Lot - Award-Winning Cased Engraved Silver & Gold Starr Army Revolvers

Magnificent Documented Award-Winning Civil War Era Cased Pair of Louis D. Nimschke Engraved Gold and Silver Plated Starr Model 1863 Army Single Action Percussion Revolvers with Patriotic Relief Carved Ivory Grips -A) Starr Model 1863 Army Revolver Magnificent Documented Award-Winning Civil War Era Cased Pair of Louis D. Nimschke Engraved Gold and Silver Plated Starr Model 1863 Army Single Action Percussion Revolvers with Patriotic Relief Carved Ivory Grips -A) Starr Model 1863 Army Revolver “E Pluribus Unum”: out of many, one. The motto from the Great Seal of the United States has been a guiding principle since the founding. Since the very beginning, the United States has been built by individuals and separate communities and states coming together to act as one when it mattered most and generation after generation building upon the progress of those that came before them. Likewise, the most impressive American innovations consist of individual parts and separate inventions working in tandem to create the greater product, a fact that is abundantly clear when you trace the evolution of American firearms. They are the product of numerous American entrepreneurs pressing forward advancements, competing, building off each other’s work, collaborating, and ultimately producing shared results that have pushed the country further. Entrepreneurs have been key to the nation’s success from the very beginning; indeed, the original thirteen colonies began in the American South with Jamestown in Virginia, an audacious business endeavor. The Puritans and Yankee colonists also quickly became well-known for their work ethic, and up and down the East Coast, business and technological innovations drove the United States forward in the early national period. Advancements in firearms production in particular were key to the development of the American system of manufacturing which came to rely on mechanization and increasingly truly interchangeable parts, a revolutionary step in manufacturing first achieved by northerner John Hancock Hall at the southern armory in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. The revolver as we know it today traces its roots back to this period and the designs of Captain Artemus Wheeler and Elisha Haydon Collier of New England. Though their arms were produced in limited numbers, they influenced subsequent revolving arms designs, including those of Samuel Colt who first produced revolving arms in the 1830s. Though Colt’s Patent Arms Manufacturing Company failed, it set the groundwork for larger scale adoption of revolvers as military firearms. When Colt revived his firearms business in 1847 with the Colt Walker, the revolver solidified its place as a military arm. Other American companies were legally prevented from producing similar arms until 1857, but innovation continued to advance non-the-less, leading to competition as the country marched towards civil war. In addition to the influential national armories at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Harpers Ferry, numerous smaller operations produced handguns, muskets, and rifles for the U.S. military and state militias, mixing a desire for profit with patriotic support for the country as settlements pushed further westward leading to conflict with various Native American tribes as well as during the War of 1812 where the country struggled to arm itself to fight off a second British invasion. One of the arms makers early on was Nathan Starr, known as the first official U.S. sword and arms maker. Starr had been a major in the Continental Army and repaired arms during the American Revolution. He returned to Middletown, Connecticut, after the war and produced swords for the new federal government, including the cutlasses widely used by the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. His son Nathan Starr Jr. joined him as they expanded their production to include rifles and muskets. His son Ebenezer Townsend Starr followed the same path, specializing in improved firearms designs in the 1850s. By the mid-19th century, firearms produced using interchangeable parts were effectively standard in the United States, but they remained far less common abroad. At the same time, revolving firearms became the most advanced and reliable repeating firearms, another largely American innovation, and their popularity and commercial viability was in large part due to the American system. The Starr Arms Co. of New York initially introduced percussion revolvers based on designs by Starr in the late 1850s. Unlike most previous American revolvers, the Starr Model 1858 Navy and Army revolvers were double action and thus offered a superior rate of fire compared to Colt’s popular revolvers. The U.S. military was intentionally kept small during this period since as a large military was widely considered to be a threat to liberty. Therefore, initial government orders for firearms were fairly limited. However, that all changed when the North and South failed to reconcile during the secession crisis of 1860 and 1861 resulting in the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861. While many in the South saw their fight as a new American Revolution to protect assaults on their livelihoods and rights, a large number of citizens in the North saw it as a fight for national unity, and thus “E Pluribus Unum” was a frequent slogan on arms and equipment, including many powder flasks, often alongside other designs drawn from the Great Seal of the United States, especially the bald eagle. Initially, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen in response to bolster the tiny U.S. Army which had contained less than 17,000 men and lost around 20% of its seasoned officers to defections to the Confederacy. Following the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run, it became clear in the North that the war would not be concluded by a quick Union victory. Therefore, Congress authorized a force of 500,000 in July 1861. State and U.S. Ordnance Department officials scrambled to find arms for the new recruits, and a multitude of American businesses rose to the occasion churning out large numbers of firearms and edged weapons. The Starr Arms Co. Starr’s innovative double action revolvers became the most widely used