A Most Fine and Attractive Victorian Officer’s and Gentleman’s Dagger-Stick of a British Hussars Officer of The Regiment of The +'Charge of the Light Brigade' Fame

An equestrian, hussars based dagger- cane bearing a symbolic horse hoof handle in carved horn, bearing the gold regimental badge of the XIIIth Hussar regiment within which this sword’s owner was serving, or once served. The stick also has silver inlay depicting two opposing rows of horse shoes Colonel Baden-Powell was the regiments colonel who later went on to form the Boy Scouts.

The stilletto blade is beautifully chisselled with scalloping and also with a pair of opposing fullers, and stamped by the London maker. A maker to the royal family, of umbrellas walking canes, and before the war, sword canes

The regiment saw action, as part of the light brigade under the command of Major General the Earl of Cardigan, at the Battle of Alma in September 1854. The regiment was in the first line of cavalry on the right flank during the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854. The brigade drove through the Russian artillery before smashing straight into the Russian cavalry and pushing them back; it was unable to consolidate its position, however, having insufficient forces and had to withdraw to its starting position, coming under further attack as it did so. The regiment lost three officers and 38 men in the debacle. Lance-Sergeant Joseph Malone of the E Troop was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the battle. The regiment also took part in the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854: the regiment played a minor role, although Captain Jenyns complained:

'They put us under a very heavy fire at Inkerman, but luckily for us - and no thanks to any General - we had a slight rise on our flank, which ricocheted the balls just over our heads. Some ship's shells bowled over a few men and horses though. It was useless, as we could not act.'

13th Hussars
The regiment went on to take part in the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854. On 8 April 1861 the regiment was renamed the 13th Hussars and in April 1862 the regiment started wearing hussar clothing. The regiment departed for Canada in September 1866 as part of the response to the Fenian raids and sailed for India in January 1874. Robert Baden-Powell, the future leader of the scouts, joined the regiment in India in 1876. The regiment served in Afghanistan but saw no action during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

One photo in the gallery show the Officers and men of the 13th Light Dragoons-survivors of the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' taken by by Roger Fenton in 1855. It is perfectly possible this dagger stick may have once been owned by one of these men.

Lord Byron's was a most another famous exponent of the use and carrying of the gentleman’s walk-about sword stick. His was exhibited in King's College London, bearing a mercurial gilt collar bearing his name, coronet and adopted surname Noel.

Sword canes became more popular as the streets became less safe. Society dictated it mandatory that gentlemen of the 18th and especially 19th centuries would wear a cane when out and about, and it was common for the well-dressed gentleman to own and sport canes in a variety of styles, including a good and sound sword cane. Although Byron was proficient in the use of pistols, his lameness and his need to defend himself in some potentially dangerous situations made a swordstick doubly useful to him. He received lessons in London from the fencing master Henry Angelo and owned a number of swordsticks, some of which were supplied by his boxing instructor Gentleman John Jackson.

On Byron’s sword cane was the name NOEL BYRON, upon the ferrule of his one indicated that it was used after 1822, when Byron added the surname Noel after the death of his mother-in-law.

There are several references to sword sticks in the correspondence of Byron and his circle. Byron wrote to Hobhouse from Switzerland on 23 June 1816 asking him to Bring with you also for me some bottles of Calcined Magnesia a new Sword cane procured by Jackson he alone knows the sort (my last tumbled into this lake ) some of Waite's red tooth-powder & tooth-brushes a Taylor's Pawrsanias Pausanias and I forget the other things. Hobhouse responded on 9 July: Your commissions shall be punctually fulfilled whether as to muniments for the mind or body pistol brushes, cundums, potash Prafsanias Pausanias tooth powder and sword stick.

In the entry for 22 September 1816 in Byron's Alpine Journal he describes how, at the foot of the Jungfrau,
"Storm came on , thunder, lightning, hail, all in perfection and beautiful, I was on horseback the Guide wanted to carry my cane I was going to give it him when I recollected it was a Sword stick and I thought that the lightning might be attracted towards him kept it myself a good deal encumbered with it & my cloak as it was too heavy for a whip and the horse was stupid & stood still every other peal."

