doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Alexander A. Catoire de Bioncourt's Purdey

The Purdey of Alexander Andreyevitch Catoire de Bioncourt
Text and photos by F. Neuberger /WIP
BCOP is the abbreviation for beauty-condition-originality-
provenance. Its the quartette of elements to evaluate/assess
antique objects incl. old guns. While the first 3 are rather
obvious, the last one, the provenance, has a strong bias
in favour of fetishism.
I recall a Churchill pair in the 1990's, which once belonged
to the English prince/then shortterm king Edward/ finally
duke of Windsor after his abdication, selling at 5 times
the usual market price.
Or more recently a Russian czar Purdey, which I have seen at
preauction time and finally selling at x-time the "inherent"
value. According the info from an insider the same amount
spent for refurbishing.
Old-Europe madness on imperial/royal origin may look perverse
to the folks across the pond. But how can one explain the
price of 264000 US-$ realized for the Colt of Bonnie&Clyde.
End of the 1970's when one asked in London on the original
owners name their dry answer was : "It's not ethical to ask".
We are 40 years later and the ownership of the big 3 London
makers has changed and part of Nick Holt's gunauction
show and selling pitch is the provenance freely given/
documented.
But provenance even of non imperial/royal/Bonnie&Clyde
origin, when it emerges from anonymity, may reveal remarkable
personalities/lifes.
So here is one of these.
End 1990's appeared at a London-auction a non-ejector Purdey
- nr. one of a pair - with its typical tight scroll-rose
and with rather unusual engraving pattern on the underside
of the action. The auction-house quoted country of the vendor
Switzerland and whereabout of the pairing gun unknown.
Purdey told that they resold the pair after the original
owner's death to Conte de Bioncourt in 1906.
Bioncourt is a small village in the French Departement
Moselle-Lorraine. A letter to the mayor re possible Bioncourt-
descendants remained unanswered.
Since then the Google-universe has happened.
It provides nearly all the answers to all the questions.
This Conte de Bioncourt of the Purdey archives has been
Alexander Andreyevith Catoire de Bioncourt, a Franco-Russian
aristo, a scion of an old clan famous since the
13th century.
Belonging to a family of merchants/financiers/industrialists
trading in Russia and across the Asian continent and with
philantropic activities.
He had real estate in France, Germany and Switzerland.
But above all and for this matter here a hunter and collector
of gigantic dimensions. His hunting activities spread from
central Asia to western Europe, when travelling has not
been yet a matter of a few hours flight. He ammassed an
enourmous collection of weapons of all kind. He finally
donated more than 600 items to the State Historical Museum
in Moscow together with funds to have it properly displayed.
There exists a book with both Russian and Engish text with
100 of these weapons photographs and descriptions.
Its "A. A. Catoire de Bioncourt's weapons collection"
by Atlant-St. Petersburg (Isbn 5-901555-12-0).
He did not donate all his guns as he still continued to
hunt and passed away 1913 in B�hlertal/Germany.
His adopted daughter married a Frenchman, living then in a
Swiss castle. Their daughter married a Swiss banker, there
exist further descendants.
So here we are, at the entourage of a late Swiss banquier.
The incarnation of discretion and distinction with these
patrician mountaineers of Central Europe. Never conquered/
invaded, never disclosed what fortunes they kept/administered
for their worldwide customers, incl trivial items like
old Purdey guns.
But one should never give up, so I am still trying to unfold
the story/whereabout of the pairing gun ( nr. 13002).
Happy Switzerland neither had the "visit" of the German army
nor that of the Russian army, so there is a chance that the
pairing gun has survived as the nr. one did.
..Photos to follow...