Antique Arms & Militaria

A Stunning Mid 18th Century Ship's Captain Brass Cannon Barrel Pistol with a Silver Escutchon of the Goddess Minerva Adorned With Her Dolphin Helmet & Fishscale Armour

Blunderbuss pistol all brass cannon barrel, and action, beautifully engraved. Made by Hadley circa 1750, with large silver escutcheon engraved with the profile head of Minerva.

Minerva, whose dolphin helmeted face is depicted is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic warfare.


The ‘Queen Anne’ style pistol is distinctive in that it does not have a ramrod. The barrel of the pistol unscrews and allows it to be loaded from the rear and near the touch hole at the breech of the barrel. These pistols were originally made in flintlock.

The Queen Anne pistols were very popular and were made in a variety of calibres, usually about 38 to 50 bore. Boot pistols, Holster pistols, pocket pistols and Sea Service pistols were all made in the 'Queen Anne' style. This type is known as a Queen Anne pistol because it was during her reign that it became popular (although it was actually introduced in the reign of King William III).

Here are some of the specific reasons why people enjoy collecting antique pistols:

Historical significance: Antique pistols are stunning relics of a bygone era, and they can provide insights into the history of warfare, technology, and culture. For example, a collector might be interested in owning a type of pistol that was used in a famous battle or that was carried by a famous historical figure.
Craftsmanship: Antique pistols are often works of art in their own right. Many early gunsmiths were highly skilled artisans, and their creations can be extraordinarily beautiful. Collectors might appreciate the intricate engraving, fine inlays, and other decorative elements that are found on many antique pistols.
Aesthetic beauty: Antique pistols can be simply stunning. Their elegant lines and graceful curves can be a thing of beauty. Collectors might enjoy admiring the form and function of these antique weapons.
Rarity and uniqueness: Some antique pistols are quite rare, and collectors might enjoy the challenge of finding and acquiring them. Others might be interested in owning a pistol that is unique in some way, such as a prototype or a custom-made piece.
Investment value: Antique pistols can also be valuable long term investments. The value of some antique pistols has appreciated significantly over the years. Collectors might enjoy the potential for profit, in addition to the other pleasures of collecting, but that should never be the ultimate goal, enjoyment must always be the leading factor of collecting.
No matter what their reasons, collectors of antique pistols find enjoyment in their hobby. They appreciate the history, craftsmanship, beauty, and rarity of these unique pieces.

In addition to the above, here is yet another reason why people enjoy collecting antique pistols:

Education: Learning about the history and technology of antique pistols can be a thoroughly rewarding experience. Collectors can learn about the different types of pistols that have been made over the centuries, how they worked, and how they were used.

Excellent condition overall, good tight and crisp action, old small split in stock, overall 12.5 inches long  read more

Code: 25219

Stunning Victorian, Silver Hound's Head Walking Stick Of William Page Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley, PC, British Statesman, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, Presented by John Bright, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & Sherlock Holmes Connection

With lacquered hawthorn wood cane.

Was this 'Hound's Head' appearance on the walking stick, the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, most famed Sherlock Holmes story, of the fiercesome and diabolical beast, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' serialized in the Strand Magazine?. According to family legend, the notorious 17th century Squire Richard Cabell inspired the character of Squire Hugo Baskerville, but it was the childhood memory of this very hounds head that was the inspiration of the diabolical beast. The likeness to the illustrations of the hound in Doyle’s original novel is unmistakable.

A most beautiful piece with great political history, of the Victorian Liberal Party, of Prime Minister Lord William Gladstone.

The recipient of the stick, from John Bright, was William Page Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley, PC (29 November 1801 – 10 July 1881). He was a British lawyer and statesman who served as a Liberal Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 1868 and 1872 in William Ewart Gladstone's first ministry.

