Antique Arms & Militaria

A Very Rare Collector’s Piece From One of the Most Significant National Hero State Events in the 19th Century. Original Part From The Duke of Wellington's Funeral Carriage. That Was, For The Greater Part , Constructed From Cannon Captured From Waterloo.

Attended by an estimated at the time, 1.5 million people, and this was when the population of the country was almost a quarter what it is today.
From one of the original foundrys Taylors Works that cast the wheels. This is an original spare wheel support made for the magnificent 18 ton funeral carriage. The Duke lay in state in Chelsea Hospital for two days, during which thousands of mourners including the Queen paid their respects. His funeral took place on 18 November when the funeral processed from Horse Guards to St Paul's, Wellington's remains borne in a huge funeral carriage weighing over 18 tons, and that is now on public display at Stratfield Saye. Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (1 May 1769 - 14 September 1852), was a British soldier and statesman, a native of Ireland from the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy, and one of the world’s leading military and political figures of the 19th century. His importance in national history is such that he is often referred to as "the Duke of Wellington" instead of "the 1st Duke of Wellington" (overshadowing the heirs to his dukedom including the current duke, see Dukes of Wellington).

Wellesley was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787. Serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland he was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. A colonel by 1796, Wellesley saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799 and as a newly appointed major-general won a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy at the Battle of Assaye in 1803.

Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the allied army which, together with a Prussian army under Bl?cher, defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellesley's battle record is exemplary, ultimately participating in some 60 battles during the course of his military career.

Wellesley is famous for his adaptive defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against a numerically superior force while minimising his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, and many of his tactics and battle plans are still studied in military academies around the world

The Duke of Wellington is one of only a handful of non-royals to have been accorded a state funeral. This carriage or ‘car’ was made for the occasion.Included in it's construction were over ten tons of bronze cannon captured at Waterloo and six foundries employed over a hundred men for eighteen days to make it.

The resulting utterly magnificent creation measured twenty seven feet in length, it was ten feet wide and seventeen feet high. A canopy of silk and silver hung from four halberds above the main structure. It required twelve horses to pull it.

The car proved to be the most controversial feature of Wellington’s funeral on 18 November 1852. Prince Albert, who oversaw the project, decreed that it should be ‘a symbol of English military strength and statesmanship’.
His wife loved it. Lord Hardinge, the Duke’s successor as commander-in-chief, reckoned it ‘a beautiful specimen of art. ‘

It did not help that one of the carriage’s six wheels got stuck in The Mall during the elaborate funeral procession. About sixty policemen were needed to free it. Worse, when it reached St Paul’s Cathedral, its mechanism failed. It took over an hour for the Duke’s coffin to be conveyed inside. The car then found a home in the crypt of St Paul’s until it was transferred to Stratfield Saye in 1981.

Despite such shortcomings, Wellington’s funeral was one of the great British state occasions of the nineteenth century. An estimated million and a half people converged on the procession route. The general feeling was that the passing of the hero of Waterloo marked the close of an era. Tennyson went even further, declaring that ‘the last great Englishman is low.’ Certainly there was nothing to compare to it until the late, great, Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965.
The spoke weighs around 6.5 kilos. Of very heavy metal construction  read more

Code: 22855

From Limoges, a Champleve Enamel Gilt & Bronze Sword Belt Plate of a Knight of King Henry II & Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Decorated With A Knight Combating A Beast with Spear and Shield . 1100's 'Opus Lemovicense' Crafted in Limoges, Aquitaine

12th century A.D.. Rectangular plaque with two attachment holes and flange one edge, with traces of a red and blue enamel design of a knight in combat with a beast, armed with a shield and spear, of 'opus lemovicense' { known as the “Work of Limoges"}. This belt plate was created by the same workshop and possibly the very same craftsmen that created on of the finest surviving medieval works of art, the Becket Casket, that now resides in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The belt plate contains the very same blue enamel as the Becket Casket.