In a letter to Maria Gisborne of 6-10 April 1822, Mary Shelley described the "Pisan affray" of 24 March, in which Sergeant-Major Masi was pitch-forked by one of Byron's servants. She recounted how Byron rode to his own house, and got a sword stick from one of his servants.

The gilt badge on the hoof shows the later crest of the regiment, that merged with the XVIIIth Hussars just after WW1. It shows that once, in its place, was the earlier style regimental badge, before it merged, but it was likely replaced to show its later badge for its later likely descendant owner of the ‘Charge Man’ sometime after the war.  read more

Code: 24864

An Antique Chinese, Tibetan Silver Dagger, Ching Dynasty Period With Finely Decorated Scabbard and Pierced Hilt Pommel.

Openwork pierced pommel with a tightly silver wire bound ribbed grip, and hammered silver scabbard decorated with elaborate Chines dragon designs. Single edged graduating steel blade bearing a metal inlaid armourer's mark at the tip in the design of a dragon's tail. The second of a matched pair from the same Ching armourers workshop

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing pronounced Ching, was the last imperial dynasty of China and Mongolia. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted for almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for modern China. It was the fifth largest empire in world history. The dynasty was founded by the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria. In the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming Jianzhou Guard vassal, began organizing "Banners", military-social units that included Manchu, Han, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Manchu clans into a unified entity. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of the Liaodong Peninsula and declared a new dynasty, the Qing.

In an unrelated development, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing, in 1644. Rather than serve them, Ming general Wu Sangui made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Banner Armies led by the regent Prince Dorgon. He defeated the rebels and seized the capital. Resistance from the Southern Ming and the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui delayed the Qing conquest of China proper by nearly four decades. The conquest was only completed in 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor reign (1661-1722). The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Inner Asia.

During the Qianlong Emperor reign (1735-1796) the dynasty reached its apogee, but then began its initial decline in prosperity and imperial control. The population rose to some 400 millions, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, virtually guaranteeing eventual fiscal crisis. Corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites failed to change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium Wars, European powers imposed "unequal treaties", free trade, extraterritoriality and treaty ports under foreign control. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and the Dungan Revolt (1862-1877) in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of these disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order and the Qing rulers. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea and the possession of Taiwan. New Armies were organised, but the ambitious Hundred Days' Reform of 1898 was turned back in a coup by the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi. When the Scramble for Concessions by foreign powers triggered the violently anti-foreign "Boxers", the foreign powers invaded China, Cixi declared war on them, leading to defeat and the flight of the Imperial Court to Xi'an.

When knives such as this were collected, by explorers and officers in the time of Queen Victoria, during the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion.

A knife from a higher ranking Sino Tibetan that itself evokes the very wonders of North West China,Tibet and Shangri La, a word that conjures up the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. In the ancient Tibetan scriptures, and the existence of seven such places is mentioned as Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung. The use of the term Shangri-La is frequently cited as a modern reference to Shambhala, a mythical kingdom in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which was sought by Eastern and Western explorers; Hilton was also inspired by then-current National Geographic articles on Tibet, which referenced the legend. And it was wonderful knives such as this very one that symbolised that wonderful culture, and never before seen by the average Victorian in England
Known in Tibet as a Gus knives, they appeared during the period of Tubo King Zhigung Tsampo. According to Historical Records of the Hans and the Tibetans, Gus knives were made by nine brothers with small eyes in an environmentally fierce place called Sidor. The eldest made a knife sharp enough to cut a rope ladder leading up to the heaven. His eight brothers all made knives with sharp blades as well.

One of the Gus knives was the Guda knife, made by the legendary master of the nine brothers together with his offspring.

11.5 inches long overall  read more

Code: 24867

An Antique Chinese, Tibetan Silver Dagger, Ching Dynasty Period With Finely Decorated Scabbard and Pierced Hilt pommel.

Openwork pierced pommel with a tightly silver wire bound ribbed grip, and hammered silver scabbard decorated with elaborate oriental designs. Single edged graduating steel blade bearing a metal inlaid armourer's mark at the tip in the design of a dragon's tail.

