SN PC08 · 18th century

American Fowler

A smoothbore American fowler with slender 18th-century architecture, engraved brass furniture and a maker-signed barrel.

American Fowler in cherry, full length view
Full length — cherry stock, brass furniture, 18th-century architecture.

The American fowler is the working shotgun of the colonial period — long, elegant and unadorned where it matters, quietly detailed where the hand meets the wood.

This piece features a hand-shaped cherry stock, brass furniture, and traditional stock carving at the tang and ramrod pipes. Built under the watchful guidance of Ron Ehlert.

Detail plates

The handwork, up close.

Cherry stock with brass and German silver wire inlay
Plate 2. Cherry stock with an ornate brass and German silver wire inlay pattern set into both sides of the stock.
Engraved brass trigger guard
Plate 3. Hand-engraved brass trigger guard.
Close-up of the flintlock
Plate 4. Flintlock, tuned and finished in the traditional manner.
Barrel engraving reading ERPitrolo
Plate 5. Signed barrel — E R Pitrolo, hand-engraved.
Stock carving near the tang
Plate 6. Raised carving flowing off the tang.
Stock carving at the ramrod pipe
Plate 7. Carving detail at the ramrod pipe.