A beautiful yet relatively very inexpensive example of 900 year old medieval enamel work from Limoges, in Aquitaine. Crafted from a highly technical workshop under the patronage of King Henry IInd and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine

Limoges enamels, the richest surviving corpus of medieval metalwork, were renowned throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Yet today they are little known outside academic circles. The present volume, L'Œuvre de Limoges, published in conjunction with the exhibition Enamels of Limoges, 1100–1350, brings to deserved public attention nearly two hundred of the most important and representative examples from the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée du Louvre, the great church treasuries of France, and other sources. Early in the twelfth century, goldsmiths at the Benedictine Abbey of Conques in the hills of the ancient province of Rouergue began to create enamels whose jewel-like colors and rich, golden surfaces belied their fabrication from base copper. Within a generation, this technique was established in the area of the Limousin itself. By the 1160s the enamels created at Limoges, known as opus lemovicense, were a hallmark of the region. They were to be found not only in the Limousin and the neighboring region of the Auvergne but also in Paris, in monasteries along the pilgrims' road to Santiago de Compostela, at the Vatican, and in the cathedrals of Scandinavia.

The works of Limoges were created for important ecclesiastical and royal patrons. The wealth of enameling preserved from the Treasury of the abbey of Grandmont, just outside Limoges, is due chiefly to the Plantagenet patronage of Henry II and his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Enamels created during their reign resonate with the elegant style of the court, and the dramatic history of Henry's monarchy is evoked by such works as the reliquary of Saint Thomas Becket. Ecclesiastical patrons such as Archbishop Absalon of Lund, Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, and, above all, Pope Innocent III were key to the dissemination of Limoges work throughout the churches of Europe.

While few of the artists who created the enamels that have come down to us are known by name, the works of several—Master Alpais, Garnerius, and Aymeric Chretien—are here juxtaposed with related pieces, some of them demonstrably from the same atelier. Clearly, the ability of the goldsmiths of Limoges to adapt their work to meet the demands of a varied clientele was an essential element in their success. Victorines and Franciscans joined Benedictines among the patrons of Limoges. Before the middle of the thirteenth century, the goldsmiths of Limoges began to create tomb sculptures of gilt copper with enameled surrounds, the most famous being the paired images of John and Blanche of France, children of Saint Louis. Objects decorated with enameled coats of arms came into prominence at about the same time.

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1137-1152) was one of the most powerful and influential figures of the Middle Ages and Queen of both France and England. Her legendary Courts of Love were said to have established and preserved many of the rituals of courtly love and chivalry- and had a far-reaching influence on literature, poetry, music and folklore.

The Becket Casket is a reliquary made in about 1180–90 in Limoges, France, and depicts one of the most infamous events in English history, the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket. Following the assassination, relics of St Thomas were placed in similar reliquaries and dispersed across the world. This 'chasse' shaped reliquary is made of gilt-copper round a wooden core, intricately decorated with champlevé enamel to tell the story of Thomas Becket through literal and symbolic imagery. An exemplary showcasing of the Limoges enamel technique, this reliquary is now located in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.

The Becket Casket is ornately decorated with champlevé enamel surrounding its wooden core and gilded copper interior. The decorative technique of champlevé enamel is a method in which high heat is utilized to fuse a powdered glass material into a recessed area of a metal surface.

The basic process of enameling involves fusing powdered material, such as glass, to the outer surface of a metallic or similar object through the use of high temperature. It is an ancient artistic process, used throughout history and crossing borders to create beautifully decorated pieces of all kinds. The process of champlevé enameling holds almost all of the basic steps as that of regular enameling. However in this technique, recesses of all shapes and sizes are carefully carved into the metallic body of the object and further filled with the powdered glass or frit, allowing for a different finish. The recessing in the body of the object can also be cast or etched, and the following steps remain the same.

The Becket Casket is shown in photo 8 in the gallery

See Taburet-Delahaye, E. & Boehm, B.D., L'Œuvre de Limoges, Paris, 1995,Enamels of Limoges, 1100–1350
Gauthier, Marie-Madeleine, Bernadette Barriere, Dom Jean Becquet, Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye, Barbara Drake Boehm, Michel Pastoureau, Beatrice de Chancel-Bardelot, Isabelle Biron, Pete Dandridge and Mark T. Wypyski
1996

34mm x 34mm  read more

Code: 25555

A Fine and Beautiful Carved Horn Hilted 18th Century Royal Naval Officer's Hanger Sword, Cutlass or Cuttoe

American Anglo French wars period, made Circa 1750's, called during it's era of service use a ‘cuttoe’, a variation on the word cutlass, but a variation used specifically by naval officer's. Oval guard deer hoofed quillon form, carved horn handle with carved pommel and twin gilt capped mounting rivets. Single edged blade with a small return false edge and double fuller. Finely geometric scroll engraved blade with a leaping stag slightly obscured through time within the fuller on both sides.

