Good. Areas of light pitting under old reblue. Grips worn with traces of varnish.
Provenance: Jesse James; to Frank James; by descent to his son Robert James; sold at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, 1952, to Richard R. Riss II (signed and notarized affidavit from Riss, September 8, 1973); EXHIBITED, at Riss's "How the West Was Won Memorial Museum," Custer, SD, until 1973; sold, "How the West Was Won" auction, September 12, 1973, to Dr. John J. Kennedy, Atlantic Beach, FL; sold to Jim and Theresa Earle, February 4, 1991 (signed letter of documentation from Kennedy).
JESSE JAMES PERSONAL SCHOFIELD FROM FRANK'S SON, ROBERT JAMES. Jesse James may have been the most notorious of the legendary American outlaws, coordinating along with his brothers and the Younger brothers a series of high stakes bank and train robberies, and becoming a folk hero in the process. His penchant for the Schofield revolver is well documented. His son vividly recalls in his 1899 biography/autobiography Jesse James, My Father: "In those days in St. Joseph, father always kept at least two horses in the stable back of the house. Father was heavily armed at all times. In the house he kept a double barreled shot gun loaded with buckshot, a Winchester rifle, a 45-calibre Colt's revolver, a 45-calibre Schofield revolver, and three cartridge belts. He never left the house without both of the revolvers and the three cartridge belts loaded, and some cartridges in his pockets...."
This Schofield .45 descended directly through Frank James, to his son Robert James and sold in 1952 to Robert R. Riss II, who displayed it at his How the West was Won Memorial Museum, Custer City, South Dakota. The Riss Collection was then sold at auction in 1973, and the revolver was purchased by Dr. John J. Kennedy, who sold it to the Earle Collection in 1991.
Provenance: Jesse James; to Frank James; by descent to his son Robert James; sold at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, 1952, to Richard R. Riss II (signed and notarized affidavit from Riss, September 8, 1973); EXHIBITED, at Riss's "How the West Was Won Memorial Museum," Custer, SD, until 1973; sold, "How the West Was Won" auction, September 12, 1973, to Dr. John J. Kennedy, Atlantic Beach, FL; sold to Jim and Theresa Earle, February 4, 1991 (signed letter of documentation from Kennedy).
JESSE JAMES PERSONAL SCHOFIELD FROM FRANK'S SON, ROBERT JAMES. Jesse James may have been the most notorious of the legendary American outlaws, coordinating along with his brothers and the Younger brothers a series of high stakes bank and train robberies, and becoming a folk hero in the process. His penchant for the Schofield revolver is well documented. His son vividly recalls in his 1899 biography/autobiography Jesse James, My Father: "In those days in St. Joseph, father always kept at least two horses in the stable back of the house. Father was heavily armed at all times. In the house he kept a double barreled shot gun loaded with buckshot, a Winchester rifle, a 45-calibre Colt's revolver, a 45-calibre Schofield revolver, and three cartridge belts. He never left the house without both of the revolvers and the three cartridge belts loaded, and some cartridges in his pockets...."
This Schofield .45 descended directly through Frank James, to his son Robert James and sold in 1952 to Robert R. Riss II, who displayed it at his How the West was Won Memorial Museum, Custer City, South Dakota. The Riss Collection was then sold at auction in 1973, and the revolver was purchased by Dr. John J. Kennedy, who sold it to the Earle Collection in 1991.