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing pronounced Ching, was the last imperial dynasty of China and Mongolia. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted for almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for modern China. It was the fifth largest empire in world history. The dynasty was founded by the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria. In the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming Jianzhou Guard vassal, began organizing "Banners", military-social units that included Manchu, Han, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Manchu clans into a unified entity. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of the Liaodong Peninsula and declared a new dynasty, the Qing.

In an unrelated development, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing, in 1644. Rather than serve them, Ming general Wu Sangui made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Banner Armies led by the regent Prince Dorgon. He defeated the rebels and seized the capital. Resistance from the Southern Ming and the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui delayed the Qing conquest of China proper by nearly four decades. The conquest was only completed in 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor reign (1661-1722). The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Inner Asia.

During the Qianlong Emperor reign (1735-1796) the dynasty reached its apogee, but then began its initial decline in prosperity and imperial control. The population rose to some 400 millions, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, virtually guaranteeing eventual fiscal crisis. Corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites failed to change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium Wars, European powers imposed "unequal treaties", free trade, extraterritoriality and treaty ports under foreign control. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and the Dungan Revolt (1862-1877) in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of these disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order and the Qing rulers. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea and the possession of Taiwan. New Armies were organised, but the ambitious Hundred Days' Reform of 1898 was turned back in a coup by the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi. When the Scramble for Concessions by foreign powers triggered the violently anti-foreign "Boxers", the foreign powers invaded China, Cixi declared war on them, leading to defeat and the flight of the Imperial Court to Xi'an.

When knives such as this were collected, by explorers and officers in the time of Queen Victoria, during the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion.

A knife from a higher ranking Sino Tibetan that itself evokes the very wonders of North West China,Tibet and Shangri La, a word that conjures up the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. In the ancient Tibetan scriptures, and the existence of seven such places is mentioned as Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung. The use of the term Shangri-La is frequently cited as a modern reference to Shambhala, a mythical kingdom in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which was sought by Eastern and Western explorers; Hilton was also inspired by then-current National Geographic articles on Tibet, which referenced the legend. And it was wonderful knives such as this very one that symbolised that wonderful culture, and never before seen by the average Victorian in England
Known in Tibet as a Gus knives, they appeared during the period of Tubo King Zhigung Tsampo. According to Historical Records of the Hans and the Tibetans, Gus knives were made by nine brothers with small eyes in an environmentally fierce place called Sidor. The eldest made a knife sharp enough to cut a rope ladder leading up to the heaven. His eight brothers all made knives with sharp blades as well.

One of the Gus knives was the Guda knife, made by the legendary master of the nine brothers together with his offspring.

11.5 inches long overall  read more

Code: 24868

Original, 11th 12th Century Bronze Knights Templar Christian Cross Patee {Formee}

Original, Knights Templar cross pattee formee, with traces of gold surface decoration and roped edging, possibly set withing a silver or gold pectoral mount. From our part four of our original ancient arrow heads, spears, lead sling bullets, antiquities and rings from an 1820 Grand Tour classical collection from Europe and the Middle East. Very likely, a so called ‘Warrior of Christ’, such as the Knight's Templar and Knight’s of St John of Jerusalem. After the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291 (the city of Jerusalem had fallen in 1187), the Knights of St, John were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. Finding themselves becoming enmeshed in Cypriot politics, their Master, Guillaume de Villaret, created a plan of acquiring their own temporal domain, selecting Rhodes to be their new home, part of the Byzantine empire. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after more than four years of campaigning, the city of Rhodes surrendered to the knights. They also gained control of a number of neighbouring islands and the Anatolian port of Halicarnassus and the island of Kastellorizo.
Pope Clement V dissolved the Hospitallers' rival order, the Knights Templar, in 1312 with a series of papal bulls, including the Ad providam bull that turned over much of their property to the Hospitallers.

The holdings were organised into eight "Tongues" or Langues, one each in Crown of Aragon, Auvergne, Crown of Castile, Kingdom of England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Italy and Provence. Each was administered by a Prior or, if there was more than one priory in the langue, by a Grand Prior.

