Seated portrait of a man with thick beard and mustache, wearing what appears to be a stick pin made form a gold nugget and holding a rare M1848 Colt "Baby Dragoon" pistol with long barrel against the table next to him. (Minor tarnishing and scratching to plate along mat opening, few spots; resealed.) Housed in a fully separated pressed paper case (split at spine). Penciled inscription in case behind image reads, "Received April 27th 1855 / Will Died April 9, 1859 at Rh[inebeck?] NY."

Colt's new diminutive pocket pistol went into production sometime in 1847, appearing on the scene just in time to be purchased and taken by many prospectors seeking to hit it rich in the California gold fields.