Although also used on land, the cutlass is best known as the maritime weapon of choice. A naval side-arm, its popularity was likely because it was not only robust enough to hack through heavy ropes, canvas, and wood, but short enough to use in relatively close quarters, such as during boarding actions, in the rigging, or below decks.

Another advantage to the cutlass was its simplicity of use. Employing it effectively required less technical skill than that required to master a rapier or light small sword, and it was more effective as a close-combat weapon than a full-sized sword would be on a cramped ship.

Cutlasses are famous for being used by pirates, although there is no reason to believe that Caribbean buccaneers invented them, as has occasionally been claimed. However, the subsequent use of cutlasses by pirates is well documented in contemporary sources, notably by the pirate crews of William Fly, William Kidd, and Stede Bonnet. French historian Alexandre Exquemelin reports the buccaneer François l'Ollonais using a cutlass/cuttoe as early as 1667. Pirates used these weapons for intimidation as much as for combat, often needing no more than to grip their hilts to induce a crew to surrender, or beating captives with the flat of the blade to force their compliance or responsiveness to interrogation.

Owing to its versatility, the cutlass was as often an agricultural implement and tool as it was as a weapon (cf. machete, to which the same comment applies) that was used commonly in rain forest and sugarcane areas, such as the Caribbean and Central America. In their most simplified form they are held to have become the machete of the Caribbean.  read more

Code: 21684

Original & Rare Anglo-Saxon Spear From The Era of King Offa to King Harold, &, What is Remarkable, It Is Complete With It’s Original Scabbard. It Is The Very First Spear From That Era, With It’s Scabbard Still Present, We Have Seen In Over 50 Years

Viking and Anglo Saxon history is now at the forefront of interest today, especially with so many representations and depictions of the the great Viking age and often their British enemies the Anglo Saxon peoples being created into films and documentaries currently.

The interest in original Viking artefacts, and weapons of their natural foes, has never been greater than it is today. In our Brighton gallery almost all of our daily thousands of visitors make a beeline to all our amazing original Viking pieces, the interest is literally unceasing. Many are spellbound by their historical significance and almost all are surprised to be able to view up close, let alone acquire, such amazing pieces. And this fine example is one of the least expensive pieces of its type we can offer currently, and probably one of the very rarest, bearing in mind original Viking and Anglo Saxon arms and armour we can show and have had recently, can easily approach up to around £40,000 each.

Used by Anglo Saxon warriors from the 6th century to the 11th century Norman Conquest of 1066. This ancient spear, remarkably, also has part of its original iron scabbard, with traces of line engraving at the throat, and it is the very first spear scabbard we have ever seen to survive. it would have had a small leather top attachment. The spear has matching line engraving at the socket opening. The main weapon the Anglo-Saxons used during war were their spears. They were usually leaf or kite shaped and had a socket for the attachment of the staff. The usual length of the spear was 6’6”- 8’ (2.00m-2.50m). Spears were used for both hand to hand combat and as Javelins. Anglo-Saxons burials that contained weapons 86% of the time had spears in them. There were also 21 different types of spears the Anglo-Saxons used during war. The group of tribes known by the three names Saxons, Angles, and Jutes all belonged to the Teutonic stock; the Jutes perhaps being nearer akin to the Gothic and Scandinavian branch than to the German. It is doubtful whether there was any real distinction between Angles and Saxons other than the designation of the territory from which they started. The king's power
One of these customs was fighting everyone in sight. A king's power was not hereditary; it depended solely on his ability to win battles and so gain land, treasure, and slaves to give his supporters. He was obliged to fight and keep fighting. If not, he would find himself out of a job or deprived of his life, or both. Succession from father to son was never a foregone conclusion. Any relative of the old king who could muster enough support could make a bid for the throne. This helps to explain why the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms came and went so quickly. The power of any kingdom over its neighbours was only as solid as the strength of its king in battle.