At Rhodes, and later Malta, the resident knights of each langue were headed by a baili. The English Grand Prior at the time was Philip De Thame, who acquired the estates allocated to the English langue from 1330 to 1358. In 1334, the Knights of Rhodes defeated Andronicus and his Turkish auxiliaries. In the 14th century, there were several other battles in which they fought.

In 1374, the Knights took over the defence of Smyrna, conquered by a crusade in 1344. They held it until it was besieged and taken by Timur in 1402.

On Rhodes the Hospitallers, by then also referred to as the Knights of Rhodes, were forced to become a more militarized force, fighting especially with the Barbary pirates. They withstood two invasions in the 15th century, one by the Sultan of Egypt in 1444 and another by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1480 who, after capturing Constantinople and defeating the Byzantine Empire in 1453, made the Knights a priority target .Good condition for age, with superbly well surviving armourers stamps. Early Christian Knight’s symbols of crucifixes symbols, and variations, can be still be seen chiselled into stone in the numerous remains of Templar Knights or Christian knight’s castle sites in the Holy Land, the Mediterranean and France.
Two photos in the gallery of two of the same Templar carved stone cross pattee, in France, from the 11th to 13th century. France, Val d'Oise, Omerville, croix pattée, monolithic cross,carved from limestone, dating from the 11th to the 13th century. France,Val d'Oise,Villers-en-Arthies,Croix du Gros Poirier, croix pattée,monolithic cross,carved from limestone,dating from the 11th to the 13th century

Richard Lassels, an expatriate Roman Catholic priest, first used the phrase “Grand Tour” in his 1670 book Voyage to Italy, published posthumously in Paris in 1670. In its introduction, Lassels listed four areas in which travel furnished "an accomplished, consummate traveler" with opportunities to experience first hand the intellectual, the social, the ethical, and the political life of the Continent.

The English gentry of the 17th century believed that what a person knew came from the physical stimuli to which he or she has been exposed. Thus, being on-site and seeing famous works of art and history was an all important part of the Grand Tour. So most Grand Tourists spent the majority of their time visiting museums and historic sites.

Once young men began embarking on these journeys, additional guidebooks and tour guides began to appear to meet the needs of the 20-something male and female travelers and their tutors traveling a standard European itinerary. They carried letters of reference and introduction with them as they departed from southern England, enabling them to access money and invitations along the way.

With nearly unlimited funds, aristocratic connections and months or years to roam, these wealthy young tourists commissioned paintings, perfected their language skills and mingled with the upper crust of the Continent.

The wealthy believed the primary value of the Grand Tour lay in the exposure both to classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A Grand Tour could last from several months to several years. The youthful Grand Tourists usually traveled in the company of a Cicerone, a knowledgeable guide or tutor.

The ‘Grand Tour’ era of classical acquisitions from history existed up to around the 1850’s, and extended around the whole of Europe, Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy Land.

As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity. 38 mm by 25 mm.  read more

Code: 24220

A Rare WW2 Japanese Jungle Sword, ‘Heiho’ Made from a Captured Dutch Sword

Under German occupation itself, the Netherlands had little ability to defend its colony against the Japanese army, and less than three months after the first attacks on Kalimantan the Japanese navy and army overran Dutch and allied forces, ending 300 years of Dutch colonial presence in Indonesia. A lot of their weaponry was captured, and some were converted for use by the Imperial Japanese Army. The Dutch cutlass or klewang was one such weapon. These Japanese adapted weapons have very distinctive features such as the cutlass bowl hilt being removed, and the swords were then re-issued to the Japanese forces for use in the Jungles of Burma etc. They are very scarcely seen rare items these days and highly sought after. There is a near identical example to be seen in the British Royal Maritime Collection.  read more

Code: 16852

A Imperial Roman 1st Century Gladiator's Ring, Decorated With a Gladiator in Combat Holding Sword and Shield .

In copper bronze with excavated patination. Worn either by a higher ranking, possibly freed gladiator, or, possibly an owner of gladiators, the world famous combat slaves of Rome. This is only the third, original imperial gladiator's ring of this type, depicting a gladiator in combat stance, we have had in a decade or more, the last one was museum restored from three broken pieces, this one is still in one sound piece.

