SPECTACULAR GOLD & PLATINUM INLAID SPECIAL ORDER #10 ENGRAVED DELUXE MARLIN 1897 LEVER ACTION RIFLE, I.D.’D TO F.E. VENESS, A LUMBER BARON FROM WASHINGTON; EX-FRANK KELLY COLLECTION, PROBABLY THE FINEST IN EXISTENCE

SPECTACULAR GOLD & PLATINUM INLAID SPECIAL ORDER #10 ENGRAVED DELUXE MARLIN 1897 LEVER ACTION RIFLE, I.D.’D TO F.E. VENESS, A LUMBER BARON FROM WASHINGTON; EX-FRANK KELLY COLLECTION, PROBABLY THE FINEST IN EXISTENCE

24-1646
Cal. 22 S, L, LR
S#. 331602

This extraordinary rifle was remarked as likely one of a kind by Mr. J.R. LaRue during his review of this rifle when it was initially offered from the Frank Kelly collection. It is fitted with a 24″ octagonal to round barrel, half magazine, Lyman bead front sight, semi-buckhorn rear sight & Lyman combination tang sight. The receiver exhibits a wonderfully executed special #10 engraving pattern by the hand of master engraver Conrad Ulrich. The left side features a well-cut forest scene of a whitetail buck & doe feeding on a sapling and bordered within a platinum and gold vignette, finished with tight full coverage leafy vine & punch dot engraving. The opposite receiver face is engraved with the intertwined initials “FEV” inside a platinum and gold outlined vignette, with the “V” also finished in platinum, it is further embellished with a small squirrel within the vine and leaf pattern. The top, bottom, & tang of the receiver are also tastefully engraved with wavy line and dot borders & a fanned burst on the top of the frame, nose cap, & below the serial number. The lever and hammer are borderline engraved. Ulrich further engraved and inlaid the exposed barrel flats over the chamber with latch and hook patterns, as well as, platinum and gold bands and designs. The nose cap is accented with a fine platinum line around the top and rear edges and includes a matching foliate motif engraving. The initials are verified as being that of Fred Eugene Veness with a notarized letter dated Dec. 12th 2003 from his grandson John A Veness. John states in the letter that the rifle had been a family heirloom passed down to him and was originally delivered from the factory to his grandfather in 1906. The Veness family was involved in the lumber business as both a lumber company and a holding company for lumber companies in Winlock, WA from approximately 1890 until 1931. Family lore indicated it was a gift to Fred for financing a mill in Winlock. In 1997 the grandson displayed the firearm at the Marlin Firearms Collectors Association booth at the NRA meeting where it then received the silver award for one of the top 10 best firearms at the show. The letter indicates that the grandson sold the rifle to Bennett Auslaender in late 2000 who retained the rifle until it was sold to collector Frank Kelly in 2005. The wonderful attention to detail that was given to the metal extends to the stock set with a highly figured burl and shell grained American walnut featuring a serpentine grip cut with a #10 checkering pattern and terminated with a hard rubber Marlin factory buttplate. The last three digits of the serial number is marked on both the upper tang under the wood and the top tang channel of the stock. The gun letters within configuration and indicates it was shipped Jan. 18th 1906.

UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: Factory letter, Bill of sale and correspondences between Auslaender & Kelly, Notarized letters from both John Veness & Bennett Auslaender, silver award and plaque from the 1997 NRA meeting, & a copy of “The Timber Baron of Winlock” by Wayne Galvin detailing the history of the timber industry in Winlock, WA with the a considerable amount of the book chronicling the tenure of Fred Eugene Veness.

PROVENANCE: Ex- Veness Family Heirloom 1906-2003, Ex- Bennett Auslaender Collection, 2003-2005, Ex- Frank Kelly Collection 2005-2015, & William Blount Collection of Extraordinary Marlins.

STATUS: CURIO