I hold with those who've opined that provenance adds little value except in 'celebrity' cases. However researching the history of a particular gun and developing provenance can be great fun.
Despite the dire,and I believe sincere warnings of the Malevolent Memphian I bought a tomato stake Boss last year that I thought I could salvage. I went to the extreme to pay Boss 50 pounds for a xerox copy of the original record of the order and building of the gun. It was built in 1860 as a pin-fire and later converted to center-fire.
When I researched the name of the original owner I found that he was a son of the 4th Earl of Harewood, that he went into the ministry, that he was an official of Ripon Cathedral, and that he lived during the same period of time that the namesake of the Cathedral was doing all that bird shooting. The two were of equal social status and I have no doubt that my Boss at some point in its history occupied a spot on some shoot next to the Earl deGrey, Ripon.
If you'd like to be impressed google 'Harewood House' and check out the digs my gun's owner grew up in. In comparison Downton's a hovel. If you watched the latest Royal Family marriage coverage you may have noticed an elderly gentleman in the family photos with a snow white pointy beard. That was the Queen's 1st cousin (I think) the 7th Earl of Harewood.
I found that I could do nothing about properly restoring the Boss and despite Joe's opinions managed to pass it along at a small profit to another member here. Considering the provenance of the gun, I would have been happy though to have kept it as a wall-hanger and to have thought of the rich history of the gun through the absolute zenith of British wing shooting whenever I looked at it...Geo