King Offa
Roughly speaking, the 7th century was the age of Northumbrian ascendance, with Mercia playing second fiddle. In the 8th century these roles reversed. The most powerful and well known of the Mercian kings was Offa, who ruled from 758-796. A successful warrior (which is a given for anyone in those days who managed to hold onto power for so long), he defeated kings in Sussex, Anglia, and Wessex, proclaiming himself King of the English. In the 11th century, there were three conquests and some Anglo-Saxon people would live through it: one in the aftermath of the conquest of Cnut in 1016; the second after the unsuccessful attempt of battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066; the third after that of William of Normandy in 1066. The consequences of each conquest can only be assessed with hindsight. In 1016, no-one was to know that whatever cultural ramifications were felt then, they would be subsumed half a century later; and in 1066 there was nothing to predict that the effects of William's conquest would be any greater or more lasting than those of Cnut's. See Swanton, M.J. Spearheads of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements, London, 1973 for discussion. 221 grams,13 inches long overall Almost every iron weapon that has survived today from this era is now in a fully russetted condition, as is this one, because only the swords of kings, that have been preserved in national or Royal collections are today still in a good state and condition.

As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity  read more

Code: 22102

An 1801 Pattern, Tower of London, Royal Navy Issue, Historic Nelson Period, Short ‘Sea Service Pistol’, With Original Belt Hook, Tower of London GR Crown Lock, Fine Stock & Skull Crusher Butt, Used at the Battle Of Trafalgar Period

The King George IIIrd issue British Royal Naval Sea Service pistol has always been the most desirable and valuable pistol sought by collectors.

Exactly as issued and used by all the British Ship's-of-the-Line, at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Such as;
HMS Victory,
HMS Temeraire,
HMS Dreadnought,
HMS Revenge,
HMS Agamemnon,
HMS Colossus
HMS Leviathan &
HMS Achilles.
Some of the most magnificent ships, manned by the finest crews, that have ever sailed the seven seas.

The Battle of Trafalgar, (October 21, 1805), the most important naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, and in fact of the entire century, established British naval supremacy for more than 100 years; it was fought west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain, between Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. A fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve fought a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson. A resounding victory for the mighty Royal Navy and the ultimate demonstration of Nelson’s mastery of the sea, against the combined enemy fleet. This battle has since been taught ever since by every naval college the world over as an illustration of his genius tactics and command skill in battle.

At the end of September 1805, Villeneuve had received orders to leave Cádiz and land troops at Naples to support the French campaign in southern Italy. On October 19–20 his fleet slipped out of Cádiz, hoping to get into the Mediterranean Sea without giving battle. Nelson caught him off Cape Trafalgar on October 21.

Villeneuve ordered his fleet to form a single line heading north, and Nelson ordered his fleet to form two squadrons and attack Villeneuve’s line from the west, at right angles. By noon the larger squadron, led by Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood in the Royal Sovereign, had engaged the rear (south) 16 ships of the French-Spanish line. At 11:50 AM Nelson, in the Victory, signaled his famous message: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” Then his squadron, with 12 ships, attacked the van and centre of Villeneuve’s line, which included Villeneuve in the Bucentaure. The majority of Nelson’s squadron broke through and shattered Villeneuve’s lines in the pell-mell battle. Six of the leading French and Spanish ships, under Admiral Pierre Dumanoir, were ignored in the first attack and about 3:30 PM were able to turn about to aid those behind. But Dumanoir’s weak counterattack failed and was driven off. Collingwood completed the destruction of the rear, and the battle ended about 5:00 PM. Villeneuve himself was captured, and his fleet lost 19 or 20 ships—which were surrendered to the British—and 14,000 men, of whom half were prisoners of war. Nelson was mortally wounded by a sniper, but when he died at 4:30 PM he was certain of his complete victory. About 1,500 British seamen were killed or wounded, but no British ships were lost. Trafalgar shattered forever Napoleon’s plans to invade England.

