Colt Model 1862 Police Revolver, serial no. 38549

Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company|John Quincy Adams Ward

ca. 1868 · Steel, gold, copper alloy (brass) · Arms and Armor

Colt Model 1862 Police Revolver, serial no. 38549 — Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company|John Quincy Adams Ward

The ornate brass grip of this pistol features a female figure representing Christianity and Justice. John Quincy Adams Ward created the original model of the grip for a pair of pistols presented by President Abraham Lincoln to the governor of Adrianople (present-day Edirne, Turkey) in 1864. The grip of the pistol displayed here was probably cast from the same mold shortly after that. Ward was relatively unknown at the time, but soon became one of America's most celebrated sculptors.

Artist
Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company|John Quincy Adams Ward
Date
ca. 1868
Medium
Steel, gold, copper alloy (brass)
Culture
American, Hartford, Connecticut and New York
Department
Arms and Armor
Credit line
Gift of W. C. Foxley, 2014

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