From a ‘Grand Tour’ Scottish family, acquired in the 1820’s

The wearing of the ring was the prerogative alone of Roman citizens or those of high rank and esteem, that some gladiators always aspired to but rarely achieved due to their short life span within their violent craft. However some did achieve such great success and were rewarded with riches, freedom and the right to wear the traditional Roman bronze status ring.

Engraved with a standing Gladiator, he is wearing, likely, a gladiators grilled front helmet, holding a shield in his left hand, and a sword or maybe trident in his right.

See photos 7 and 8 of a similar Gladiator's helmet as we can see the gladiator likely wears in this ring intaglio. The original helmet we show is made from bronze, and richly decorated with a gorgon's and a griffin's head, from the 1st Century AD, around the same age as this ring, and it was found at Pompeii.

Another picture in the gallery no 10 is of a well-preserved fresco, recently unearthed in Pompeii—the Roman city razed by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D.—it depicts the final act of a gladiator fight: As one combatant begs for mercy, the victorious warrior awaits instructions on whether to kill or spare his opponent. The ring looks as if it depicts a portion of very similar scene in fact, the subject gladiator on the ring appears to be either injured or leaning back to avoid an opponent's weapon thrust

This fabulous ring,and it is a remarkable artefact of original Roman gladiator combat

Within the intaglio engraving the gladiator's right hand holds what appears to be some kind of weapon, possibly a sword or trident, possibly the same as in the Pompeii fresco.

A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalised, and segregated even in death.

Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world.

The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games.

The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Christians disapproved of the games because they involved idolatrous pagan rituals, and the popularity of gladiatorial contests declined in the fifth century, leading to their disappearance.

*Please bear in mind almost all original engraved Roman rings are engraved with scenes in the naive stylized form, and not intended to be a naturalistic interpretation as was usual in nobles gold seal rings, also their marble or bronze scuptures and statuary.  read more

Code: 24827

A WW2 1942 US Army Issue M1 Garand Bayonet Fighting Knife Conversion, With a Stunning, Professionally Re-Ground and Re-Formed, Double Edge Blade

Metal filled slots and cut down quillons. This is a very professionally 'armourer made' WW2 adapted close combat fighting knife, certainly not an amateur adaption. Beautifully accomplished fighting knife conversion by a combatant-armourer who knew exactly what he was doing. A now razor sharp blade on both edges.

Maker marked, PAL Blade and Tool Co. a scarce maker as only 15% of Garand bayonets were manufactured by PAL for the war. early Ist type Shell and Flame stamp.

Apparently also used in the Battle of the Bulge, beginning on December 16th, which was one of the deadliest battles in World War II, with 19,000 US soldiers killed.

Used by a GI in 1944, the following very brief précis history, is of its service use.
1.Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France.

2. The efforts to free France from Nazi occupation begin in June with the D-Day invasion of Normandy when Allied troops land on the beaches and start to make their way towards Paris.

3. More Allied troops land in southern France on August 15, and make their way towards the Rhine river.

4. As the Allies make their push towards Paris, French resistance fighters begin an uprising in Paris.

5. By August 25th, the Allies and Free French forces enter Paris and by the end of the month the French government is handed over to the Free French troops.

6. Before the end of the year France is liberated from Nazi control and occupation.

In December 1944, the Germans attempted to surprise the Allied armies as they travelled through the Ardennes. The German objective was to split the Allies up in a surprise attack. The battle began on December 16th and continued until late January of 1945. As the Allies regrouped to fight back against the German attack, the line of defense took on the shape of a bulge, hence the name "Battle of the Bulge." The Allies were caught off guard in the attack and tens of thousands of soldiers were lost in fierce fighting (estimated up to 100,000 casualties) during what was considered the bloodiest battle of World War II for the United States. Despite the losses the Allies were successful in neutralizing the German offensive and preventing Germany from recapturing Antwerp. As well as massively depleting German fuel and supply reserves.

After the German failed offensive, the war progressed to its successful conclusion in Germany in 1945. At which point the user of this knife returned to Britain.

