Manufactured c. 1893 as an early unserialized tool room prototype by the firm of Ludwig Loewe (subsequently DWM) in Berlin, Germany. The Model 1893 was the work of Hugo Borchardt, formerly the Superintendent of Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company, and was among the first viable semi-automatic pistol designs to hit the commercial market. The Borchardt Pistol was also an important forerunner to the work of Georg Luger, who would refine the core mechanical principles of the Borchardt toggle lock system to make his own eponymous and world famous handgun. This tool room prototype Borchardt pistol has a provision for a sling swivel on the rear, where a stock lug is typically found on standard production examples, no markings or proofs, with bright metal components, fixed blade and notch sights, walnut grip panels, and a bright magazine with a walnut base. Includes a period DWM Borchardt manual in French, The Gun Report monograph about the Borchardt pistol from February, 1941, seven Sharps Rifle Company paychecks addressed to Hugo Borchardt dated between July 22, 1876, and March 31, 1879, and a March 1878 dated letter with Sharps Rifle Company letterhead addressed from Hugo Borchardt to Sharps President E.G. Westcott.