John Bright, the sticks original owner (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. In 1849 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, and in 1851 was made Solicitor General for England and Wales and knighted. He was the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was he who first used the phrase ‘England, mother of Parliaments, and another ‘flogging a dead horse’ ‘

A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn Laws. In partnership with Richard Cobden, he founded the Anti-Corn Law League, aimed at abolishing the Corn Laws, which raised food prices and protected landowners' interests by levying taxes on imported wheat. The Corn Laws were repealed in 1846. Bright also worked with Cobden in another free trade initiative, the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty of 1860, promoting closer interdependence between Great Britain and the Second French Empire. This campaign was conducted in collaboration with French economist Michel Chevalier, and succeeded despite Parliament's endemic mistrust of the French.

Bright sat in the House of Commons from 1843 to 1889, promoting free trade, electoral reform and religious freedom. He was almost a lone voice in opposing the Crimean War; he also opposed William Ewart Gladstone's proposed Home Rule for Ireland. He saw himself as a spokesman for the middle class and strongly opposed the privileges of the landed aristocracy. In terms of Ireland, he sought to end the political privileges of Anglicans, disestablished the Church of Ireland, and began land reform that would turn land over to the Catholic peasants. He coined the phrase "The mother of parliaments."

The hounds head top of the walking stick, is engraved on one reverse panel J.B {John Bright}, and W.B {William Bright, was John's son, also a Liberal politician} and on the other side of the hound's head is engraved, W. Wood { the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain} in a panel on the obverse beneath the hound's head.

The head was, 'supposedly', the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Hound of the Baskervilles'

Doyle was educated at the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place, Stonyhurst in Lancashire, which may be the initial connection to John Bright. One might conjecture that Doyle, as a young impressionable boy, saw Bright's hound's head cane {before he gave it to William Wood} maybe, on his {Bright's} visit to Hodder Place School in Lancashire.

This story was imparted to us as part of the family legend of the hound’s head stick's past illustrious history. Of course, there is absolutely no written evidence of this being the case, but it does seem, a most intriguing possibility.

It was also meant to be an accurate likeness of a a beloved hound that belonged to John Bright. John Bright took his hound to Doyle’s prep school when he visited.  read more

Code: 25176

A Original & Very Rare, Spontoon Pole Arm of The Personal Guard Of The Holy Roman Emperor Charles VIth Circa 1700's

Engraved with the twin headed eagle and the crest of Emperor Charles VIth. On the reverse side engraved with a seated figures flags and cannon. Charles VI (1 October 1685 - 20 October 1740; German: Karl VI., Latin: Carolus VI) succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (as Charles II), King of Hungary and Croatia, Serbia and Archduke of Austria (as Charles III) in 1711. He unsuccessfully claimed the throne of Spain following the death of his relative, Charles II, in 1700. He married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenb?ttel, by whom he had his two children: Maria Theresa, the last Habsburg sovereign, and Maria Anna, Governess of the Austrian Netherlands.

Four years before the birth of Maria Theresa, faced with his lack of male heirs, Charles provided for a male-line succession failure with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. The Emperor favoured his own daughters over those of his elder brother and predecessor, Joseph I, in the succession, ignoring the decree he had signed during the reign of his father, Leopold I. Charles sought the other European powers' approval. They exacted harsh terms: Britain demanded that Austria abolish its overseas trading company. In total, Great Britain, France, Saxony-Poland, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Venice, States of the Church, Prussia, Russia, Denmark, Savoy-Sardinia, Bavaria, and the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire recognised the sanction. France, Spain, Saxony-Poland, Bavaria and Prussia later reneged. Charles died in 1740, sparking the War of the Austrian Succession, which plagued his successor, Maria Theresa, for eight years. We show for information an engraving of the Guard of The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg, With the very same spontoon. 7 ft overall , head 22 inches including sidestraps  read more

Code: 21520

A Good 19th Century 1830's King George IVth English Percussion Derringer Type Pistol. The Kind Of Boxlock Pistol Known In Dickensian England As A 'Barker'

Good slab-sided walnut grip, all steel frame and barrel with engraved percussion boxlock action lockplate, dolphin form hammer, sliding safety, and concealed trigger that drops down under tension when the pistol is fully cocked

The nickname was popularized in 19th-century literature. For example, in Charles Dickens' 1837 novel Oliver Twist, a character prepares for a robbery by arming himself with a pair of "barkers".

