Product Details
BOSS & CO.
A FINE AND SCARCE PAIR OF 12-BORE SINGLE-TRIGGER OVER AND UNDER SIDELOCK EJECTORS, serial no. 8005 / 6,
for 1932, 28in. nitro chopperlump barrels, short sight flats with acanthus scroll detailing and gold-inlaid '1' and '2', the over barrels engraved 'BOSS & CO. 41, ALBERMARLE STREET, PICCADILLY, LONDON. W.', side ribs, 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. 1/4 and imp. cyl. choke, Boss 1909 patent actions incorporating J. Robertson (Boss & Co.) patents 3307 (hinged stud piece drop down action) and 3308 (ejector) of 10th February 1909, Boss improved patent single-triggers, hold-open toplevers gold-inlaid '1' and '2', carved fences, automatic safeties with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' details, gold-inlaid cocking-indicators, rolled-edge triggerguards, best fine acanthus scroll engraving with floral bouquets, the action bars engraved with the patent details, the undersides with single trigger patent details, retaining much original colour-hardening and some finish, 15 3/4in. well-figured stock (No.1) including 2in. wooden extension, 15 1/4in. well-figured stock (No.2) including 1 1/4in. wooden extension, weight 6lb. 9oz. (No.1) and 6lb. 8 1/2oz. (No.2), in individual fitted lightweight leather cases with some accessories and with canvas and leather outer covers.
Provenance: A copy of the makers records (supplied with the guns) kindly confirms that the guns were ordered on the 30th October 1931 for a J. H. Tresfon of Sunning Hill, Epsom and were completed on the 2nd January 1932.
They were ordered as a 'pair of guns, 12-bore, 28" barrels' with 14 1/4in. stocks, weighting 6lb. 6oz. with a '2nd hand double case'
Jean Henri Tresfon was born in Rotterdam in 1893. He served as a Lieutenant in the Regiment Limburgse Jagers during the Great War. In 1938 he moved to the UK, purchasing Gawdy Hall Estate in Harleston, South Norfolk.
He had purchased a controlling share in 1936 in the manufacturing company Boulton & Paul, a Norwich based company that began life as a small ironmongers in 1797 and went on to specialise in agricultural and horticultural implements before turning its attention to marine engines. After the outbreak of WWI they were supplying large quantities of military structural equipment to the British Army and the RFC before moving into aircraft manufacture itself. As Managing Director and subsequently Chairman of the company, it was through this connection that Jean Henri would develop what would turn out to be a lifelong friendship with Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, his wife Adeline Tresfon organising Harris's wedding reception at the Dorchester in 1938.
As a leading British industrialist Jean was asked by Winston Churchill to sit on an economic advisory panel for the duration of the second world war and advise the government on matters pertaining to the wartime economy. Following the war, he authored Watch & Ward: A Plea for Rational Planning, a guidebook for the post war government and others detailing his thoughts on the best way to rebuild the British economy.
The friendship with Sir Arthur Harris was reinforced when both families relocated to Cape Town in 1947, Harris as a company representative for Safmarine and Tresfon as Managing Director of Anglo-Vaal Industries. Jean Henri remained in Cape Town until he passed in 1988 at the age of 94 years old
Other Notes: Both guns have undergone a recent strip and clean by the makers (in September 2022). The vendor has also confirmed that the wooden extensions and subsequent casing was undertaken by the makers
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Estimate £50,000-70,000
S2 - Sold as a Section 2 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act