Chapter 2 – Facts and Figures

2.8 The Missing Link

 

2.8 2.8.1 2.8.2 2.8.3

The Missing Link The Consortium of Seven Liège Gun Makers The Licensing Agreement of April 1853 Hanquet Colt 1851 Pattern Navies

 

2.8.1

The Consortium of Seven Liège Gun Makers

 

The first Belgian Colts were made during the early 1850s. They were licensed Colt 1851 Navy percussion revolvers marked COLT BREVETE. Through his then-representative, Samuel Colt had licensed a number of Liège gun makers to manufacture his percussion revolvers when his London factory could not turn out enough pistols to meet the market demand. But that is only half of the story. To protect his Belgian patent from August 21, 1849 there was this provision in the patent laws whereby the article patented must be produced in that country within two years from the date of the patent or the patent would become void. Therefore, his British patent counsel (Mr. W. E. Newton, of 66 Chancery Lane, London), went to Liège, Belgium and employed a local gun maker to make several revolvers of Colt’s design. While that move saved the patent, Newton also discovered that a few of the Liège gun makers were infringing on Colt’s patent rights. Many such guns had passed through the Liège proof house, many for export into other countries.

To address this situation Colt appointed a Belgian sales agent and lawyer by the name Davos-Sera to look after his interests. Davos-Sera licensed other Belgian gun makers to produce guns under Colt’s license and to collect a license fee on all such guns produced. But Davos-Sera’s way of doing business did not exactly please the Colonel. For reasons not known today the cooperation with Davos-Sera was terminated. He was replaced by J. Sainthill, patent attorney of Brussels.

 

2.8.2

The Licensing Agreement of April 1853

 

The story goes, that during one of his regular trips to Europe, Sam Colt came to Liège in April 1853 to straighten things out and to negotiate a new agreement with another group of Belgian gun makers. He stayed there at hotel Belle Vue for the negotiations which took several days. J. Sainthill was able to arrange the meeting with seven (7) gun makers; namely: Ancion & Co., Collette, Dandoy, Drisseur & Co., Hanquet, Petry and Brothers Pirlot. An agreement was reached and signed at the end of April 1853. To this day no copy of this licensing agreement was available to us for study. Among others we were in touch with Colt in Hartford and inquired with Madame N. Hanquet, last president of Fabriques d’Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.), regarding this contract. Unfortunately, to no avail.

The good news is from July 28, 2013. Thanks to Roy Marcot of Tucson, AZ, U.S.A. (firearms historian and co-author of the acclaimed book COLT BREVETE REVOLVERS), we can now share with you the English translation of a letter from the above J. Sainthill addressed to Col. Colt. The actual letter is dated April 29, 1853. It refers to this successful meeting with the seven Liège gun makers and the subsequent licensing agreement. At the bottom of page 2 of the original French version of the letter there is a list of these gun makers including Hanquet, see below.

 

 

2.8_1 – 2.8_5 Copy of J. Sainthill’s letter to Samuel Colt dated April 29 1853 and the English translation

 

Between 1829 and 1874 Jean Baptiste Hanquet was in charge of the family business. Therefore, he must be the one representing the Hanquets’ interest in these important negotiations of April 1853 with the Colonel. A couple of these gun makers, or their succeeding companies, found their way into the later 20th century Hanquet’s family business Fabriques d’Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.)! These are the companies: Albert Simonis, Antoine Bertrand & fils, Pirlot & Frésart, J. Ancion & Fils, Joseph Tolet & Cie, S.A. Fabrication des Armes à feu. There you have it the missing link.

 

2.8.3

Hanquet Colt 1851 Pattern Navies

 

Hanquet Navies with below four different types of markings are known:

1. ADDRESS COL. SAML COLT NEW MODEL US PATENTED

2. ADDRESS COL. SAML COLT NEW YORK CITY

3. ADDRESS SAML COLT NEW YORK CITY

4. COLT BREVETE

Specimens of such Colt 1851 pattern Navies made by the predecessors and successors of above company J. Ancion & Fils (merged into F.A.U.L. later!) show the same markings as the pistols from Hanquet. Coincidence or intention?

 

 

Updated November 27, 2023

© Mike, Neely & Wolf 2007/2023

All Rights Reserved