A Symbol of Friendship: An Ornate Shotgun Gifted by Nikita Khrushchev to the US During the Cold War, Unique in its Importance and Rarity, is For Sale at Raab
The Raab Collection announced today that it is offering for sale a gift of peace given by the Russians to the Americans during the Cold War: an ornately engraved shotgun. In 1959, during the first visit of a Soviet premier to the United States, Nikita Khrushchev and his ministers presented two gifts of state: two magnificent, ornately engraved long guns meant to symbolize peace between the two countries, one for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the other for Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy. McElroy’s gun remained with his family until it was sold to Raab. It is valued at $125,000.
“This is a remarkable discovery and a beautiful artifact from a crucial moment in the history of the great 20th-century powers,” said Nathan Raab, president of The Raab Collection and author of The Hunt for History.
The State Visit: September 15-27, 1959
In 1959, Khrushchev traveled to several cities in the U.S. during a trip that was infused with goodwill despite the Cold War tension. At a National Press Club luncheon, the Soviet leader declared his “sincere desire to achieve better relations between our two countries and promote peace all over the world” and called for nuclear disarmament.
Among the gifts of state meant to convey these warm sentiments were bottles of vodka, nesting dolls, and two magnificent decorative shotguns hand-delivered to President Eisenhower and Secretary of Defense McElroy.
In thanking the Russians, the Secretary of Defense wrote: “The firearms used in the future by our two countries need be no longer than this shotgun for the preservation of world peace.”
The Artifact
The metal and wood, extensively engraved, double barrel hammerless shotgun is in pristine condition. Khrushchev had procured the two guns from craftsmen in the Izhevsk region of Russia, where they had presented him with the long arms, designed by the finest gun designers. The master engraver Lekomtsev carved ornately representative hunting designs, including a gold fox with prey in its teeth, scaring away in the thickets two ducks made in gold.
A token of friendship from the Soviet Union to the United States at a key moment in the Cold War, this historical artifact is of enormous importance. To learn more, Nathan Raab is available for interviews.
