Description:
Militia musket made by Alvin (1790-1877) and Nathaniel Pratt of Sutton, Massachusetts. After apprenticing at Whitmore's Gun Works in Sutton, Alvan worked with his brother in Watertown, Mass. from 1812-1813; however the business failed and Alvan returned to Sutton where he worked until he was burned out in 1821. Alvan moved to Concord, Massachusetts, where he was active until 1868. The brass butt plate finial is inscribed, "No. 36" which indicates that this was the 36th musket in the company's storage racks. The silver escutcheon in front of the butt plate finial is inscribed "R.L. Fairfield," probably the gun's owner. The barrel is stamped with "Pratt" and Massachusetts proofmarks of two circles and the initial "M" and "P M / T W 1826", the initials for the inspector of the musket and date, which indicated that it was safe to fire. The engraved brass trigger-guard is inscribed "Mechanic Phalanx." There is fine sheet-silver and silver wire inlay in the sides of the stock butt, which was a frequent form of decoration on guns made in Massachusetts and Rhode Island during the first half of the nineteenth century. One side of the butt has an American eagle in flight with thirteen stars above and olive branches below, framed in inlaid silver wire in a leaf design; the other side has a figure of Massasoit (1580-1661) in a shield shape, who was the chief sachem of the Wanpanoag Indians of Massachusetts, which was taken from the Massachusetts state seal (see canton 2003.37.10). There are six brass escutcheons securing the barrel keys; silver-wire inlay decoration behind the bottom lower ramrod thimble; brass muzzle cap; iron ramrod; and what appears to be an original flintlock See 1770 for a musket by their brother, Henry Pratt (1790-1880).
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2003.37.2 |