Without doubt this is one of the best examples of a Garand fighting knife conversion we have ever seen. Its conversion from a single edged bayonet, to a double edge, reshaped and razor sharpened close combat bladed knife, along with the reformed hilt, is an exhibition of the finest, technical, engineering skill, especially considering it was accomplished in the field, and not in a regular peacetime engineering workshop.
It may indicate its conversion was by a wartime US, engineer trained, army airborne combatant, or, one with exceptional pre WW2 engineering skills. It may seem strange to one not familiar with the ‘feel’ of well executed hand crafted workmanship, but this knife is a joy to hold, and to simply admire its presence, quality, and to imagine the past history of its unknown wartime user. A feeling valued far more than its simple intrinsic worth. The feeling of a fleeting snippet of the personal history of a member of what many consider our finest generation.

11.25 inches long overall 7.5 inch blade  read more

Code: 24824

A Superb WW1 German Officer's Trench Dagger Close Combat Fighting Knife

Very fine, bespoke, classical Renaissance style foursided hilt, with domed pommel serpentine borders, acanthus leaf engraving and scale and diced engraved panels, scroll quillons. Typical, single edged, German boot knife form blade, with steel scabbard and canvas hessian belt loop.

This is one of the nicest, and best quality WW1 officer's trench daggers we have seen in over 40 years. Way above the quality of the standard wooden hilted infantryman's issue type.
If Baron von Richthofen wore a trench knife, this is what it may have looked like.

We show in the gallery a copy of two original photographs of German officers both armed with the same type of daggers upon their waist belts. One an army officer, the other a naval officer, possibly a Reichmarine naval bi-plane aircraft pilot

Germany was probably the first of the countries involved in WWI to provide more than just bare-bones hand-to-hand combat training to their troops. After Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, interest in the Japanese martial art of jiu jitsu soared in the West, particularly in Germany. They trained a number of their conscripted troops in jiu jitsu, but the practice was not widespread.

Unarmed combat skills could only really be used if both fighters in an encounter somehow dropped their weapons, which did occasionally happen, but generally the outcome of close quarters fighting in the trenches would be decided by who had the most effective close-quarters weaponry – and how effectively they wielded said weapons.

This meant that all of the forces involved in the war began to equip those groups of men who would likely be involved in close-quarters trench fighting with weapons that would be effective in such situations
By 1915 trench raids, often conducted under cover of darkness, had become a regular occurrence in the war. The conditions in which the raiders knew they would be fighting necessitated the use of weapons that were far more suitable to close combat than rifles and bayonet

While rifle bayonets were standard-issue items for almost every enlisted soldier who fought in the First World War, regardless of which army he was fighting for, it soon became apparent that these weapons were not ideal for close quarters combat in the cramped conditions of enemy trenches, thus the Germans were the first to realise that trench knives were essential for hand to hand combat.  read more

Code: 24821

A Beautiful Early 18th Century, Possibly Late 17th Century, Italianate Long Holster Flintlock Pistol of a Privateer, Nobleman or Officer From The Mediterranean Region, as Used Throughout the Seven Seas From the Golden age of Piracy.

Beautifully carved fine walnut stock, probably juglans regia, detailed with intricate carving throughout. A long holster or sash pistol with a very fine quality silver inlaid barrel, also beautifully chiselled, inlaid with a silver cartouche and an architectural pagoda, plus traces of silver inlay remaining on the top strap of the barrel and Florentine scrolling.
It has a silver buttcap, embossed with canon, and a traditional early 18th century 'banana form' flintlock action. An Italianate style flintlock, made in the Mediterranean region, and used throughout Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas from the early 18th century and continually in to the early 19th century, from the 7 Years War right through to the Napoelonic Wars, and throughout the Ottoman Empire.

This is exactly the type of flintlock one sees, and in fact expects to see, in all the old Hollywood 'Pirate' films. A beautifully sprauncy sidearm, with a distinctively long barrel.

This superb piece may very well have seen service with one of the old Corsairs of the Barbary Coast, in a tall masted galleon, slipping it's way down the coast of the Americas, to find it's way home to Port Royal,

This is the very form and choice of weapon that was in use during the days of the Caribbean pirates, used by privateers, and corsairs, but also by well booted officers of all the major powers, during that long historic era covering much of two centuries.

The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa.

