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Product Details
JOSEPH BRAZIER
A FINE LIGHTWEIGHT PAIR OF GALEAZZI-ENGRAVED 12-BORE SELF-OPENING SIDELOCK EJECTORS, serial no. 6060 / 1,
for 1989, 28in. nitro chopperlump barrels, the ribs engraved 'JOSEPH BRAZIER. ASHES WORKS. ENGLAND.' and relief engraved and gold-inlaid with a woodcock in flight, the breech ends gold-inlaid '1' and '2' with gold surround, 2 3/4in. chambers, bored approx. bored approx. 1/4 and 1/2 choke, Purdey / Beesley style self-opening actions with removable striker discs (marked 'L' and 'R'), toplevers gold-inlaid '1' and '2' in gold ovals and gold-inlaid 'C' at the thumbpieces, automatic safeties with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' details, cocking-indicators, rolled-edge triggerguards, the actions and furniture finely engraved with scrolling acanthus, the lockplates engraved with fine game scenes and signed 'A. Galeazzi', the No.1 left lockplate with a wisp of snipe in a wetland setting, the right with a raft of alighting pintail ducks over a wetland setting, the underside with a pointer retrieving a cock pheasant in an oval, the No.2 gun with a tok of capercaillie in a woodland setting to the left, a covey of partridge being flushed by pointers on the right, the underside with an oval woodland scene of a lone woodcock in flight to the fore and a lone hunter with his dog to the rear, the triggerguards gold-inlaid 'C' in gold drop shadow type, 14 5/8in. well-figured stocks, weight 6lb. 5oz., in their brass-cornered oak and leather case with some accessories
Provenance: It has kindly been confirmed by Graham Greener that the actions for this pair of guns were made by David Dryhurst and Richard Tandy (though they did not undertake the finishing)
Other Notes: Angelo Galeazzi was born in Ospiltaletto (Brescia, Italy) in 1931 and sadly passed in 2012.
After a classic grammar school education, an early interest in drawing led to him working an apprenticeship under the master engraver and sculptor Francesco Medici.
Considered to be one of the foremost engravers of modern times, he had an instantly recognisable style of engraving, a pioneer in the 'bulino' technique, achieved purely with the use of the burin.
The range of his subject matter was extensive, from European game scenes to big game hunting to Western scenarios. He was also one of the first to introduce the idea of elaborate mythological compositions - especially scenes of Artemis, goddess of hunting, as a subject for gun engraving. However it was marshland scenes involving duck and geese that he admitted to being his favourite subject.
His work encapsulated an understanding of depth and perspective that few could match and his obvious passion for the subject matter he specialized in manifested itself in meticulous attention to detail. His approach was almost painterly in his use of chiaroscuro gradations to bring realism and a three dimensional quality to his subject; and a careful adherence to anatomical correctness was balanced by a poetic visualization of landscape atmosphere and movement. He used subtle differences in the very depth of the cuts made to mirror the emotions and movements depicted - finer cuts for tranquil scenes and deeper, slightly harsher cuts when dealing with harsher environments and scenarios
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Estimate £12,000-16,000
S2 - Sold as a Section 2 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act