- Object Name
- Maker
- Place Made
- Title
Naval Engagement cylinder scene
- Date
circa 1914
- Materials
Metal
- Dimensions
5 3/16 in x 1 1/8 in (13.2 cm x 2.8 cm)
- Object ID
87.118.163
-
- Institution
Autry Museum of the American West
-
- Category
Art and Artifacts
- Remarks
Proof plate, depicting the Naval Engagement scene, made from original roll die engraved by Waterman Lilly Ormsby, circa 1914. Scene roll-engraved on cylinders of some of Colt's Navy and Army Model revolvers.
The roll-engraved cylinder scenes found on early Colt revolvers were the creation of Waterman Lilly Ormsby, a professional siderographer. Siderography is the art of engraving on steel plates, a profession commonly associated with the production of bank notes. The scene depicted on this proof plate shows a battle that took place in the Gulf of Mexico on May 16, 1843, between ships of the navies of the Republic of Texas and Mexico. Interestingly, the Texas Navy was armed with Colt revolvers during the fight, but they were never close enough to their Mexican adversaries to actually use them. The scene was used on the Model 1851 Navy, the Model 1860 Army, and the Model 1861 Navy Revolvers, as well as later on what collectors came to call the Model 1871–72 Open Top .44.
- Subject
The Colt Revolver in the American West (Greg Martin Colt Gallery)
The Genius of Samuel Colt (Greg Martin Colt Gallery)
- Pictured