The Art of the English Trade Gun in North America

Symbolic ornamentation inspired by ancient Greek and Roman art is a long-standing Western tradition. Eighteenth century English gun designers, drawing upon this tradition, engraved classical imagery on firearms gifted or traded to American Indians—imagery that acquired new significance in the context of westward expansion in the United States. The author explores the history of these ornamental patterns and finds a system of allegory that inadvertently had deep spiritual meaning for Indians, and enshrined the “noble savage” as a symbol of national liberty in the early American republic.