Factory Engravers

[9492]

I am trying to locate more information about S&W factory engraver Harry Jarvis. There seems to be very few published photos of his work for S&W. S&W reference books give contraditing or incoplete information regarding the years he engraved for S&W and few include any photos of his work.

What years did Harry Jarvis engrave for S&W?
Are there any published photos of his work for S&W?
If you have a gun engraved by Jarvis would you please post photos?

Thanks

 

[Doc44]

Harry Jarvis engraved at S&W for many years. He started in 1905 and was employed until 1958. Below is a photo of a .357 Magnum engraved (Class B coverage) by him in the early 50s. It was kept in the factory collection until being sold in 1966. The stocks were made by an unknown artisan.

Bill

 

[mikepriwer]

Here is a picture of Harry doing inspections:

This next picture is a pair of post-WW2 .357's that Harry engraved, as
a pair, along with the stocks.

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[9492]

Bill,

Thanks for your response. If Jarvis began working for S&W in 1905 then he would have worked with Young for several years. Is this correct? To me many early Jarvis engraved S&W show Young's influence.

Was Kornbrath used by S&W as a backup engraver? Was he ever employed at S&W as their full time engraver or was Jarvis S&W main engraver?

Thanks

 

[29aholic]

Dang Mike will you quit posting pictures of those, I wet myself everytime I see them

 

[Doc44]

9492...I don't know Mr. Jarvis' work history at S&W. He eventually became a master engraver, but what he did in his early years is not known to me.

Kornbrath did engrave for S&W, but I have only seen two guns done by him and they dated to the 30s (K22 Outdoorsman revolvers if I remember correctly).

The Standard Catalog of S&W, third edition, has some good photos of engraved S&Ws and a listing of engravers employed by them (pp. 37-48).

The Firearms Engravers Guild of America may be able to provide some information about Mr. Jarvis, or you could call Roy Jinks at S&W as I am sure he could tell you some interesting information.

Bill

 

[9492]

Thanks for the replies and photos.

The reason I asked the question is that I am interested in pre-WWII factory engraved S&W hand ejectors. There is a lot of information about the Young family engravers at S&W including photos. Guns engraved by them are found more frequently than by those who followed them. There is conflicting information as to when the Youngs quit engraving for S&W and no specific information on who took their place and when. From the best that I can tell Harry Jarvis and Kornbrath both engraved guns for S&W after the Youngs quit and before WWII. I can't find any specific information as to when Harry Jarvis became S&W engraver or who trained him. I believe that Kornbrath was used as a back up engraved for S&W and Colt.

I am trying to learn more about the factory engravers who followed Young up until WWII. Published information and photos of their work are very limited. I encounter far fewer factory engraved S&W made between the time the Youngs quit and WWII. Glahn (Colts factory engraver) engraved Colts from the same time period seem to be more abundant.

Any photos of pre-WWII factory engraved hand ejectors would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[2152hq]

Kornbrath remained a freelanse engraver throughout his career AFAIK but took work from both manufacturers and private individuals.

Alvin Herbert is another engraver that is associated with the Colt factory in the early post WW2 period but he did engrave for S&W before that time, if only for a short while. I don't know if that was also post war or perhaps pre WW2. He died in 1969.