It was originally built for an illustrious German princely family, and now Sotheby's is to offer collectors the chance to own an incredibly rare Luger pistol in its December 12 sale.
The Luger is expected to provide one of the main draws at the Fine Modern and Vintage Sporting Guns auction in London, where it is expected to sell for £15,000-20,000 ($24,000-32,000).
 The pistol was awarded to Andre Noel for saving the original owner's life |
Only 10 examples of the gun were ever built at the Luger factory, with each of them personally inspected by George Luger himself. Each of the 10 pistols was presented to high profile members of society in various countries, including President Roosevelt, Hiram Maxim and Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The example at auction was built for the Prince of Furstenberg in 1902, who later gifted it to Andre Noel, governor of Konstanz, in 1946, for saving his life from French soldiers. At the end of the second world war, the French forces were preparing to lynch the prince after he had seemingly hung the French flag upside down from all of his flagpoles.
The prince had in fact been displaying his own family flag, which is very similar to the French flag except that the colours are reversed. Noel quickly explained the matter and the weapon was presented to him in thanks for his actions. A superb piece with fascinating provenance, the pistol's chamber is inlaid with a gold Furstenberg family coat of arms.
Check back with Paul Fraser Collectibles soon to see the results of this fascinating sale and to get more of the latest news from auctions across the globe.