double action revolvers in the war. In 1863, they introduced a simpler, more reliable, and more affordable single action model known to collectors as the Starr Model 1863 Army. The company produced approximately 58,000 revolvers from the late 1850s through 1865, the vast majority of them sold to the U.S. government. The only companies that produced more revolvers for the Union war effort were Colt and E. Remington & Son. In addition to their distinctive handguns, the Starr Arms Co. also produced thousands of Starr breech loading carbines for the cavalry. As the war progressed, American companies also directed their attention to supporting the men fighting the war, men who all too often coming home sick or seriously wounded. The presentation of deluxe firearms and swords directly to officers and soldiers as a symbol of respect and gratitude was prevalent both by the companies themselves and by patriotic citizens. Many companies also contributed deluxe arms to fundraising efforts to support the troops and their families as the war drug on. There are only an extremely limited number of highly embellished Starr Arms Co. revolvers comparable to the current pair. They include another similar pair sold by Rock Island Auction Co. in June of 2020 that, like the current pair, received an NRA award. Another of the few known examples is a single cased Model 1858 Army double action revolver presented to Methodist minister Joel Dalbey on Christmas in 1864 that was sold by Rock Island Auction Co. in April 2016. These ornate Starrs may have been embellished for the United States Sanitary Commission fairs held in cities in the North to raise funds for tending to wounded and sick soldiers. The fair in Chicago in 1863 in particular was elaborate and included displays of weapons among the wares, and the Starr Arms Co. is documented as donating to the fairs, including "three pistols, a rifle, case, and accoutrements" to the Sanitary Fair in Brooklyn in early 1864 while another report indicates they had donated "a pair of their revolvers and three rifles." Items donated to the fairs were sold or raffled to raise funds, and they also served to promote the companies’ wares. American firearms manufacturers also sold or donated arms to support various units, especially from their home states, and there is an account in The Yonkers Statesman on August 11, 1864, of a "beautiful Starr Arms Co. pistol, presented by Lieut. Stewart. It was won by Mr. B. Price" during a "target excursion" on August 8th held by Company H of the 17th Reg. N.G. led by Captain J. D. Hatch. These outstanding Starr Model 1863 Army revolvers, serial number 29706 and 29712, were manufactured c. 1863-1865 and feature the work of German born, New York Based, 19th century American engraving icon Louis D. Nimschke, silver-plated barrels and frames, gold-plated cylinders, casehardened hammers and loading levers, and ivory grips. The engraving consists primarily of extensive scrollwork on beaded backgrounds along with wavy line borders and floral accents. There are open panels formed by the engraving on the top straps, likely as a place to add inscriptions. The hammer on 29706 displays scroll engraving, and the sides of the hammer on 29712 have an animal head motif. The frames are marked "STARR ARMS. Co. NEW. YORK" on the right and "STARR'S PATENT JAN. 15. 1856" on the left. The matching serial numbers are marked on the front of the frames and in the hammer wells, and the loading levers are numbered “1” and “2” respectively. The one-piece grips are ivory and have checkering on the sides and raised relief carved patriotic eagle, shield, and star motifs on the pommels. The rosewood case has a blank brass escutcheon inlaid on the lid. The French-style interior is lined with red velvet. The case contains a silver-plated pocket powder flask with sloped charger and patriotic eagle design over crossed revolvers and “E. PLURIBUS UNUM” on both sides, a metal bottle, silver plated wooden handled .44 caliber bullet mold, screw driver, and Goldmark cap tin. This beautiful cased set was awarded the 1961 National Rifle Association's Annual Meetings Exhibit Weapons Award when they were owned by Samuel E. Smith. They had previously been featured on the back of the August 21, 1947, issue of "The Gun Collector Letter" (copy included) and were features in the Milwaukee Journal in 1941 when the pair was owned by Walter Wetzel who the article indicates purchased "them from the descendant of the man who lost his life with one of them. The family would not permit the name to be revealed." While the article suggests they had been made for a gentleman from Virginia in 1856 who was killed in a duel with them, an included note indicates he "bought them from an old man of German descent in Watertown, Wisconsin." This statement led to the belief that the pair was owned Major General Carl Schurz who came to the U.S. as a '48er after the failed German revolutions of 1848 and 1849, moved to Watertown, became a leading figure in the Republican Party, was appointed as ambassador to Spain in 1861, and then joined the Union Army in 1862. He led a division at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga before being assigned to the Corps of Instruction at Nashville. Early in Reconstruction, Schurz received an assignment to investigate the situation in the South, including the mistreatment of freedmen as the divided country struggled to re-unite. He went on to become a newspaper editor and U.S. Senator in Missouri and Secretary of the Interior in the Rutherford B. Hayes administration and then moved to New York City in 1881. Regardless of who received this incredible pair during the latter part of the Civil War, they were clearly built and embellished with patriotic fervor for a special purpose. It is also evident that they were highly cherished and carefully maintained given their extraordinary condition for their age. Today, they remain enduring icons of the most divisive period in American history, a time when families fought on opposite sides of one another in large numbers, resulting in the death of approximately 700,000 soldiers as well as numerous civilians. Despite this tremendous bloodshed and lingering bitterness, Union victory firmly established the United States as a perpetual union and began the arduous process of national re-unification.

