20-bore flintlock pistol with gold-lined touch-hole and pan, signed 'I. Wilkins' and monogrammed with the initials JRA. Stamped with tower proof mark and fitted with a belt hook. English, c.1770 – 1780.

This pistol is one of a pair which belonged to the watchmaker John Roger Arnold. A manuscript ledger in the Clockmakers' Archive indicates that Arnold would have carried these for protection when delivering valuable marine chronometers to the Navy. Both pistols were upgraded for Arnold by ‘P. Bond’.

Clockmakers' Museum No 1275