Dumonthier Gun Cane

Dumonthier gun cane. Ca. 1880 A good 12mm all steel center-fire cartridge rifle gun cane with a plain horn handle and malacca veneer shaft. This breech loading firearm cocks by simple and efficient concealed mechanism in a straight pull after a quarter turn unlocking of the cartridge chamber. It can be fired with a slender and smoothly functioning retractable trigger by means of a rotating collar, which acts as a safety catch and, when necessary, releases it through a leaf feather and adequate angular aperture. This better variant has an ejector lever to remove used cartridges and a steel-lined drill on the rear of the horn grip for a butt. The cane has survived in its original and functional form, with the desirable added value of a clear signature "DUMONTHIER" besides the French makers mark on the back of the firing chamber, very appreciated by the knowledgeable collector. For similar canes see C. Dike, Cane Curiosa, Chapter 33, Breech-loading firearms, page 342, 33/13. With the development of cartridges, loading the firearm at the breech, instead of at the muzzle, was more practical, particularly for gun canes. What is commonly called breech-loading is the opening of the cartridge chamber in front of the bore with the same kind of motions required by modern bolt action rifles. Depending on the model, the closing of the chamber cocks the firing mechanism. Celestin Dumonthier, a Frenchman, filed a very important patent for various types of gun canes in 1876 in England. He also filed several patents for combination weapons—the most-famous being a dagger-revolver (1862). Under the name of Dumonthier & Charton (up to 1850), he sold his gun canes and combination weapons which are today greatly sought after by weapon curiosa collectors. At his death in 1881, his son Eugene took over the factory founded by his father and continued producing gun canes but concentrated more on metalwork production.