Antique Arms & Militaria

Amazing Facts You Might Not Know

Did you know the date that the last woman was lawfully executed by 'burning at the stake' was in Britain?. Believe it or not, it was Catherine Murphy, in only in 1788, just over a mere 230 years ago. Interestingly, only women warranted to be burnt at the stake, men were just hanged. Women were sentenced to be burnt at the stake for just two reasons only, 'Petty Treason', [the murder of a spouse] and 'High Treason' [interfering with the Crown's Coinage, known as coining, either by counterfiting, or chipping, cutting and the filing off of coins edges].  read more

Code: 23104

A Very Good Sykes Patent Disc Form Powder Flask

A most unusual shape of powder flask that due to a flat form would fit snugly in an overcoat pocket rather well. Good spring. 6.75 inches long x 4 inches wide x 1.5 inches deep at its widest  read more

Code: 22843

The Royal Collection Returns to the Royal Pavilion

We have been asked by our friends at the Royal Pavilion to promote Her Majesty's incredibly generous gift of the loan of her works of art and treasure originally made for the Prince Regent [King George IVth] for the Royal Pavilion. A spectacular loan from Her Majesty the Queen is on display at the Royal Pavilion. The culmination of a collaborative venture between Royal Collection Trust and the Royal Pavilion & Museums, over 120 remarkable decorative works of art that were originally commissioned by the Prince Regent, have been relocated from Buckingham Palace and re-united in their previous setting of the Royal Pavilion. We are delighted to help and hope our regulars who visit us should consider a visit to the Royal Pavilion to view them. Many thanks to Laura Wright at SAM Culture. We show a few items that are on display in our photo gallery. A PRINCE'S TREASURE
21 September 2019 to Autumn 2021


Included in the collection, to be seen in our photo gallery, from; Jingdezhen Jiangxi Provence, China is;
a pair of vases with mounts vases: mid-18th century, mounts: 1804 and 1819. And, a Barometer and thermometer, made for display in the Banqueting Room at the Royal Pavilion, early nineteenth century
Gilt bronze, silver, lapis lazuli

Made for George IV for the Royal Pavilion at Brighton; the case of this barometer is identical to a matching clock. The clock with the barometer were made for display in the Banqueting Room at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton (the clock on the North chimney piece, the barometer on the South chimney piece). The top can just be seen in Nash's view of the room c. 1824. The cost for both was ?1,308. A link [copy and paste] to view part of the exhibition. https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/22/collection/30007/barometer-and-thermometer
Royal Collection Trust / ? Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019  read more

Code: 22731

A Good Original 48 Bore 19th Century Pistol Ball Scissor Mould

Maker stamped I W, bore size stamped 48  read more

Code: 22655

A George IIIrd Campaign Sheffield Plate Candelabra of Col. 10th Hussars

We acquired this stunning campaign, Sheffield silver plated candelabra, with his yataghan sword, used by a former Colonel of the 10th Hussars throughout his campaigning years in the army. The yataghan in these photographs we sold earlier, but we do have his other scabbarded yataghan. The Sheffield plating has wear on all the dominant edges and this is referred to as 'copper bleeding'. It is actually a traditional and good sign of originality for true Sheffield plate, as it shows it is early Sheffield hammered onto a copper base, not the later modern electrotype of plate, usually on nickel or brass. The use of "Sheffield plate" began in 1742 when Thomas Boulsover, a Sheffield cutler (blade smith), discovered that a sheet of silver fused to a piece of copper could then be rolled or hammered out without fracturing the bond.
This made possible the use of "plated" base metal, which appeared, outwardly, to be silver, but as the silver "skin" could be only a small proportion of the gauge of the metal the saving in expense was considerable and objects made from the product looked exactly like sterling silver, because the applied 'plate' was indeed sterling. Boulsover's idea was exploited in Sheffield, first by Joseph Hancock from 1755 onwards and Matthew Boulton, one of the greatest and successful manufacturers of his age. This candelabra from the early 1800's and the reign of King George IIIrd was used by Capt. Wood during his campaigns in the Victorian period. It disassembles into several smaller pieces and would likely have fitted into a wooden, leather bound travelling case for use in military campaigns around the Empire. It was used originally by his ancestor in the Napoleonic wars era. His medals were sold in auction some 17 years ago. Manners Charles Wood was born on 20 January 1852. He was appointed as Ensign to the 44th Foot on 1 September 1869, but was transferred on the same day to the 66th Foot, becoming Lieutenant in October 1871. He transferred to the 10th Hussars on 15 April 1874, and joined the regiment in India. In 1876 he was selected for escort duty with the Prince of Wales during his visit to India, and was given a silver commemorative medal struck on that occasion.

