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1860 - 1898 - Mainline Reilly label 315 (277) and 502 (16)

I mentioned above that it looks like when 315 Oxford Street opened (Armoury House), Reilly had two different labels for his cases:

-- This allegedly is a reproduction of the Armoury House label. It has "Fusils a Bascule" on it...principle establishment at 502 New Oxford Street, etc. It was possibly used from Jan 1859 when 315 opened until Summer 1860 when the classic "E.M. Reilly & Co"; "Gun Manufacturers" appeared.


-- From Jan 1859 to Fall 1859, the main-line label would have continued to be the traditional one with "Reilly, Gun Maker," "Fusils a Bascule," the drawing of 502 New Oxford Street, and the 1851 and 1855 medals.


-- This label with the 502 New Oxford Street building but without "Fusils a Bascule" and with E.M REILLY, GUN MAKER, and the 1851 and 1855 World's Fair medals featured on the traditional Reilly label from 1855-59 may have been used as the main-line Reilly label from Fall 1859 until "Gun Manufacturers" appeared in August 1860.


This dichotomy in labels with different labels for 315 and 502 may have lasted from January 1859 to Summer 1860 and the arrival of the classic E.M. Reilly & Co. label:

From summer of 1860 to 1898, 502 New Oxford Street (later 16) had this principle label...with variations. E.M REILLY & Co., Gun Manufacturers. The 1867 medals mostly disappeared after the fall of Napoleon III Sep 1870. Sometimes the label had 315 as a "branch establishment," sometimes with both 315 and 2 rue Sribe, sometimes with only 2 rue scribe. But always with the scroll work below the bottom tier of writing and usually with a double lined border and usually with scolloped corners. These labels are from guns with original cases which I've dated to the early 1860's, 70's, 80's and there is one possibly in the 90's (not pictured because the picture of the label is so tiny).



From the limited number of labels I've collected after about Fall 1860, 315 (later 277) doesn't appear again on its own on a label until about 1876. After 1876 the layout of the 315 label was very similar to the 502 label above, except that there is no scroll work below the bottom level of print and no double lined internal border.



In addition 315 appears to have had a special label for revolvers in the early 1880's - here are two examples:



There were some other variants...with "Gun & Rifle Manufactures" and on a couple of them mention of royalty....I've pictured them already but it looks like the above were the mainstream Reilly labels after summer 1860 until the 1898 "4 medal" label appeared.

c1876 - 1868 medals & King of Portugal.......c1884 - the three Kings...................c1892 - re-labeled after the gun was redone


This doesn't prove much...it may help if you see a gun that doesn't have a SN displayed or something....but just interesting for the historian...and if you're buying a reproduction, get the one with the scolloped corners...oh wait...they aren't offered.....Yet.

Last edited by Argo44; 07/18/20 10:18 PM.
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