Histories of piracy often subdivide the Golden Age of Piracy into three periods:

The buccaneering period (approximately 1650 to 1680), characterized by Anglo-French seamen based in Jamaica and Tortuga attacking Spanish colonies, and shipping in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The Pirate Round (1690s), associated with long-distance voyages from the Americas to rob Muslim and East India Company targets in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.
The post-Spanish Succession period (1715 to 1726), when Anglo-American sailors and privateers left unemployed by the end of the War of the Spanish Succession turned en masse to piracy in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the North American eastern seaboard, and the West African coast.
Narrower definitions of the Golden Age sometimes exclude the first or second periods, but most include at least some portion of the third. The modern conception of pirates as depicted in popular culture is derived largely, although not always accurately, from the Golden Age of Piracy.

Factors contributing to piracy during the Golden Age included the rise in quantities of valuable cargoes being shipped to Europe over vast ocean areas, reduced European navies in certain regions, the training and experience that many sailors had gained in European navies (particularly the British Royal Navy), and corrupt and ineffective government in European overseas colonies. Colonial powers at the time constantly fought with pirates and engaged in several notable battles and other related events.

Between the years 1719 and 1721, Edward England, John Taylor, Olivier Levasseur, and Christopher Condent operated from Madagascar. Taylor and Levasseur reaped the greatest prize in the history of the Golden Age of Piracy, the plunder of the Portuguese East Indiaman Nossa Senhora Do Cabo at Réunion in 1721, stealing diamonds and other treasures worth a total of £800,000. Around 2 billion pounds today.

Lovely condition for its age with stunning patination, naturally signs of use as to be expected. There is also clear evidence of its use as a 'skull crusher' by holding the barrel, once it has discharged its ball, and thus using it as a left handed club, alongside a cutlass the other hand, so the silver butt cap has the expected areas of loss. The spring action is tight in part, but due to its age it really should not be cocked.  read more

Code: 24428

SOLD Simply Beautiful American Frontiersman's Plains Gun, The So Called Kentucky or Pennsylvania "Hawken" Rifle. One Of The Most Attractive and Finest quality Examples We Have Seen In Years. Used By Some of The Most Hardy and Toughest Men Imaginable

One of the best examples that we have seen in decades, and, a museum quality piece, from the first quarter to mid 19th century. Effectively, like the finest Japanese samurai swords, worthy of the title of a 'work of art' that happens to also be a functional frontier plainsman's rifle. Finest quality walnut stock with excellent natural age patina. Octagonal, rifled .38 barrel, with rear site, front silver blade site, pale brass mounts, all fabulously engraved throughout, including trigger guard with hand grip, a stunning large engraved patch box, and deep crescent butt plate, and inlaid throughout with small German silver differing shaped plaques, and with a brass tipped wooden ramrod. Hook breech for ease and simplicity as a quick release for fast disassembly.

The "plains rifle" also known as a "Hawken rifle" was a shorter rifle more suitable for carrying on horseback. It was popular among mountain men and North American fur trappers in the 19th century. The Hawken brothers (Samuel and Jacob) were one of a number of famous gunsmiths active in St. Louis in the 1830s-1860s. Many renowned gunsmiths such as Horace (H.E.) Dimick and J. P. Gemmer produced powerful and portable "short" rifles for the Rocky Mountain fur trade, overland exploration, and the transcontinental immigrant trains. The plains rifle combined accuracy with portability in a more compact package than the extreme long guns from which it had evolved. While many plains rifles were built to fire heavy rounds against dangerous game, more were bored around the .40 calibre range for medium game hunting. Long rifles tended to be slimmer and more elegant than the later, more massive, and shorter-barreled Hawken variant rifles.

The Hawken rifle evolved from the long rifle for use against larger, more dangerous game, and for personal protection against unsavoury protagonists or hostiles, often encountered in the American West frontier. For firing heavier and larger diameter bullets and heavier powder loads, the barrel wall thickness was necessarily strengthened, and the barrel length of the Hawken was shortened to keep the carrying weight manageable. Finest 'Tiger stripe' pattern stock, probably maple wood, stock. The front sight is a blade sight. It was said that the old mountain men, trappers, fur traders, General William Ashley, the famous scout Kit Carson, pioneers of the 'Gold Rush' and the best buffalo hunters would have no other gun than a 'Hawken' style rifle. Almost any price in gold, furs or merchandise would be willingly paid to own one.

