Pattern 1738 "Bright" Sea Service Musket
Dateca. 1748-1757
Maker
Board of Ordnance
OriginEngland and Europe
MediumIron, steel, brass, walnut and hickory (?)
DimensionsOverall: 57 3/4" Barrel: 42" x .78 caliber
Credit LineMuseum Purchase and Mitchell Arms and Military Accoutrements Fund
Object number2018-272
DescriptionPattern 1738 "Bright" Sea Service musket build with a flat, three-screw lock and an octagon to round barrel of Dutch/Germanic origin. Regulation brass mounts (no tailpipe, triggerplate or nosecap) and an added lozenge-shaped wristplate secured with four brass nails. Old wooden rammer with short brass tip.Label TextMade without some of the unnecessary mounts found on a Land Service musket, this sea service arm includes a flat three-screw lock, a heavy sheet-brass buttplate, a simple triggerguard and three rammer pipes. A later American owner added a wristplate with his initials “WB.”Inscription(s)Lockplate engraved with the "Crown GR" between the pan and the cock and SMITH over 1748 on the tail. Wristplate engraved with "W * B," an American owner's initials.Mark(s)Typical British Ordnance marks, except for the barrel, which bears an illegible Dutch or German mark.ProvenanceBilly Ahearn Collection (Skinner's - Marlborough, 2 November 2018, Lot 13). Pruchased as a present for Billy by his wife Maureen from David Condon, sometime in the mid-1990s.
