A Fine Cased Pair of Lewis & Tomes Percussion Target Pistols. 16 1/8 ” overall. 10” octagonal sighted 50 bore barrels each signed along the top flat ‘Lewis & Tomes London’. Two gold lines at the breech, adjustable fore sight, London Proof stamps on underside & engraved ‘London Proof’ & ‘H&S’. Rear sight on scroll engraved tang. Flat scroll engraved locks signed ‘Lewis & Tomes’ with foliate scroll engraved dolphin hammers. Purdy style figured walnut half stocks with chequered rounded butts with engraved butt caps with trap. Spurred trigger guards decorated with scroll engraving, trigger plates each with pineapple finial, engraved steel fore end caps, silver escutcheons. In their original campaign style mahogany case with original accessories including red leather covered bag shaped powder flask, bullet mould, loading rod, spring clamp, nipple key & cap tin.
Circa 1830.
Very high quality pistols made for sale in the USA. In very good condition.
Lewis & Tomes were major importers in New York starting circa 1814.
Francis Tomes was a clerk to Edward Lewis who had a trading business in Birmingham. He married Maria Roberts in 1812 and started up on his account soon afterwards, but failed. In 1815, Lewis re-hired him as a partner to open up a branch of his business in New York City under the name of "Lewis & Tomes”. In 1819 The company sold hardware, much of which was imported from England. In 1833 the company became Tomes & Miller and in 1836 Tomes, Miller & Company. In 1840 the company was renamed Francis Tomes & Son(s) and operated under that name until 1859 when it became known as Tomes, Son & Melvain, under which name it operated until 1864. In 1864 the company was renamed Tomes, Melvain & Co and in 1874 the firm became Francis Tomes & Company, which it remained until it went out of business in 1883. Although initially formed as a hardware company, as the business expanded, it branched into other imported and “fancy goods” with a heavy emphasis on imported English firearms. The company also branched out into military goods and outfitting. The firm of Tomes, Son & Melvain delivered some 16,172 “long Enfields & bayonets” to the US Ordnance Department during the early days of the American Civil War, along with 100 “short Enfields”. A variety of military buttons are also known with the early Lewis & Tomes backmark, as well as the later Tomes, Son & Melvain backmark. They found a good market supplying military goods to various state and local militia units, much like their New York competitors Schuyler, Hartley & Graham.