Richard writes......

I bought this matched pair of percussion cap pistols at auction in 2019. They were sold as by Perrins but only the box label indicates this as there are no gunmaker’s marks on them. Whoever made them, they are a fine pair of guns with fine hand scroll engraving on the actions, the hammers, and the plate on the end of the grip, and fine chequering on the grips. It has octagonal barrels which screw off the action, barrels and action are stamped with a Birmingham proof mark that seems to have been used throughout the period from 1813 to 1904. Having a Birmingham mark would lend weight to them being by Perrins but is obviously not conclusive. The triggers are normally withdrawn into the action until the hammer is cocked at which point they drop into place. They would have been loaded by unscrewing the barrels, placing a charge followed – I assume – by a wadding of some kind, and then a round lead ball. It was sold with a number of such balls, but they are approximately 3/8 inch diameter and are loose in the barrel which is 7/16 inch diameter so I doubt they would have been effective over any sort of distance. Presumably they were designed as a pair of duelling pistols although the short barrels would tend to indicate that they weren’t. They are boxed in what purports to be rosewood or mahogany but actually looks like a stained, cheaper wood. What seems to be the original key to the box was part of the auction lot.