A Brass-Barrelled Flintlock Blunderbuss
By Ketland & Co. Of Birmingham, Late 18th Century
With two-stage barrel turned and belled at the muzzle, fitted with a side-mounted ramrod and with spring bayonet beneath, the bayonet released by a catch on the trigger-guard finial, octagonal breech engraved with a flower-head on each flat at the front and with a line of beadwork at the rear, grooved engraved tang, bright flat bevelled lock (some surface patination) signed in script, figured half-stock (some damage at the barrel-bolt entry) with apron around the barrel tang, border engraved brass mounts comprising butt-plate decorated with a foliate rocaille on the heel tang, trigger-guard with a flower-head on the bow, brass fore-end plate, and original iron ramrod, private Birmingham proof marks and Thomas Ketland's barrelsmith's mark
39.4 cm. barrel
