Part of a pair of pistols said to be given by Captain Thomas Hardy to Admiral Nelson. The pistols are half stocked in walnut with a pronounced rounded butt covered by a grotesque cap possibly depicting Medusa. A roccoco escutcheon plate is inscribed. Steel trigger guard with backward curl trigger. The pistols are sidelock, flintlocks. The steel spring is missing from both weapons though its large retaining screw is present in both cases. The pistols have a cannon barrel made to unscrew and fitted with a rectangular lug near the breech in each case to permit their removal. The calibre is 0.57in. A roccoco escutcheon plate is inscribed 'To Adm Lord Nelson/From his Friend/Captain Hardy/June 18 - 1801' Under the breech on each pistol are the three marks found together: 'Foreigner's mark', London Gunmaker's Mark and Proofmark of the London Gunmaker's Company. One breech is numbered '1' and the other '2'. 'GRIFFIN BOND STREET LONDON' is engraved on the top of the breech.. These are attractive, well made and robust pistols. It seems probable that the attribution contained on the escutcheon plate is false. Nelson's rank is given incorrectly and in contemporary terms that is most unusual. The gunmakers Joseph Griffin and John Tow were at 10 New Bond Street from 1772-1782.