Promoted to Captain on 2 February 1878, Manners Wood accompanied the regiment from Rawal Pindi in the Afghan campaign of 1878-79, and commanded ?B? Troop at Fattehabad on the 2nd April 1879, in which action he was wounded, and his life saved by a brother officer, in an incident reported on the front page of the Illustrated London News, published on 17 May 1879.

?Captain Wood and Lieutenant Fisher dismounted with most of the men, leaving as few as possible to hold the horses and advanced up the hill in skirmishing order, to dislodge the enemy, who were firing upon them from their strong position. On approaching the top, Captain Wood and Lieutenant Fisher, who were well in front, noticed a Ghazi, lying on the ground, pointing his jezail at them. He was a typical hillman, of powerful build. Having fired and missed, he jumped to his feet, and rushed at Captain Wood, whose sword was of little use against the long jezail and impetuous rush of the Afghan. He was brought to his knees, and his fanatical assailant, discarding his firearm, with a ponderous knife made a cut at his head, which clove his helmet in two, but, fortunately, did not do more than inflict a slight wound.

?As Captain Wood lay on the ground, at the mercy of the Afghan, Lieutenant Fisher rushed at the Ghazi, and felled him with the butt end of a carbine which he was carrying and Private Hackett, who had by this time come up with other men of the Troop, gave him the coup-de-grace with his sword. The Troop now fired two volleys into the enemy, which completely dispersed them, and Captain Wood took his men back to Fattehabad. The casualties in the Troop were seven men wounded, one horse killed, eleven wounded, and one missing.?

Captain Wood served with the regiment throughout the remainder of the war, and accompanied it during the march of pestilence to Rawal Pindi, when so many Tenth Hussars died of cholera. He became Major in April 1882, and Lieutenant-Colonel in August 1892, on taking command of the 10th Hussars. The regiment served in Ireland throughout the 4 years of his command. He became Brevet Colonel in August 1896, and retired on 5 April 1899.

Wood was almost immediately recalled on the outbreak of the war in South Africa, and was appointed a Special Service Officer with the Rhodesian Field Force. He was afterwards in command of the troops in Rhodesia, from 7th January to 21st June 1901, graded as a Colonel on the Staff. He again left the Army, leading a very active life, and later became a Colonel in the Army Cadet Force. For his services with the Cadets, he received the 1935 Silver Jubilee medal, at the age of 83. Colonel Manners Wood died at Camberley on 12 September 1941, aged 89.  read more

Code: 22609

French Very Fine Lanthorn Powder-Flask Attributed To Nicolas Noel Boutet

A rare 18th century French flask with a most unusual fold-down nozzle system. With a large, rounded lanthorn body, flattened on the back, with shaped top mount and folding swelling nozzle, reeded brass medial mount, and rings for suspension. For an almost identical example, mounted in silver, see Herbert G. Houze, The Sumptuous Flaske, 1989, pp. 116-117 (illustrated). We also show in the gallery a cased set of the worlds finest flintlock pistols and fowling piece complete with tools and an identical lanthorn flask made by Nicolas Noel Boutet, possibly for Napoleon. This fabulous set is in the Met in New York. We acquired a most similar set, also by Nicolas Noel Boutet, around 50 years ago, that cased set came from a castle in Czechoslovakia, and was commissioned from Boutet for a Prince, that set also had an identical lanthorn flask. Today Iit would likely be approaching a value of a million dollars. Nicolas Noel Boutet was one of the world's greatest gunsmiths, if not The worlds greatest gunsmith, and he made guns for most of the crowned heads of Europe, including Napoleon Bonaparte. He was based at the Imperial Armoury at Versailles. Lanthorn is a transluscent form of ox horn used in the earliest days to make window panes or lanterns. It was the earliest known material for the ingress of light into a room from daylight. In fact the word lantern is a derivative form of lanthorn itself. With lanthorn panes a lantern could be created with a candle to create a portable light and protect the flame from wind. Here are some early instructions as to how it was made; Take the lightest, translucent, hollow portion of an ox or steer horn (these being the thinnest)
Soak this in water for a month
Saw it, split it and press it into plates
Take a short, edge bladed round nosed knive called a "lift" and use it to delaminate the layers (Purportedly up to 12 layers can be gotten from a thick horn).
The Horn may be clarified by coating both sides with tallow, and pressing it between hot irons, thinning it further.
The finished leaves are scraped with steel scrapers, buffed on a polishing wheel, then slightly moistened with vinager and a buffing compound, finally being polished by a buffing compound applied by the palm of the hand (historically the horns were buffed with charcoal and water applied with part of an old beaver hat - the final polish being given by wood ashes applied with the hand). Boutet made several forms of lanthorn flask as its translucent property enable the owner to determine how much powder the flask contained at a glance if held to the light and its resistance to denting was an advantage over copper. A most similar attributed to Boutet flask sold in Butterfield and Butterfield Auction House in San Francisco in 1994 [estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 dollars]. Minor early crack to the lanthorn body  read more

