The Providence Tool Co. manufactured the Peabody-Martini rifles c. 1873-1882 in a variety of configurations, including over 600,000 military rifles or rifle-muskets for the Ottoman Empire, their largest customer. This extraordinary rifle features a round barrel with a "barley corn" front sight that also serves as the lug for the included nickeled socket bayonet, notch and folding ladder rear sight with Eastern Arabic numerals, "MAN. F.D. BY THE PROVIDENCE TOOL CO. PROV. R.I. U.S.A." inscribed on top of the barrel towards the breech, and panels of scroll engraving at the breech end. The action has the tughra of Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz at the center of the right side, a zebra panel scene on the right rear, a moose panel scene on the right front, scrollwork, a running deer scene on the front left, lion attacking a horse at the left center, and a running stag at the left rear. Aside from the rear sight and some additional small components such as the trigger, the finish throughout the metal is gold. The musket length forearm has multi-point checkering in the grasping section as does the wrist of the highly figured buttstock. The buttplate has coarse checkering. This rifle is pictured in Tom Rowe's "Engraved & Interesting Peabody Martinis" and noted as "obviously made for presentation to the Turks when they were buying Peabody rifles for a military contract." Like a previous gold and silver plated and C.F. Ulrich signed master engraved Peabody-Martini rifle listed in our December 2019 Premier, this rifle was almost certainly engraved by Conrad F. Ulrich (1844-1925), one of the great master firearms engravers of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It may have been designed for display at the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia from May to November 1876 prior to an intended presentation to Sultan Abdulaziz or one of his ministers to curry favor with the Ottoman leaders. The sultan had traveled to view the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867. The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) was represented by 1,500 exhibitors displaying the empire's famous carpets, tents, tobacco, furniture, coffee, jewelry, and other goods for display within the exhibition as well as a cafe and bazaars built nearby to supply visitors with the "Orientalist" goods then in vogue in the U.S. and Europe. In the 1870s, militaries around the world were modernizing and adopting breech-loading rifles leading to arms races and competition between various manufacturers. The Providence Tool Company seized the opportunity to make a fortune arming the Ottoman Empire and received contracts for 600,000 Peabody-Martini rifles, the largest foreign military contract for an American arms manufacturer to the that point. Sultan Abdulaziz (1830-1876) was a key figure in the adoption of the Peabody-Martini rifle by the Ottoman Empire (aka Turkey). The orders are covered in depth in "The Turkish Connection: The Saga of the Peabody-Martini Rifle" by William O. Achtermeier in the March/April 1979 issue of "Man At Arms". In 1872, the original Providence Tool Co. Peabody design had competed in the Ottoman rifle trials. However, the sultan came out in favor of the British Peabody-Martini-Henry design after receiving rifles from the Khedive Ismail Pasha of Egypt effectively ending consideration of the Peabody as well as other models such as the Remington Rolling Block. The sultan's government offered contracts for British pattern rifles to American arms makers. Oliver Winchester underbid the Providence Tool Company but then had to sign the contract over to the company. John B. Anthony of the Providence Tool Co. was awarded the Order of the Osmani Second Class in recognition of the relationship with the Ottomans, but the finances on both sides of the Atlantic and turmoil within Turkey made the finances of the contracts complicated. Nonetheless, the first contract for 200,000 rifles was completed before the end of 1875, and the next contract was soon underway. Abdulaziz was overthrown in a revolution on May 30, 1876, after his policies led to famine and serious economic decline for the empire. He died of apparent suicide a few days later, and less than a year later, the Russian Empire declared war and invaded Ottoman territory in the Balkans and Caucasus in the Russo-Turkish War. The Russo-Turkish War in 1877 was the latest in a long series of conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. It began on April 24, 1877, with the Russian's advancing and declaring war on the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans soon found their new Peabody-Martini rifles to be particularly suited for long range defensive engagements. As the Russians advanced, the Ottomans reportedly struck them down from over 2,000 yards away with their new rifles, and then switched to their faster firing Winchester Model 1866s when their adversaries closed the distance leading to heavy losses for the Russian forces. Nonetheless, the Russians were ultimately victorious at the Siege of Plevna and put the captured rifles to use for further victories until the Russians agreed to settle. The Ottoman defeat in the war led to the loss of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro in the Balkans, further uprisings, and significant damage to the empire's already fraught finances which furthered delays in payment to the Providence Tool Co. The company had greatly expanded its facilities to produce the large contracts and successfully completed the production of the contracted 600,000 rifles by December 24, 1879. However, the defaulted Ottoman payments combined with other economic conditions to ultimately led to the bankruptcy of the Providence Tool Co. in 1882. The Providence Tool Co.'s focus on the Ottoman contract rifle-muskets and its collapse in 1882 has left only a small number of deluxe rifles for collectors. Most of the rifles that remain on the collector's market come from the few thousand civilian rifles manufactured for domestic sale within the United States, but deluxe example with Ottoman markings like this one are incredibly hard to find, and this rifle is certainly among the most ornate and highly embellished of all of the Providence Tool Co.'s rifles.

Exceptionally fine with 90% plus untouched original gold remaining, crisp engraving and markings, scattered specks of dark oxidation, mix of original blue along with brown patina and some pitting on the small components, and generally mostly only mild age and storage related wear. The bayonet retains the majority of its bright nickel finish along the blade and has aged patina concentrated on the socket. The wood is very fine and has crisp checkering with minor wear, stunning figure, some hairline cracks along the grain, and fairly light handling and storage marks. Mechanically excellent. This is an extraordinary documented Providence Tool Company Peabody-Martini rifle. Only a few high end presentation/exhibition Peabody-Martini rifles are known today, and they are nearly impossible to obtain.