Striking Colt Single Action Army - Alvin White Engraved

RKmesa

RKmesa

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As many of you know, I am an engraved firearm enthusiast. And I have always appreciated Alvin White's work.
almost all of my engraved guns are S&Ws, but I do have a few engraved Colts as well. When I saw this beauty for sale a few years ago, I just had to add it to my collection. Here are a few photos:

























I would love to see any photos of your engraved SAAs or anything engraved by Alvin White.

Thanks for letting me share,
 
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dumb question allowed?

That is one beautiful gun for sure. How do you know that it was Alvin White that did the scratching? Is it a factory Letter, or the technique, or ???

The dumb question is why I have not pursued engraved guns in general. I did buy one (a Model 60) at what I thought was higher bucks than I would normally shell out, but I bought it anyway.

Doing the research I found that the engraver (Ben Shostle) was the Founder of FEGA (Firearms Engravers Guild of America) and the Roy Jinks Factory Letter told me that the engraving was aftermarket, so all in all...pretty cool, but that exercise told me that I have so far to go in learning about engraved firearms that I'd better be danged conscious in that arena.

I sold the Model 60, but I still enjoy the beautiful engraved guns that are shown here on the Forum and I agree....I'd travel too to see a RK Mesa/Doc 44 "museum".:D
 

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6518John said:
I have said it before and I will say it again, you and Bill Cross need to start a museum, either each individually or in concert. I bet you could pack it and make a fortune from the admissions. I know my son and I would travel to see it.
Click to expand...

I don’t know about that, but it would at least make a dent in the drool damage bills they have to keep getting from posting pics. ;)
 
cmansguns said:
That is one beautiful gun for sure. How do you know that it was Alvin White that did the scratching? Is it a factory Letter, or the technique, or ???
Click to expand...

Great Question.:) This gun was engraved well after it left the factory. I'm not an expert, but if I looked it up correctly, the gun (SN 353708) shipped in 1929 and the engraving was most likely completed some time in the 1950s or 1960s. The style and engraving are all Alvin White and consistent with many other AW engraved guns that I have seen both in my collection and "out in the wild":D. Mr. White had a fairly consistent and distinct style of engraving and inlay and this gun is right down the middle of his style fairway. In addition, this gun has the "AA White Eng" stamp under the grips on the frame, like this:



[note that the above photo is from a different AAW engraved SAA in my collection, but I don't have a photo of the stamp on this gun, and since I recently had the one piece grips perfectly fitted to it, I'm a little hesitant to take them off just to photograph the stamp...:rolleyes:]

BTW: That Ben Shostle model 60 has always been a favorite of mine. :cool: Thanks for sharing it.
 
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Beautiful Colt SAA....
My only one.
Unsigned but stamped Colt Engraved.
DSC01172.jpg
 
Beautiful AAW Colt. I'd bet it was done before he got caught up in that hideous contract under Wilson & Glass that really robbed him of much of his artistic freedom IMO.

I like the Platinum (That's what I think they are) bands around the cylinder and the front and back ends of the bbl.
Nice contrast to the what looks like 24ky gold work.
Quite a lot of shading and texture work the scroll that some of his work does not show.
One thing does jump out at me and it's that the work on the trigger guard bow may have been done later than the orig AAW work.
Just strikes me as not quite the same pattern, filled in scroll as the rest of the gun. The gold line work doesn't quite curl around at the ends/tips of the scrolls as they complete as the ones on the ends of the bbl and other places where gold wire is used to accent the main lines of the scroll.
Then the scroll cut within and slightly outside that wire inlay is simpler, less detailed and missing some of the shading and detail the rest of the gun has. A few of the stylized cuts common to the rest of his work on the gun aren't there.
I think perhaps White orig was commissioned to place a name or initials perhaps as an inlay there. A later owner had them removed and the extra scroll added in their place. The engraver copied White's style very closely, but IMO that's what's been done.
I could be completely wrong,,just my observation & opinion of course.

The marking 'A A White / ENG.'
...When White was under that contract,,everything he did had to be marked ....ENGRAVERS or an abbreviation of it.

Could not use the word Engraver or an abbreviation of it.
All the engravers Wilson was farming work to under the AAW Engravers name had their work marked with the AAW Engravers mark as well.
 
Al White was a gifted man, technically proficient and superbly artistic. This revolver is a wonderful example of his workmanship- it is a pleasure to see, thank you. Al was also a first rate gunsmith and produced a video of himself forging the parts to make a flint gun lock that is instructive to say the least. I had the pleasure of watching Al engrave a S&W 36 at the NRA convention in Boston now many years ago. Al would only look down on the work when he had to move his graver, the rest of the time he'd look you in the face as he was cutting the scrolls; imagine being so skilled and experienced that you can guide the graver by touch alone. Again, thanks for sharing with us, it brought back some good memories.
 
2152hq said:
Beautiful AAW Colt. I'd bet it was done before he got caught up in that hideous contract under Wilson & Glass that really robbed him of much of his artistic freedom IMO.
Click to expand...

I would agree.

2152hq said:
I like the Platinum (That's what I think they are) bands around the cylinder and the front and back ends of the bbl. Nice contrast to the what looks like 24ky gold work.
Click to expand...

The light in the photos does not give a perfect tint to the color, but you are correct that the bands on the cylinder and the barrel are platinum or silver. They do add a nice contrast.

2152hq said:
...One thing does jump out at me and it's that the work on the trigger guard bow may have been done later than the orig AAW work. Just strikes me as not quite the same pattern, filled in scroll as the rest of the gun. The gold line work doesn't quite curl around at the ends/tips of the scrolls as they complete as the ones on the ends of the bbl and other places where gold wire is used to accent the main lines of the scroll. Then the scroll cut within and slightly outside that wire inlay is simpler, less detailed and missing some of the shading and detail the rest of the gun has. A few of the stylized cuts common to the rest of his work on the gun aren't there.

I think perhaps White orig was commissioned to place a name or initials perhaps as an inlay there. A later owner had them removed and the extra scroll added in their place. The engraver copied White's style very closely, but IMO that's what's been done. I could be completely wrong, just my observation & opinion of course.
Click to expand...

I always value your opinion on engraving. You've now given me something to explore a little better with this gun.

Thank you for sharing your informed observations.:)
 
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