Details of Lot 77
J. PURDEY & SONS
A FINE PAIR OF 12-BORE SELF-OPENING SIDELOCK EJECTOR GUNS, NOS. 25443/4

28-inch chopper-lump barrels with 2 1/2-inch chambers, about 1/4 and 3/4 choke borings, the frames, locks and numbered top levers with fine bouquet and scroll engraving and retaining most of their original hardening colour, line cocking indicators, 15-inch well figured stocks including leather covered recoil pads, 6lb. 5oz., nitro proof, left hand mainspring of the No.2 gun broken, in their maker's lightweight leather motor case
S2

The maker confirms tat the guns were built in 1937 for William S. Paley. The guns conform to their original specification and retain much of their original finish.

William S. Paley (1901-1990)

William S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network to one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.

Born in 1901, he was the son of a cigar manufacturer. In 1927, as their business expanded, they bought a struggling Philadelphia radio network, Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System, primarily for use as an advertising medium for the family cigar business. Within a year sales had doubled and within a decade the original network of 16 stations had expanded to one 116. Paley quickly grasped te potential advertising earnings and that a mixture of good programming was the key to attracting advertising revenue. Expanding in to records and television brought further growth and the company boomed in the post war years, remaining one of the largest of its type. Other interests included owning a racing stable, as well as building a significant collection of modern art. At one point, he owned the New York Yankees baseball team. He died in 1990.

Sold for £34000
Fine Modern and Vintage Sporting Guns
The Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland
27 August 2018
Commission is 25% ex. VAT. Artist's Resale Right may apply