My First Flint Lock rifle engraving

[leschowe]

Hi Everyone,
I finally got around to engraving one of my flint lock rifles (I have 4 more to engrave). This is my first attempt to engrave a gun. I have tried here to duplicate the engraving of Issac Berlin who was a rifle maker before and after the revolution and was in the revolution from start to finish. I really like his work. The rifle itself is also in the spirit of his designs. I would also note that Issac did not seem to engrave his side plates so the side plate design is completely my own creation and, hopefully, in keeping with the spirit of Issac's design.
I would be very interested in comments regarding my shading as I am not supper happy with it and would like to improve it.

Thanks,

Les

 

[CRW]

Hi Les,

Looks very nice to me.

My thoughts are that it could have a little more design on the side plate. But then again I am not familiar with Issac's designing, so you could be spot on as far as I am concerned.

I especially like the fine shading you did on the side plate.
Keep up the good work.

 

[gtsport]

Beautiful work. Makes me want to pull out the rifle I started when I was sixteen and finish it. Oh look! a squirrel!

Joe Paonessa

 

[Tom Curran]

Les, you are doing very nice, clean work. It's very hard to put the graver to a gun you have put months of time into. Good for you!

Much of the original work of the 18th and 19th Cents is quite crude by our standards, so to have the piece 'ring' of the time period, we must be conscious of the conditions and equipment the smiths worked with and under. Also consider the expectations of the day were not what we have come to appreciate as engraving.

If you are doing a historic copy, you must keep the above in mind. Since your piece is contemporary, or an interpretation, it reflects the times in which it is made, and your own personal style shows through your work. You have done a very nice job. With the longrifle, there are so many avenues you can take, one gun at a time (because you can never have enough guns!).


This is a photo of one of the Metropolitan Museum's guns, a piece by Jacob Kuntz, ca 1810. Note the depth of lines, the folksey look of the art, and the great amount of 'character' in the engraving.

 

[Tom Curran]

Les, do you know about this forum, American Long Rifles? http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=4677.0

There is a section each for building, contemporary guns, antique guns, classifieds, tutorials, etc.

 

[leschowe]

Hi Tom,
You are absolutely correct about the "crudeness" of the hand made art of the 18th century. We have better tools, light, optics and materials than they had and our work can obviously be much more perfect than theirs. We have a significant advantage over them. Their work is, however, very beautiful, possibly more beautiful than our perfect work. One can say that "All the great gun builders are dead".
It is a very fine line that one must draw between making the gun perfect or creating a true representation of 18 century art. Most people, and possible customers, in the 21 century find the crudeness in a product as a sign of a poor or inexperienced builder. I have been to the CLA show in Lexington several times and most of the guns built by the "master" gun builders of today are very perfect in every way. So, I don't know the answer.
As for the web site, I was a member a long ago and was not to impressed at that time but, it seems to have improved considerably. I think that I will rejoin and spend some time over there. Thanks for the information.

Les Schowe

 

[Bama]

Hi Les

You have done a great job on both the rifle and the engraving. I am in the same boat with my emgraving as far as quality and style for a contemporary builder. I want my engraving to have the smooth flowing lines that is seen on many of the better early rifles but at the same time not to refined, this is not an easy task. I am finishing a rifle now that I will post some pictures of hopefully next week so you can tell me what you think.

Tom is right on when he says we should study the originals and try to replicate the feeling of the Old Masters. The thing to remember is some were better than others so in our quest we have to be capable of working both. If you realy want to let you want to let your best engraving skills shine then build a 100% Les Schowe rifle and as a contemporary piece it will stand on it's own.

Your line work looks smooth and uniform and your shading may be a bit on the fine side for the time period but over all I'd say a job well done. I am still struggeling with smooth and uniform lines but I just keep on trucking.

 

[Ron Smith]

Nice job Les,

There is never anything wrong with improvement in quality. I admire the artists of those days also, but would rather make hisrtory with improvements than recreate lesser work. But I can understand the love of the old "Masters" of those days. Yu have to admire them for the conditions they worked in.

I know this will probably offend the purists, but you can love both.

Set the world on fire with your own creations. There will be a market for it, but if you stay in history, you really can't reproduce history cause it already happened, so anything you do is only a replica, except for what you can do personally today.

Like I said, you can love them both and there is a place for both.

Good job! Bravo! Nice and clean. You should be proud of that effort.

Ron S

 

[leschowe]

Hi Ron,
Thanks for your comments, they are really appreciated . I think that my next project will to put some gold bands around the breech of the barrel and then sign either the barrel or the lock.

Les Schowe

 

[leschowe]

Hi Bama,
I wish you success in engraving your gun and I will be looking forward to seeing your work.
You also bring up a very interesting point about the fine shading. I own many of the books depicting the old guns and I have spent hours studying all of the pictures. Most of the engravers did no shading at all, some of the rest did a very crude and deep cut shading. Issac Berlin was, in my opinion, unique, (as shown in "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in its Golden Age", page 79 and 366) because he is one of the very few engravers who did a rather fine, and very artistic, shading in his engravings. This is the reason that I like his work so much and have tried to reproduce it.

Les Schowe

 

[Tom Curran]

Nice job Les,

There is never anything wrong with improvement in quality. I admire the artists of those days also, but would rather make hisrtory with improvements than recreate lesser work. But I can understand the love of the old "Masters" of those days. Yu have to admire them for the conditions they worked in.

I know this will probably offend the purists, but you can love both.

Set the world on fire with your own creations. There will be a market for it, but if you stay in history, you really can't reproduce history cause it already happened, so anything you do is only a replica, except for what you can do personally today.

Like I said, you can love them both and there is a place for both.

Good job! Bravo! Nice and clean. You should be proud of that effort.

Ron S

Ron, thank you for your very thoughtful and considerate response. I'll tell how thought provoking it was for me. I woke up at 5 am thinking that today, I must, with all the other things I do, write a thank you.

This issue with replicating v/s creating, new vs old, is always on my mind when engraving and making things. I love the charm of the old, but as you say, it's been done already. But I like to keep some of that charm in my work,while having one foot in this day of modern tools and sensibilities. It's not always possible to successfully pull off a piece that speaks of both worlds, but that's what I strive for.

Warmest Regards, Tom