Code: 22557

A Very Good Victorian 19th Century Royal Artillery Officer's Pouch

Patent leather with gilt badge of an artillery cannon. A cross belt is two connected straps worn across the body to distribute the weight of loads, carried at the hip, across the shoulders and trunk. It is similar to two shoulder belts joined with a single buckle at the center of the chest. The cross belt was predominantly used from the 1700s (American Revolutionary War) to the 1840s they were not part of a soldier's equipment in the American Civil War and Anglo-Zulu War/First Boer War.

For most line infantry, skirmishers, light infantry, grenadiers and guard regiments during much of Europe's Age of Gunpowder, either a cross belt or two shoulder belts were worn.[citation needed] One configuration for the belts would be the cartridge box on the right hip and sword scabbard on the left. Such equipment would be attached to the belt at its lowest point, where it rests on the hip. Officers almost never carried muskets or rifles, so they typically wore only one shoulder belt, such as for the pistol cartridge box or for a sabre scabbard. As officers were often aristocratic and used many independent symbols for their family, rank, and command, their uniforms and gear organisation could be highly variable.

For British infantry, the cross belt had a metal belt plate with the regiment of the soldier inscribed on it  read more

Code: 22427

Very Rare German Aerospace Medal of 1915, Part of a Zeppelin Collection

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. 1838-1917. AR Aerospace medal. 17.95 gm. 33 mm. By Lauer. 1915. His bust in high relief slightly right / Two Zeppelin airships and one plane above a naval unit in the German fleet at sea; five lines of writing below?1914/15. Hallmarked on edge: SILVER 990. Prooflike Uncirculated; choice; mirror fields; some light marks and hairlines; iridescent toning.

Count Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin (1838-1917) was the inventor of the eponymous airship the Zeppelin, the largest number of which were built during World War I and used extensively for reconnaissance scouting and bombing during the war. Another near identical example sold at auction, on the 12th June 2019, in the US for 800 Dollars US  read more

Code: 22350

Bronze L'Exposition de Paris 1900 Commemorative Medal;

Santos Dumont dirigible / airship, Obverse: relief of a robed female figure depicted, embossed text "L'EXPOSTION DE PARIS 1900"
Reverse: relief of electric power lines, Santos Dumont dirigible, and steel battleship depicted. Condition: very good
Dimension: 55mm. Another example is Inventory Number
A19640401000 part of the collection of the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian. Santos Dumont's first airship was his No. 1 (airship) ? First flown on 18 September 1898. Had a cylindrical envelope with conical ends containing a ballonet connected to an air pump: 25 m (82 ft) long, 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) diameter, 180 m3 (6,400 cu ft) capacity. A square basket was suspended from wooden battens contained in pockets in the envelope, and a silk-covered rudder fitted behind and above the basket. Powered by a De Dion-Bouton tricycle engine (modified to have tandem cylinders) of 3 hp which was mounted outside and in front of the basket driving a small two bladed propeller. Fore and aft trim was achieved by moving a pair of ballast bags. Manoeuvred well, but the ballonet was too small to retain the necessary rigidity of the envelope, and loss of pressure caused it to be wrecked on its second flight on 20 September, from then he made another 10 versions and improvements of it. He also made his first helicopter in 1905  read more

Code: 22343

Commemorative Medal of Count von Zeppelin Vienna Flight June 1913

Rare special award Commemorative Medal of Count von Zeppelin. We know of just one other example that is in the Smithsonian Space Museum. Medal; Obverse: relief profile bust of von Zeppelin depicted, embossed text "GRAF FERDINAND VON ZEPPELIN"; Reverse: relief of a Zeppelin airship over the Vienna cityscape depicted; embossed text "ERINVERUNG AN DEN BESUCH IN WIEN 9 JUNI 1913". The other, displayed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, is categorized under exhibit number A19640256000. Size 46mm  read more

Code: 22337