Circa 1830. Boxlock pistols were pocket pistols popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Effectively the first Derringers. The most unique feature of their design was the boxlock mechanism. Unlike most firearms which have the hammer located off to the side of the pistol, a boxlock pistol had the hammer located directly on top of the pistol. They were called a boxlocks because all of the working mechanisms for the hammer and the trigger was located in a box or receiver directly below the top mounted hammer. While the hammer obstructed the aim of the user, this system had the advantage of making the gun more compact and concealable than other pistols. The first boxlock pistols were flintlock and where later made in percussion lock. Unlike modern firearms, these pistols were not mass produced, but were hand made in gunsmith's workshops.

In 18th and 19th-century slang, a pistol was called a
barker because its loud explosion was thought to resemble the "bow-wow" or barking of a dog.

The term originated as "barking iron," an Irish expression recorded in the 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Over time, it was shortened simply to "barker." It was initially "cant" (thieves' slang) used by footpads and highwaymen during robberies.
The term was also adopted by Royal Navy seamen to refer to both small Sea Service pistols and larger lower-deck artillery pieces.

While other colourful nicknames like "pops," "snappers," and "meat in the pot" were also used during this era, "barker" remained a common term until the end of the 19th century.

Overall light natural aged russet surface, good tight action.

As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 26065

A Most Fine King George IIIrd Boxlock Flintlock By Bolton of London, Named for its Owner William Seal of Amington. Shown With A Typical Powder Flask As An Example of How It Was Loaded. {not included}

effectively with built-in provenance. Made by John H Bolton, London and inscribed to its owner on the barrel.

The pistol has excellent original finish and has just returned from a 'no expense spared' gunsmith service and the action is now as crisp as you could wish.
Concealed trigger and sliding safety, Tower of London proved barrel, turn off barrel, for breech loading, and a superb walnut grip.

Unlike most firearms, which have the cock located off to the side of the pistol, a boxlock pistol had its cock located directly on top of the pistol. This form of pistol action was called a 'box lock', because all of the working mechanisms for the hammer/cock and the trigger was located within a box or receiver, directly below the top mounted cock. While the cock could obstruct the aim of the user, this system had the advantage of making the gun more compact and concealable than other pistols.

The first boxlock pistols were flintlock and where later made in percussion lock. Unlike modern firearms, these pistols were not mass produced, but were bespoke, hand made in master gunsmith's workshops.

As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables. Shown for illustration purposes only with a typical powder flask, as it would once have used  read more

Code: 23548

A Hugely Impressive, Attractive and Historical, Sudan War 'Mahdi' Warrior's War Sword, a Siege of Khartoum' Period & Battle of Omdurman Kaskara. With Spectacular Blade Bearing Armourer's Stamps & Inscription "May God Bless You and Grant You Victory

The inscription is Arabic and approximately interprets to "May God Bless You and Grant You Victory" a 21st Lancer officer's souvenir.

Probably the best and most historical example we have ever seen in the past 50 years thanks to its expert conservation. And it had to spend over a week in our museum conservation workshop, having highly detailed preserving and polishing undertaken by hand. As it had been in storage for likely a hundred years or more, with the Arabic inscription etched in the design

It has a spectacular and huge broadsword blade with cruciform hilt, the blade has a central fuller with another fuller either side of the central one, and the blade has been struck many times with armourer's marks of crescent moons and the large Arabic inscription.

In the 1880’s the Sudan, the vast land just south of Egypt, was ruled by the Khedive from Cairo. Sudan was basically occupied by native Africans in the south and Arab traders in the north. The coming of the Muslim religious leader known as the "Mahdi" unified the population into an uprising against Egypt.

