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Re-checking the dating of Reilly case/trade labels.


On p.44 of this line is a cheat-sheet chart of Reilly labels, dated, which can help date a gun when nothing else is available. I was looking to confirm a statement I made in the history - to wit, that Reilly labels for 16 (502) New Oxford Street did not change from its adoption in August 1860 to 1898, and the separate label for 315 (277) Oxford Street did not change from it appearance about 1875 to 1898 when 16 New Oxford Street was closed.

Turns out I was wrong. There was a slight change....you'll see different advertisements along the bottom of both labels after the company left 2 rue Scribe in late July 1885.

Here is 16 (502) New Oxford Street label with rue Scribe still occupied (the label had not changed since it was adopted in August 1860 except for addition of the 1867 Paris Universelle medals)....and the label after they left rue Scribe in late July 1885:



And here is 315 Oxford Street with rue Scribe, and 277 Oxford Street after rue Scribe was closed:



I then went back and checked the premise that rue de Faubourg, St. Honore, the address found on 4 case/trade labels, was open after the November 1881 change in the Oxford Street numbering system but before rue Scribe was closed in late July 1885. (There are numerous writings for years that claim rue de Faubourg was opened after rue Scribe was closed from all sorts of expert authors).

Here is the label from SN 22432 serial numbered in 1880 per my chart. The case label is for 16 New Oxford St. and mentions 277 Oxford St. and rue de Faubourg, St. Honore....so post November 1881.

The advertisements at the bottom of the label are slightly different from those on the standard 502 label (of course you wouldn't advertise Enfield Rifles in France) - but very similar to the post July 1885 16 Oxford St. label - (compare "self-ejector" rather than "ejector"). It certainly looks like the post 1885 16 New Oxford Street label as far as the advertisements go.

But, the reason that this label may be dated pre 1885 is simple: who was the owner of 22432? - George Sackville Sinclair Wemyss (born 1855, died 1882). Perhaps the advertisements on this label were a harbinger of what was to come in 1885? Or is this the just usual auction house hype which often has nothing to do with history?



This topic needs some more research with really befuddling information:
1) there are no British press advertisements for a Reilly branch in Paris after July 1885.
2) There are three Reilly guns with only "Paris" on their ribs after the last Reilly with rue Scribe.
3) the man who bought the above Reilly with the label died in 1882.
4) but the label advertisements for rue du Faubourg look very similar to post 1885 Reilly labels.
So French records will be key. Will advise.

Edit....these rue du Faubourg labels have the 1884 London exposition medals on them. The label is on SN 26880, dated to early 1885. This may or may not be important. There are earlier serial numbers from as early as 1879 which have that label.

Last edited by Argo44; 08/04/20 08:56 PM.

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