Manufacturer: Starr Arms Company

Model: 1863

BBL: 8 inch round

Gauge: 44

Finish: silver/gold

Grips: carved antique ivory

Serial Number29706

Class: Antique

B) Starr Model 1863 Army Revolver As described in "A".

Manufacturer: Starr Arms Company

Model: 1863

BBL: 8 inch round

Gauge: 44

Finish: silver/gold

Grips: carved antique ivory

Serial Number29712

Class: Antique

Condition: A) Excellent with crisp engraving and markings, 90% plus of the original silver-plated finish, traces of the gold-plated finish in protected areas, 80% original case colors, and minor handling and age related wear. The grip is very fine and has crisp carving and checkering, a small chip at the toe, and attractive natural tones. Mechanically functions. The case is fine with mild age and storage wear. The flask is very fine and retains 90% of the original silver plating with slight loss from contact with the case. The bullet mold is also very fine and retains most of the original silver and has minor wear. B) Excellent with crisp engraving and markings, 90% plus of the original silver-plated finish, strong traces of the gold-plated finish in protected areas, 80% original case colors, and generally only minor handling and age related wear. The grip is also excellent and has crisp carving and checkering and attractive natural tones. The action is frozen. This incredible pair remains amongst the finest and most extravagant Starr Arms Co. in existence and exemplify the excellence of American manufacturing and artistry in the 1860s amidst the American Civil War.

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Bid Increments

From:	To:	Increments:
$0	$199	$10
$200	$499	$25
$500	$999	$50
$1,000	$1,999	$100
$2,000	$4,999	$250
$5,000	$9,999	$500
$10,000	$19,999	$1,000
$20,000	$49,999	$2,500
$50,000	$99,999	$5,000
$100,000	$199,999	$10,000
$200,000 +		$25,000

Lot 82

Award-Winning Cased Engraved Silver & Gold Starr Army Revolvers

Award-Winning Cased Engraved Silver & Gold Starr Army Revolvers

Starting Bid: $25,000

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