Britain assisted and allowed General Charles Gordon to become the Governor of Sudan on behalf of the Egyptian Khedive. The result was that after a long siege the entire Khartoum garrison, including General Charles Gordon, was butchered leading to much embarrassment for the British Government. It took 14 years, until 1898 for General Gordon to be avenged with the complete destruction of the Muslim Army at the Battle of Omdurman. In this battle In 1898 the 23 year-old Winston Churchill was serving with the 21st Lancers in the Sudan, while earning money on the side as a war correspondent for the Morning Post. While participating in the last British cavalry charge in history at the Battle of Omdurman, he witnessed the bravery of Dublin-born Victoria Cross winner, Private Thomas Byrne. He also became a skin graft donor to the officer that Byrne saved.
The Mahdi army, numbering over 100,000, was made up of many tribes of various origins and used long broad swords fashioned on those the European Crusaders had carried back in the 13th and 14th centuries. These were known as Kaskaras, and were carried along with a large shield.

This Broadsword, known as a Kaskara, is a lovely example of the principal weapon carried by the Mahdi's warriors. These were desert people and had modelled the broadsword on those carried by the European Crusaders in the 14th century.

This particular example is of very nice quality. A fine example taken in combat from one of Britain's native adversaries. Probably 80% of examples one sees in England today are often souk or bazaar bought examples, acquired in the early to mid 20th century by British travelers and soldiers, often with pseudo German markings. This is a completely different order of merit from those.

The Sudanese Wars are famously remembered in the movies too: Charlton Heston in "Khartoum" and in at least two productions of "The Four Feathers”. The close of the Victorian era was the height of the Great British Empire. A British soldier's bring back souvenir from his times on the front line.

The Kaskara was a type of sword characteristic of Sudan, Chad, and Eritrea. The blade of the kaskara was usually about a yard long, double edged and with a spatulate tip. While most surviving examples are from the 19th or 20th century the best type is believed to have originated around the early 14th century and later, and may represent a localized survival of the straight, double-edged medieval Arab sword with blades acquired from Europeans. The kaskara was worn horizontally across the back or between the upper arm and thorax. According to British Museum curator Christopher Spring, "in the central and eastern Sudan, from Chad through Darfur and across to the Red Sea province, the straight, double-edged swords known as kaskara were an essential possession of most men."

34 1/2 inch blade overall 41 3/4 inches long. The scabbard's very tip has developed an inverted bend  read more

Code: 26061

A Beautiful Ancient Viking War Hammer. An Iron Hammer-Axe From 900 to 1000 Years Old in Fabulously Preserved Condition

An iron war hammer-axehead with wide bearded blade, round socket and a rounded hammer section with expanded end extension to the rear.

In 793, terror descended on the coast of Northumbria as armed raiders attacked the defenceless monastery of St Cuthbert on Lindisfarne. The terrified monks watched helplessly as the invaders made off with a haul of treasure and a clutch of captives. It was the first recorded raid by the Vikings, seaborne pirates from Scandinavia who would prey on coastal communities in north-western Europe for more than two centuries and create for themselves a reputation as fierce and pitiless warriors. The Anglo-Saxon cleric Alcuin of York wrote dramatically of the Lindisfarne raid that the church was spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments given as a prey to pagan peoples and subsequent (mainly Christian) writers and chroniclers lost few opportunities to demonise the (mainly pagan) Vikings. Yet, though they undeniably carried out very destructive and violent attacks, from small-scale raids against churches to major campaigns involving thousands of warriors, the Vikings formed part of a complex and often sophisticated Scandinavian culture. As well as raiders they were traders, reaching as far east as the rivers of Russia and the Caspian Sea; explorers, sending ships far across the Atlantic to land on the coastline of North America five centuries before Columbus; poets, composing verse and prose sagas of great power, and artists, creating works of astonishing beauty.Their victims did not refer to them as Vikings. That name came later, becoming popularised by the 11th century and possibly deriving from the word vik, which in the Old Norse language the Vikings spoke means bay or inlet. Instead they were called Dani (Danes) there was no sense at the time that this should refer only to the inhabitants of what we now call Denmark pagani (pagans) or simply Normanni Northmen In medieval Scandinavian languages, a Vikingr is a pirate, a freebooter who seeks wealth either by ship-borne raids on foreign coasts or by waylaying more peaceful seafarers in home waters. There is also an abstract noun Viking, meaning ‘the act of going raiding overseas

In the world of collecting early weaponry an axe is defined as it’s head, it’s haft was separate often made of vulnerable woods that can not survive the ravages of time.