It is clear this pistol has seen a fair amount of close quarter action, very possibly at Trafalgar, as it has several areas of field-service armourer's repair to the stock. However, this work shows it has been used for the very purpose for which it was designed for, repelling boarders, or, used during boarding actions. It has it's usual 9" barrel, as the barrels were regulatory shortened by official Admiralty order, to 9", from 12 inches long, as it's length of barrel of 12 inches was considered simply too unwieldy in close combat situations, even before the Napoleonic wars, thus its official title was, the ‘1801 Royal Navy Short Sea Service Pistol’

The first pattern date applied to the Sea Service pistol in this form is 1716. The Pattern 1716 Sea Service Pistol was very similar to the Land Service Pistol of the same era, in overall appearance and design. The pistol was a single shot, flintlock ignition gun with a long, round iron smoothbore barrel in “pistol bore”, approximately .56 calibre. The guns were of simple, but robust construction, and like their land service brethren were built with an eye towards the gun seeing equal service as a club, as it did as a firearm! In fact, US Naval manuals from the first decades of the 1800s included instruction on how to throw the pistol at an enemy, a tactic that no doubt originated in the Royal Navy.  read more

Code: 25312

A Rare, Very Early, 19th Century 'Pre-Worker's Union' British 'General Strike' Period Pistol, 19th Century Percussion Pistol With A 'Chartist Riot' Factory Armoury Label. Used in the 1842 General Strike, Also Known As 'The Plug Riots'

Overall in nice condition, with good action, signs of use and bearing a Chartist riots celluloid label mounted upon the stock. Captive ramrod lacking. A gun from the arsenal of Boden's Silk Mill in Derby, that was involved in the first part of the Chartist Riots in 1833, and this particular gun was for use into the 1842 General Strike feared riots, aka The plug Riots named after a specific form of factory boiler sabotage by the 'Chartist' strikers.

In 1842 the Chartists delivered The People's Charter asking for universal male suffrage as well as other demands signed by 3,000,000 people. In the same year strikes were organised by miners in Staffordshire and these strikes quickly spread across England and Wales. Eventually these strikes spread across 32 counties.

The "Plug Riots" of 1842, also known as the 1842 General Strike, were a series of protests and strikes that spread throughout industrial England, including Derbyshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. These disturbances were a response to wage cuts and economic depression, and they involved thousands of workers who shut down factories by removing boiler plugs and other actions. While the Plug Riots occurred in various locations, including Stalybridge, Manchester, and Preston, they are not always specifically associated just with Derby. Derby did also experience its own form of earlier civil unrest, primarily the Reform Bill Riots in 1832, which were distinct from the Plug Riots

Derby Reform Bill Riots 1831
Mass riots raged through the town for several days in October 1831 after the Reform Bill was rejected. Prisoners were released from the Derby jails by a crowd of 1,500 protestors.

Derby Silk Mill strike 1833-34
The Silk Mill was one of the first factories in this country and was the site of one of the first major lockouts in this country (1833-1834). Contemporary with the Tolpuddle Martyrs, hundreds of Derby mill workers were forced out of work for joining a radical new union.
Silk Mill – Canal Street, Derby
Purchased by John Boden and William Morley in 1824.
For reference see;
https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/14859/1/408374.pdf  read more

Code: 25779

A Very Fine Ancient Roman Status Copper Bronze Ring Discovered Around 200 Years Ago Near Hadrian's Wall Circa 1820 Engraved With Pagan Sun Cross

2nd to 3rd Century a.d. From the time of the emperor's
Trajan (98–117 AD
Hadrian (117–138 AD
Antoninus Pius (138–161 AD
Marcus Aurelius (161–180 AD
Lucius Verus (161–169 AD
Commodus (177–192 AD

Overall in very nice wearable condition , and a good size. The Pagan sun cross engraving is worn but can be still seen for the most part.

The complete Roman Empire had around a 60 million population and a census more perfect than many parts of the world (to collect taxes, of course) but identification was still quite difficult and aggravated even more because there were a maximum of 17 men names and the women received the name of the family in feminine and a number (Prima for First, Secunda for Second…). A lot of people had the same exact name.
So the Roman proved the citizenship by inscribing themselves (or the slaves when they freed them) in the census, usually accompanied with two witnesses. Roman inscribed in the census were citizens and used an iron or bronze ring to prove it. With Augustus, those that could prove a wealth of more than 400,000 sesterces were part of a privileged class called Equites (knights) that came from the original nobles that could afford a horse. The Equites were middle-high class and wore a bronze or gold ring to prove it, with the famous Angusticlavia (a tunic with an expensive red-purple twin line). Senators (those with a wealth of more than 1,000,000 sesterces) also used the gold ring and the Laticlave, a broad band of purple in the tunic.

