He said this company existed in the mid 1800's and was sold to Gerbruder Merkel.
It's probably a moot point as Gebhardt Merkel had an interest in Gebruder Merkel, and their may have been another Gebhardt, but for now I don't think it was Gerbruder Merkel who owned Gottfried Funk & Sohn but Gebhardt Merkel. So in by 1914 Gottfried's Sohn was possibly retiring or didn't have an heir to continue the business. But anyway here's some brief info and possibly more when I have a chance to check my refs. Gottfried Funk was listed as a mastergunsmith in the 1840s. So assuming it was the late 1840s and his stint as a Journeyman was 7 years, then he began as a gunsmith circa 1840. I can't tell from the pic but at least one of the what looks to be fluid steel tubes was rifled and there may be 2 single set German stecher triggers. There's a stamp of "11.05" on the lower rib typical of an Austrian proofhouse but from the pics I don't see any other Austrian marks. So in November 1905 it was converted to 16 bore or reproved. I don't see a "Crown" over "V" so the longarms wasn't "on-hand"/in stock prior to 1893, unless there's a mark somewhere. There's a stamp of "F.F." on the underside of the left tube which is probably for Friedrich Funk the finisher/maker of the tubes. Circa 1850 Friedrich Funk as a master soap maker(if I translated correctly) so either he had to change occupations or one of his decendents went into gun barrel making. Then again Friedrich and Gottfried possibly were brothers and as an honor to Friedrich named his son after Friedrich, who would be the "Sohn" portion of the name. I would venture a guess that early on the name was just "Gottfried Funk" and when his son(or daughter????) began his walkabout in the Journeyman program, the name took on the "Sohn" term. But what looks to be fluid steel tubes with the platnum barrel bands just may have been fitted to the gun pre-1891. The double has hallmark features like the bone/horn/ivory pistol grip, Lefaucheux action with pinned forend, Austrian or Bavarian cheekpiece which were from the late 1870s or early 1880s. Additional pic of the undersides of the tubes as well as the receiver may aide in getting the full story on the piece. I can forward the pics to someone who would be so kind to post them.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