One of the most famous Viking axes is Helm (named after the Norse death goddess), which belonged to King Magnus of Norway and Denmark. He is said to have inherited the weapon from his father, Olav Haraldsson of Norway, whose ax features prominently in Norway’s national coat of arms. Some Viking axes if they were wielded by a particularly strong and skilled warrior could even cut through chainmail and helmets. When King Magnus’s poet credited the king with being able to split heads like firewood, he wasn’t necessarily being hyperbolic. Writing about the pre-Viking Franks and their use of throwing axes, the Francisca, Procopius makes it clear that the Franks threw their axes immediately before hand to hand combat with the purpose of breaking shields and disrupting the enemy line while possibly wounding or killing an enemy warrior. The weight of the head and length of the haft would allow the axe to be thrown with considerable momentum to an effective range of about 12 m (40 ft). Even if the edge of the blade were not to strike the target, the weight of the iron head could cause injury. The francisca also had a psychological effect, in that, on the throwing of the francisca, the enemy might turn and run in the fear that another volley was coming. It is most logical that the Vikings may well have adopted this system of axe throwing combat from the earlier Franks, as it seemed most effective in numerous combat arenas.

For reference of type see; Cf. Sedov, B.B. Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija, 1987, table CXXIV 7".  read more

Code: 25459

A Most Fine Original Copper-Bronze Imperial Roman Legionary's Military Bravery Award Armilla, {Bracelet} Awarded for Military Gallantry Around 1700 Years Old

Awarded in the reign of Constantine I "the Great" Flavius Valerius Constantinus. He was the first Christian emperor and founder of Constantinople. Sole ruler of the Empire after defeating Maxentius in 312 and Licinius in 324. Died of natural causes after his 30 year reign

An Armilla (plural Armillae) was an armband bracelet awarded as a military decoration (donum militarium) to soldiers of ancient Rome for conspicuous gallantry. Legionary (citizen) soldiers and non-commissioned officers below the rank of centurion were eligible for this award, but non-citizen soldiers were not. However, a whole auxiliary regiment could be honoured by a title as an equivalent award, which in this case would be Armillata ("awarded bracelets"), or be granted Roman citizenship en masse as a reward. This entitled an auxiliary regiment to add the appellation civium Romanorum (Roman citizens) to its list of honours.


A very fine circa 300 AD. Imperial Roman Armilla, around 1700 years old in superb condition with natural verdigris patination. It is incised and punched in typical Roman military style. A fine cast bronze Armilla bracelet with rectangular section and tapering terminals with stylised Phalera type punch marks and one pierced, repeated numerous times, and numerous, typical military engraved lined panels, with hammered dot decor, and open ended flattened pierced spatula terminals.

A Phalera was a disk, usually made of gold, silver, bronze or glass, and worn on the breastplate during parades by Roman soldiers who had been awarded it as a kind of medal. Roman military units could also be awarded Phalerae for distinguished conduct in action. These circular disc awards were often mounted on the staffs of the unit's standards see photo in the gallery of one such standard in a German Museum.

Armillae were armband style bracelets awarded as a military decoration. The rank of the soldier in question determined the metal from which the bracelet was made either gold, silver or bronze. These bracelets were not for everyday wear but were occasion pieces worn at special military and civic events such a triumphs, religious ceremonies and games.
Roman military honours were not awarded posthumously, but those won during a soldier's lifetime were often proudly shown on his sarcophagus or cenotaph. The armillae awarded to senior centurion Marcus Caelius of Legio XVIII, for example, are evident on his funerary monument, and three pairs of armillae can be seen on the memorial panel at Villa Vallelunga in Italy which depicts the awards granted to veteran C. Vibius Macer during his years of active service.