So the rings were very important to tell from a glimpse of eye if a traveler was a citizen, an equites or a senator, or legionary. People sealed and signed letters with the rings and its falsification could bring death.
The fugitive slaves didn’t have rings but iron collars with texts like “If found, return me to X” which also helped to recognize them. The domesticus slaves (the ones that lived in houses) didn’t wore the collar but sometimes were marked. A ring discovered 50 years ago is now believed to possibly be the ring of Pontius Pilate himself, and it was the same copper-bronze material

Like many of our selection of antiquities, many originally arrived in England as souvenirs of a Grand Tour, from around 200 years ago,


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.  read more

Code: 25782

Italian Heavy Cavalry Sabre Modello 1860 Manufactured For The Royal Horse Carabineers & Cavalry Troopers. The Famous Sword of the Revolutionary General Garibaldi's Cavalry. He Is Represented By His Life Size Statue in New York Holding His Identical Sabre

'Sciabola da Cavalleria Mod.1860 e da Carabinieri Reali a Cavallo'. German made, as were they all, with maker's mark at the forte.

An absolute corker!. A most large, impressive, and imposing combat sword. All steel hilt with original bound leather grip

General Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. He contributed to Italian unification (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland", along with Camillo Benso di Cavour, King Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini. Garibaldi is also known as the "Hero of the Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises in South America and Europe

The Expedition of the Thousand (Italian Spedizione dei Mille) was a military campaign led by the revolutionary general in 1860, in which a force of volunteers defeated the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, leading to its dissolution and annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia.

A large impressive and imposing sword. All steel hilt with bound leather grip

Garibaldi became an international figurehead for national independence and republican ideals, and is considered by twentieth-century historiography and popular culture as Italy's greatest national hero. He was showered with admiration and praise by many contemporary intellectuals and political figures, including Abraham Lincoln, William Brown,Francesco de Sanctis, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Malwida von Meysenbug, George Sand, Charles Dickens, and Friedrich Engels.Garibaldi also inspired later figures like Jawaharlal Nehru and Che Guevara. Historian A. J. P. Taylor called him "the only wholly admirable figure in modern history". The volunteers who followed Garibaldi during his campaigns were known as the Garibaldini or Redshirts, after the colour of the shirts that they wore in lieu of a uniform.

In 1848, Garibaldi returned to Italy and commanded and fought in military campaigns that eventually led to Italian unification. The provisional government of Milan made him a general and the Minister of War promoted him to General of the Roman Republic in 1849. When the war of independence broke out in April 1859, he led his Hunters of the Alps in the capture of major cities in Lombardy, including Varese and Como, and reached the frontier of South Tyrol; the war ended with the acquisition of Lombardy. The following year, 1860, he led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf of, and with the consent of, Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia. The expedition was a success and concluded with the annexation of Sicily, Southern Italy, Marche and Umbria to the Kingdom of Sardinia before the creation of a unified Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861. His last military campaign took place during the Franco-Prussian War as commander of the Army of the Vosges.

A Photo in the gallery is a remarkable statue of Garibaldi in Washington Square, New York, drawing his sword, that looks near identical to this one.
No scabbard  read more

Code: 25783

A Irish Rebellion Knights Rowel Spur of the 16th Century, With its Buckle

From the Desmond Rebellions, that occurred in 1569-1573 and 1579-1583 in the Irish province of Munster.

