At C&T (22% buyer’s premium) in Tunbridge Wells on April 14, this utilitarian but rare Lincoln .177 barrel-cocking air pistol sold for £600 against an estimate of £150-250. This was one of about 1500 made by Lincoln Jeffries in Birmingham in the 1920s.
Britannia rifle
A Britannia .177 barrel-cocking air rifle of pre-Great War vintage, made by CG Bonehill of Birmingham and stamped Cox’s Patent, £640 at C&T.
The uncompromisingly ‘modern’ style of the Lincoln was in stark contrast to the more traditional lines of a Britannia .177 barrel-cocking air rifle of pre-Great War vintage, made by CG Bonehill of Birmingham and stamped Cox’s Patent. This also sold for several times its estimate at £640.
Where the undisguised air reservoir of the Lincoln doubled as a hand grip, the stock of the Edwardian Britannia was applied above and below with a wooden cheek piece and hand grip to mask the air chamber.