Military armillae were modelled on those worn by the Celts. The tradition of using Celtic-style torcs and armillae as Roman military decorations had its beginnings in 361 BC when Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 347 BC) slew a Gallic chieftain of impressive size in single combat. He then stripped the bloodstained torc from the corpse's neck and placed it around his own as a trophy. The Romans were initially daunted by the fearsome appearance of the Gauls, whose elite warriors were "richly adorned with gold necklaces and armbands". The torc was the Celtic symbol of authority and prestige. By his action, Torquatus in effect took the vanquished chieftain's power for his own, and created a potent, visible token of Roman domination. As such, over time the torc and also the armilla were adopted as official awards for valour, taking on the role of symbolic war trophies.

Armillae were made in a substantial masculine style and produced in a variety of designs: a solid, hinged cuff, sometimes inscribed with legionary emblems or decorated with incised patterns; an open-ended spiral; a chunky, rounded bracelet with open or overlapping ends; or a torc in miniature. Armillae which were open-ended or had overlapping ends often featured knobs or snake-heads as terminals.

The tombstone of Marcus Caelius who was the First centurion of the 18th Legion. His brother set up this monument to commemorate his death in the ‘bello Variano’, he is wearing his military gallantry award Armilla above his right wrist. See photo 7 in the gallery.

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

Code: 26060

A Simply Wonderful Original Trojan War Period Full Length Bronze Sword Blade, 21 Inches Long. Circa 1200 B.C.Archean Greeks, the Mycenean Greeks, The Trojans & The Hitites. From The Warring Times Of Menalaus King of Sparta & King Agamemnon

2nd millennium BC. A simply fabulous historical ancient bronze sword with stunning natural aged patination of richest dark emerald green. Long, tapering, raised median ridged blade with graduating parallel, multiple, low ridges, alongside the central rib, only a very short, cylindrical, partial tang remains. Originally it would have been fitted with a likely organic hilt of possibly ivory or carved horn or hardwood. A sword that would have been eagerly traded with the Archean Greeks, the Mycenean Greeks, the Trojan peoples and The Hitites.

In the gallery we show museum exhibited Attic pottery of the time with ancient Minoans fighting the Minotaur, and illustrations where the ancient Trojan and Mycenaean warriors, all are using the exact form of sharply graduating sword, all having that most identifiable central median rib, as this beautiful sword.

The trade of Bronze Age weaponry followed trade routes that started in the the Assyrian Empire, East of Babylon, right through to the Mediterranean region, and all of empires and kingdoms in between. Also, all manner of Bronze Age utilitarian wares, personal adornments, and tools came from this famed bronze smithing region and their trading merchants.

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.

The ancient Greeks believed that Troy was located near the Dardanelles and that the Trojan War was a historical event of the 13th or 12th century BC, but by the mid-19th century AD, both the war and the city were widely seen as non-historical. In 1868, however, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann met Frank Calvert, who convinced Schliemann that Troy was a real city at what is now Hisarlik in Turkey. On the basis of excavations conducted by Schliemann and others, this claim is now accepted by most scholars.

Whether there is any historical reality behind the Trojan War remains an open question. Many scholars believe that there is a historical core to the tale, though this may simply mean that the Homeric stories are a fusion of various tales of sieges and expeditions by Mycenaean Greeks during the Bronze Age. Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War are derived from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the 12th or 11th century BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 1194–1184 BC, which roughly correspond to archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VII, and the Late Bronze Age collapse. Legend has it that the war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris of Troy, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus of Sparta, fall in love with Paris, who quit Sparta with her and returned to Troy. Menelaus's brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, Aphrodite's son and one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern-day Italy.

