Game Counter By G & JW Hawksley
Game Counter By G & JW Hawksley
30764
G & J.W Hawksley Norfolk Liar Game Counter.
A pocket size four dial game counter made and marketed by G & J W Hawksley, silversmiths of Sheffield, England. The main body and one side made of brass, the other side being nickel silver. The brass side stamped 'Partridges, Rabbits' whilst the nickel silver 'Pheasants, Hares' and 'G & J.W Hawksley'. Each dial records up to 30, the numbers showing are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 with dots representing the other numbers. There is a straight lever that turns and clicks clockwise (internal spring and ratchet) to indicate the score.
Always keen to satisfy the Victorian Sportsman, Gun implement manufacturers loved to produce new products and when game shooting evolved from walked up shooting over dogs with a fairly modest kill, to driven shooting with beaters pushing the game over standing guns with larger kills, there was a need among sportsmen to keep a score of the number of game they shot. James Dixon & Sons, G. & J.W. Hawksley and William Bartram were the most prominent British gun implement manufacturers of the last half of the 19th Century with each of them exploiting this need and produced their own game counters or game markers. The customer was given the option of the 'game' on the counter, so apart from 'Partridges, Rabbits, Pheasants, Hares' as found on this counter, other species such as snipe, woodcock, blackgame and grouse can also sometimes be seen.
The counter has acquired the affectionate nickname of the "Norfolk Liar". Not as a reference to the fine Norfolk sportsmen, but mainly because most of the large shooting estates were in Norfolk and a few of the sportsmen had an over optimistic idea of how many birds they actually shot, or they deliberately exaggerated the numbers, hence the term "Norfolk Liar".
Dimensions:
1850-1899
Circa 1890s
Brass and Nickel
England
Very good and usable.
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 to indicate the score.Always keen to satisfy the Victorian Sportsman, Gun implement manufacturers loved to produce new products and when game shooting evolved from walked up shooting over dogs with a fairly modest kill, to driven shooting with beaters pushing the game over standing guns with larger kills, there was a need among sportsmen to keep a score of the number of game they shot. James Dixon & Sons, G. & J.W. Hawksley and William Bartram were the most prominent British gun implement manufacturers of the last half of the 19th Century with each of them exploiting this need and produced their own game counters or game markers. The customer was given the option of the 'game' on the counter, so apart from 'Partridges, Rabbits, Pheasants, Hares' as found on this counter, other species such as snipe, woodcock, blackgame and grouse can also sometimes be seen.The counter has acquired the affectionate nickname of the "Norfolk Liar". Not as a reference to the fine Norfolk sportsmen, but mainly because most of the large shooting estates were in Norfolk and a few of the sportsmen had an over optimistic idea of how many birds they actually shot, or they deliberately exaggerated the numbers, hence the term "Norfolk Liar".){kind=link}