Not so fast there, pardner...Bulino or banknote engraving in Italy is a different style of engraving, almost like drawing pictures with needle-like punctures. You are talking Apples, and Oranges.
Funken, both Baertens, Watrin and his wife Nelly, Vranken, were all Master engravers on some of the most expensive guns of the day, and matched favorably with Holland and Holland and Purdeys, which typically had understated British rose and scroll but sold for much more.
Chiseling 13 or more animals in a Superposed game scene is very different than the artistry of Bulino, and it's unfair to compare the two styles.
I'm not comparing oranges and apples, as you suggest, nor did I compare differing styles. Comparing the same techniques, my comments stand. I say this not to disparage, but in simply evaluating the engraving alone side by side. A Midas grade Superposed I had and hunted with for many years was a very nice gun, but the birds were indeed crude by comparison, and I've seen scores of others I have similar comment about. The best I've seen on Brownings in recent years have been the Mallard, Pintail and Black Duck series made in the '80s. They were excellent, pardner.