As defined by Hine and Faragher, "frontier history tells the story of the creation and defence of communities, the use of the land, the development of markets, and the formation of states." They explain, "It is a tale of conquest, but also one of survival, persistence, and the merging of peoples and cultures that gave birth and continuing life to America." Turner himself repeatedly emphasised how the availability of free land to start new farms attracted pioneering Americans: "The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development." Through treaties with foreign nations and native tribes, political compromise, military conquest, the establishment of law and order, the building of farms, ranches, and towns, the marking of trails and digging of mines, and the pulling in of great migrations of foreigners, the United States expanded from coast to coast, fulfilling the dreams of Manifest Destiny. Turner, in his "Frontier Thesis" (1893), theorised that the frontier was a process that transformed Europeans into a new people, the Americans, whose values focused on equality, democracy, and optimism, as well as individualism, self-reliance, and even violence.

As the American frontier passed into history, the myths of the West in fiction and film took a firm hold in the imaginations of Americans and foreigners alike. In David Murdoch's view, America is exceptional in choosing its iconic self-image: "No other nation has taken a time and place from its past and produced a construct of the imagination equal to America's creation of the West. The frontiersmen were a remarkable breed of men. They were often rough and illiterate, sometimes brutal and vicious, often seeking an escape in the wilderness of mid-America from crimes committed back east. In the beautiful but deadly country which would one day come to be known as West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, more often than not they left their bones to bleach beside forest paths or on the banks of the Ohio River, victims of Native American Indians who claimed the vast virgin territory and strove to turn back the growing tide of white settlers.
Against the background of such names as George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, Simon Girty and William Henry Harrison, and one of America's most outstanding heroes, Simon Kenton. Kenton's role in opening the Northwest Territory to settlement more than rivaled that of his friend Daniel Boone. By his eighteenth birthday, Kenton had already won frontier renown as woodsman, fighter and scout. His incredible physical strength and endurance, his great dignity and innate kindness made him the ideal prototype of the frontier hero."
European exploration of the region dates to the 1600s. It was Pennsylvanian Simon Kenton who was the key to settling Limestone, the nearby town
of Washington, and the county. Another explorer of the area was Robert McAfee, who arrived in June 1773. John Hedges gave the site its original name of Limestone earlier in 1773. But it was Kenton, on his fourth visit in 1775, who found Limestone cove and the canebrakes three miles south of Limestone that became part of pioneer legend.

Here Kenton built his cabin and began promoting the area. The site of Limestone was locked between the river and hills with insufficient land for farming and vulnerable to Indian attacks. Most settlers moved to the hills above Limestone or migrated farther to the west.
In 1776 numerous exploring parties came to Limestone, and Kenton welcomed them and helped guide them to their destinations.
Local tradition holds that he urged only those visitors he found especially promising to stay in the area. Indian attacks kept most settlers away before 1784, the year Kenton returned to Limestone with 60 men. William Bickley, Edward Waller, and John Waller of that party built at the mouth of Limestone Creek a blockhouse that was the beginning of Maysville

Simon Kenton came west from Virginia when he thought he had killed a man. As an early Mason County settler, in 1784 he built Kenton’s Station to defend against Native American “War Parties.” Kenton took advantage of his role at the forefront of settlement by claiming huge amounts of land for himself through so-called “tomahawk improvements.” These he made by chopping his initials or “mark” into large trees at the four corners of the land he desired.

Using this early method to land claim, it is believed that Kenton once owned nearly half a million acres in what one day would become Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. By 1790, he also owned and resided on a comfortable estate in northern Kentucky, living in a large brick house with his wife, surrounded by his children, horses, and tenant farmers.

Arthur Wood established Washington on land he purchased from Simon Kenton.

In 1799, soon after his first wife died, Kenton looking for new ground, moved North. He initially settled near what became Springfield OH.

22 inch barrel. 37.5 inches overall. percussion back action lock made by W.Jacot, marked Warranted Excellent condition for age overall, great patina, and tight crisp action.  read more

Code: 24794