School: Northampton/Lehigh (Pennsylvania/PA)
Peter Neihardt (several variations of spelling noted) was born in 1743 and died in 1813. He worked in Whitehall Township, Northhampton County (now Lehigh Co.) and is regarded today as a grand master of the region. His architecturally gracefull rifles present many Germanic features which reflect the influence of the Moravian masters at Christian Springs, but Neihardt’s guns usually do not present the pronounced buttstock curvature seen in the guns of the later, fully-developed Lehigh pattern. Hence, Neihardt’s work can be seen as transitional between the earliest period and the era when the Lehigh form became a distinct and pronounced regional style. Neihardt’s work is not commonly encountered today and any genuine specimen can be regarded as a rarity. Further information can be found in the KRA Bulletin and in monographs published by R.G. Gabel
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