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PrintThe Colt Peacemaker pistol a hot art collectible
The Colt 1873 Single Action Army revolver — "the gun that won the West" — has evolved to the status of collectible art.
Popularized by the gunslingers and lawmen of the American West, the Colt 1873 Single Action Army revolver, or Peacemaker, was the first Colt revolver to use metal cartridges and continues to symbolize the Old West.
Produced by Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut (known today simply as Colt's Manufacturing Company), "the gun that won the West" has evolved to the status of collectible art.
Master engraver Leonard Francolini, who worked at the historic Colt factory in the 1970s, has been engraving and inlaying firearms for nearly 40 years.
Francolini's exquisitely engraved pistols have been coveted, collected, and displayed in such notable Western museums as the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, where the Colt Gallery at the Museum of the American West featuresa bevy of Colt models, including a pair of gold- and silver-inlaid Colt Single Action Army revolvers commissioned by George A. Strichman.
Part of the museum's permanent collection, the Strichman pistols were engraved by Francolini with embellishment designed by Tiffany & Co. Another prominent piece engraved by Francolini is the Gene Autry-Tiffany Colt Dragoon, a revolver commissioned for Autry's 81st birthday.
Today, from his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Francolini creates pieces for privatecollections, such as the Colt .45 caliber shown — one of a Western-themed pair named Cowboys and Indians.
Go online to see more of Francolini's masterpieces.
• Info: 505-363-0185, www.francolini.com
