Engraved game scenss and use

[Doug Kellermann]

I have several engraved drillings and was wondering when the gun was built if the game scene had any relationship to the use and caliber of the drilling?

thanks

Doug

[mike ford]

Doug,
In the time I lived in Germany, I knew several engravers that worked for Heym, either on a "production" or "custom" basis. As a general rule, the hunting scenes on production drillings were more or less "standard", done to a standard pattern.Of course the engravers themselves were different and this resulted in generally standard scenes being executed with differing details. Also, the production engravers were generally expected a complete scene each day, once they were fully trained/experienced. This acted( not planned) as a limitation on the detail contained within the scene.One of my friends, in fact, left the job at Heym because of his inability to produce a scene each day with the detail he wanted to include. The production engravers generally did not sign their work, although I concede the possibility of signatures being hidden within some of the scenes. On the other hand, "bespoke" custom guns could be engraved with whatever scene the customer wanted, including favorite dogs, special scenes from previous or future hunts, gold or silver inlays, etc. Generally when custom engraving was ordered, the engraver was expected to sign it.

[Doug Kellermann]

Hey Mike,

thanks for the historical perspective. I will look at the engraving to see if it signed.

Doug