Most of our antiquities and artefacts are from 200 year past souvenir accumulations from British ‘Grand Tours’. Beautiful Items and antiquities were oft acquired in the 18th and early 19th century by British noblemen and women touring battle sites in Northern France and Italy, in fact most of Europe and the Middle East, on their so-called ‘Grand Tour’. They were often placed on display upon their return home, within the family’s ‘cabinet of curiosities’, within their country house. Some significant British stately homes had entire galleries displaying the treasures and artefacts gathered and purchased on such tours, and some tours lasted many years, and the accumulated souvenirs numbered in their hundreds or even thousands

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

Code: 26056

Very Rare Ancient 10th Century Viking Fire-Starter, A 'Drepa Upp Eld '. Viking Riders on Horses & Steel Striking Blade. Used With Amadou Touchwood Fungus {Fomes Fomentarius}. To Make Fire At Sea, Whilst Sailing In a Viking Long Boat

Around 1100 years old. with partial ring mount present as it was originally worn as a large but functional pendant.

This kind of highly distinct ‘horse and rider figures’ firesteels must have been symbols of wealth and power of the richest people during the viking age. They have been excavated from several places around western Finland and even from viking age town of Birka, Sweden.The firesteel had a loop in it, so it could be worn in chain, visible for all to see the user's wealth.

Earlier this year we had an amazing other one, a twin Draken head example, likely the very rarest of all the surviving Viking designed fire-starter, and this one may well be as rare as that or somewhat close.

The only other known example of the rarest type of Viking bronze and steel striker, is a specimen from a Chamber Tomb found in in Ekka, Birka, in Uppland. See a photo in the gallery of that example from the Historical, Museum Historiska, Photo taken by Camilla Hällbrink, that one is also, as this one we offer, likely from second half of the 10th century. Museum item number 458255_HST.

How often is it one can own, a rarest, original, Viking artifact, that apparently, according to the national historical museum of Sweden, its only known similar surviving example is in that same museum in Sweden. Our example is of good quality, and in better condition. But of a different scene. There are some other styles that have been found, also in Scandinavian museums


Fire-Starting Using Flint and Steel. The term in Old Norse for percussion fire-making is drepa upp eld, from the verb drepa, "to strike, beat, knock; to produce by a blow or blows", thus drepa upp eld is "to strike up a fire." True flint and steel fire starting is a low temperature method of spark-based fire starting.

The Vikings, renowned for their seafaring prowess and ingenuity, utilized a unique method for creating fire that involved a specific type of fungus and urine. They employed the touchwood fungus, also known as Amadou (Fomes fomentarius), which grows primarily on birch and beech trees. This fungus, when processed correctly, becomes highly flammable. The Vikings would boil the fungus for several days, then soak it in human urine. The urine contains nitrates, which, when absorbed by the fungus, significantly enhance its ability to catch and sustain a flame.
After the fungus had soaked long enough to absorb sufficient nitrates, it was dried and pounded into a soft, fibrous material. This prepared fungus could then be easily ignited with a spark, making it an excellent tinder for starting fires in harsh and damp conditions. This innovative use of natural resources showcases the Vikings' deep understanding of their environment and their resourcefulness in overcoming the challenges posed by their often cold and wet climate. Their ability to produce reliable fire under adverse conditions, such as in violent stormy seas, was crucial for survival, navigation, and their various activities, including cooking and metalworking.

Every Viking torch lit march had to use exactly such a device to create the flame, every camp fire and every flaming arrow needed exactly this amazing piece of Viking history.

In the gallery are two 19th century paintings by
Everhardus Koster
& Frank Dicksee 1893

Hällbrink, Camilla, Historical Museum

Location: Björkö, North of Borg, Ancient monument: L2017:1478, Parish: Adelsö parish, Municipality: Ekerö municipality, Region: Uppland, Country: Sweden 1878

Picture no 6 is a page of early line drawings of Viking fire-steels in Viking museum collections. Our example is very close to fire-steel number 8

See Cacciandra, V. & Cesati, A., Fire Steels, Turin, 1996, for discussion.  read more

Code: 26046