They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond head of the FitzGerald dynasty in Munster and his followers, the Geraldines and their allies, against the threat of the extension of their South Welsh Tewdwr cousins of Elizabethan English government over the province. The rebellions were motivated primarily by the desire to maintain the independence of feudal lords from their monarch, but also had an element of religious antagonism between Catholic Geraldines and the Protestant English state. They culminated in the destruction of the Desmond dynasty and the plantation or colonisation of Munster with English Protestant settlers. 'Desmond' is the Anglicisation of the Irish Deasmumhain, meaning 'South Munster'. FitzMaurice first attacked the English colony at Kerrycurihy south of Cork city in June 1569, before attacking Cork itself and those native lords who refused to join the rebellion. FitzMaurice's force of 4,500 men went on to besiege Kilkenny, seat of the Earls of Ormonde, in July. In response, Sidney mobilised 600 English troops, who marched south from Dublin and another 400 landed by sea in Cork. Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormonde, returned from London, where he had been at court, brought the Butlers out of the rebellion and mobilised Gaelic Irish clans antagonistic to the Geraldines. Together, Ormonde, Sidney and Humphrey Gilbert, appointed as governor of Munster, devastated the lands of FitzMaurice's allies in a scorched earth policy. FitzMaurice's forces broke up, as individual lords had to retire to defend their own territories. Gilbert, a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, was the most notorious for terror tactics, killing civilians at random and setting up corridors of severed heads at the entrance to his camps. Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 ? 9 September 1583) of Devon in England was a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh (they had the same mother, Catherine Champernowne), and cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Adventurer, explorer, member of parliament, and soldier, he served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America and the Plantations of Ireland. In 1588, the English Lord President of Munster, Sir Warham St. Leger, sent a tract to the English Privy Council identifying the kings of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, and the feudal lordships which were then in existence. For the most part, the rights and prerogatives of the Irish kings whose territories lay outside the Pale were recognized and honoured by the (English) government in Dublin, which prudently saw that centralized rule of all Ireland was impossible. Largest, richest and most politically developed of the Gaelic Kingdoms of Ireland was Munster, which at its height comprised all of what are today the counties of Cork, Kerry and Waterford, as well as parts of Limerick and Tipperary. Recovered in Ireland over 150 years ago in Kilkenny at a supposedly known battle area. We have mounted on a red board for display. We show for illustration purposes a portrait of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and 16th century period engraving prints of the rebellion and the aftermath, the fleet landing, the troops marshalling and the execution of the rebels.  read more

Code: 20242

A Superb Historical Political Collectable, an Autograph of Benjamin Disreali, Framed With Small Portrait Print.

One of the great political and historical characters of the 19th century. From his personal letter to a gentleman in South Audley St. in London. Signed Disraeli in ink. Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS (21 December 1804 ? 19 April 1881) was a British politician and writer, who twice served as Prime Minister. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy". He made the Conservatives the party most identified with the glory and power of the British Empire. He is the only British Prime Minister of Jewish birth.

Disraeli was born in London. His father left Judaism after a dispute at his synagogue; young Benjamin became an Anglican at the age of 12. After several unsuccessful attempts, Disraeli entered the House of Commons in 1837. In 1846 the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel split the party over his proposal to repeal the Corn Laws, which involved ending the tariff on imported grain. Disraeli clashed with Peel in the Commons. Disraeli became a major figure in the party. When Lord Derby, the party leader, thrice formed governments in the 1850s and 1860s, Disraeli served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. He also forged a bitter rivalry with Gladstone of the Liberal Party.

Upon Derby's retirement in 1868, Disraeli became Prime Minister briefly before losing that year's election. He returned to opposition, before leading the party to a majority in the 1874 election. He maintained a close friendship with Queen Victoria, who in 1876 created him Earl of Beaconsfield. Disraeli's second term was dominated by the Eastern Question?the slow decay of the Ottoman Empire and the desire of other European powers, such as Russia, to gain at its expense. Disraeli arranged for the British to purchase a major interest in the Suez Canal Company (in Ottoman-controlled Egypt). In 1878, faced with Russian victories against the Ottomans, he worked at the Congress of Berlin to obtain peace in the Balkans at terms favourable to Britain and unfavourable to Russia, its longstanding enemy. This diplomatic victory over Russia established Disraeli as one of Europe's leading statesmen.

World events thereafter moved against the Conservatives. Controversial wars in Afghanistan and South Africa undermined his public support. He angered British farmers by refusing to reinstitute the Corn Laws in response to poor harvests and cheap imported grain. With Gladstone conducting a massive speaking campaign, his Liberals bested Disraeli's Conservatives in the 1880 election. In his final months, Disraeli led the Conservatives in opposition. He had throughout his career written novels, beginning in 1826, and he published his last completed novel, Endymion, shortly before he died at the age of 76.  read more

Code: 19980