This beautiful 18th century combination gun features a 24 bore smoothbore barrel and a 28 bore rifled barrel. The smoothbore barrel has a fixed silver blade front sight with flush inlaid "spider" base and is octagonal to round with chiseled and turned girdles at the transition point. The tapered octagonal rifled barrel features a dovetailed bead/blade front sight and dovetailed notch rear sight with engraved finial with gilt backgrounds. Each barrel is blued and features sunken gold filled trefoil designs and Spanish style "crown/SCHIR/MER/A/BAM/BERG" and running stag maker's marks. The rounded back action lock is inscribed "SCHIRMER A BAMBERG" at the rear of the cock and is relief engraved with rococo style scrollwork and a scene of two deer with gilt backgrounds. Coordinating rococo scrollwork and game scenes with gilt backgrounds are featured throughout the steel mounts. The priming pans are guttered, and the frizzens are designed to enclose the edges of the pans to provide a tight seal. Pulling the front of the trigger guard towards the rear releases the barrels for rotation. The gun is equipped with adjustable double set triggers. The stock and forend panels feature a combination of incised and relief carved rococo scrollwork with floral accents, and the cheekpiece features an elaborate star inlay in contrasting light and dark horn. "4" is carved into a pierced window in the toe plate. A shared baleen ramrod with horn tip rides to one side of the barrels. Heer in "Der Neue Stockel" lists Wolfgang Schirmer (1704-1772) and his son Christoph Balthasar Schirmer (c. 1745-1780) as active in Bamberg. This piece was likely made by the father around the time of his son's birth. The gun is accompanied by Norman R. Blank's 12.10.76 Southeby Park Bernet & Co. invoice for the gun. Provenance: The Norman R. Blank Collection

Very fine overall with 80% plus original blue finish, silver-gray and light brown patina where the finish is fading, mostly bright lock and furniture with nearly all of the bright gold in the backgrounds, crisp engraving and carving, piece of wood missing at the cheek rest, generally minor age and storage related wear. Mechanically fine. Overall, a very beautiful and distinctive 18th century combination gun.