Turning Double Guns Into Fine Art

From the March/April 2015 issue of  Sporting Classics.

Humans are natural predators and aggressive cusses, to boot. We hunt, we fight, we occasionally make war. As soon as we evolved to the point where we had the capability to build weapons, they assumed a place among our most cherished and personal possessions. For as long as there have been weapons, whether tools of war or the hunt or of personal protection, we have been decorating and personalizing them.

Enhancement takes many forms. Simply making the gun fit you a little better is a form of personalization. Some folks like a really nice, distinctive piece of wood for a stock for the same reason. Others have custom engravers incise their initials into the metal or even go whole hog, and carve masterpieces to suit their individual tastes. 

Personally, I like a modicum engraving on a gun, but don’t really consider it essential. Like a nice set of curves on a woman, engraving is nice, not absolutely necessary. In fact, I have known individuals of both who were totally lacking embellishment, yet were nonetheless delightful without the ornamentation. On the other hand, a little something extra to please the eye doesn’t hurt anything, either.

 

In time, ornamental weapons became an art form in their own right, admired by many and often collected by well-heeled aficionados. Two years ago the folks at Alamo Sporting Arms in San Antonio decided to commission a piece for themselves, one that was personal to them and that would serve to visually express their identity. Alamo has carved a niche for itself as a procurer of high-quality ornamental pieces for its clients, with a special emphasis on Krieghoff shotguns.

They tossed the idea around, and it caught the ear of one of their regular customers who got on board with the project and provided his own input. Since they needed a high-quality weapon to serve as a foundation for the project, and since he and Alamo’s proprietors, Mike and Pam Young, all had long relationships with Krieghoff, they decided the gun should be a K80 and it would be engraved with a theme relating to the Battle of the Alamo. 

In exchange for his input, the unnamed collector was given the first option to buy the piece when it was completed. Mike threw the concept out at the SCI convention several years ago, and he and Dieter Krieghoff pitched the project to Giacomo Fausti, of the famed engraving studio Creative Art, to see if he had interest in the project—turned out that he did. 

As a result, Fausti and his famed group of engravers took over the creative process and moved forward with the project. It turned out to be the beginning of a nearly three-year collaboration among the partners. 

Young provided photos of the Alamo as well as the clothing, uniforms, and other accouterments of the battle participants. He also furnished books detailing accounts of the Battle of the Alamo to Fausti and the other participants, in order to ensure historical accuracy. 

Fausti, in turn, conceived a series of scenes illustrating the battle, made drawings, and submitted them for Krieghoff’s and Young’s approval. Once the plans were approved and returned to Fausti, he began constructing the images in deep-relief engraving accented with gold inlays and enamel.

These remarkable scenes are so deeply incised that they are more akin to sculpture than to traditional engraving. Fausti, who is internationally renowned for his deep-relief engraving, created the three-dimensional images with nothing more than conventional chisels and gravers.

 

The top of the receiver shows a pair of Texas flags in enamel, and each flag flanks a deep-chiseled rendering of the Lone Star of Texas, which embellishes the top lever. The right side of the receiver depicts Texans battling Santa Anna’s Mexican soldiers as they pour over the walls of the fortress. The left side of the receiver is a representation of Colonel William Barrett Travis’ famous speech, during which he drew a line in the sand with his sword and offered his men the opportunity to cross the line and leave without repercussion. In Texas lore, no one took him up on his offer, even though it was certain death to remain and fight. The bottom of the receiver portrays Davy Crockett in hand-to-hand battle with the Mexican forces.

To my mind, no further description is needed—or helpful. Like any piece of visual art, the creation speaks for itself. It is a remarkable example of its kind and a stunning illustration of what can be accomplished with the simplest tools in the hands of a great genius. It’s also a monument to the enormous talent of Giacomo Fausti and his colleagues at Creative Art.

When I spoke with Dieter Krieghoff about the gun, he said,” We are enthusiasts, and our special pieces are created for enthusiasts so they may see and appreciate what is possible in this field of art. This piece is certainly one of the finest that the House of Krieghoff has ever done.” 

I agree, and I wanted you to see it. Enjoy.