{{Short description|American firearms engraver}} '''Lynton McKenzie''' (December 21, 1940–February 9, 1999) was an Australian-born American [[engraver]]. McKenzie engraved for heads of state all over the world and worked on some of the world's most valuable antique [[firearm]]s.
==Biography== McKenzie was born in [[Rockhampton]], [[Central Queensland]], Australia, on December 21, 1940. He became interested in [[gunsmith]]ing at age eleven, and [[engraving]] at fourteen. By his late teens, McKenzie was considered Australia's leading gunsmith.<ref name=obit1999>{{cite news |title=Lynton McKenzie, renowned firearms engraver |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tucson-citizen-lynton-mckenzie-renowned/130949647/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=Tucson Citizen |date=February 11, 1999 |pages=21}}</ref><ref name=quimby1983>{{cite news |last1=Quimby |first1=Bill |title="Don't try it," he tells others of his craft |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tucson-citizen-dont-try-it-he-tells/130950276/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=Tucson Citizen |date=December 30, 1983 |pages=59}}</ref>
McKenzie travelled to Europe carrying letters of introduction from the premier and prime minister of Australia, allowing him to study engraved firearms from museums and private collections. He studied engraving with masters in Belgium and Italy, and spent six years in [[London]] where he engraved [[double rifle]]s and [[shotgun]]s for firms such as [[Holland & Holland]], [[James Purdey & Sons|Purdey and Sons]], and [[John Rigby & Company|Rigby]]. He restored antique European firearms for museums, wealthy collectors, the [[Tower of London]], and the [[Royal Collection|Queen's Collection]]. The last major firearm that McKenzie restored was a 1652 Louis XIV, built at the Royal Armory in [[Lyon]], France.<ref name=obit1999 /><ref name=quimby1983 />
In 1980, McKenzie moved to [[Tucson, Arizona]] in the United States.<ref name=obit1999 /> He decorated two of five rifles for the [[Safari Club International]]'s Big Five Classic Masterpiece Collection. The guns were built by the Tucson-based David Miller Co. The first gun, commemorating the elephant, sold for $41,000 in 1982, and the fifth gun, commemorating the leopard, sold for $201,000 in 1986.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Terry |title=Rifles as Art |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tucson-citizen-rifles-as-art/130954777/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=Tucson Citizen |date=July 11, 1985 |pages=31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Susan L. |title=Rare rifle sells for $201,000 at convention |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pacific-daily-news-rare-rifle-sells-for/130954899/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=Pacific Daily News |date=February 4, 1986 |pages=23}}</ref>
McKenzie's work was respected worldwide. He engraved items for the [[List of sultans of Brunei|Sultan of Brunei]], the [[House of Saud|Saudi royal family]], and British heads of state. According to Bill Quimby, director of publications for Safari Club International, McKenzie was one of the two top engravers in the world (along with engraver [[Winston Churchill (engraver)|Winston Churchill]]).<ref name=obit1999 />
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Lynton}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:1999 deaths]] [[Category:American engravers]] [[Category:Australian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:People from Rockhampton]]