Battle of the River Plate, HMS Ajax Miniature Wooden Barrel Made From Teak from the Ship

One of the most desirable of the miniature pieces made from salvaged parts from British warships, HMS Ajax is in the premier division of maritime collectables.

A wooden miniature barrel made from wooden, teak parts of HMS Ajax, With a name plate thereon. The Battle of the River Plate.

The battle in 1939 was how 3 battleships, 3 aircraft carriers and 14 cruisers in seven Hunting Groups searched for a German raider that was the the Admiral Graf Spee and how the weakest force of three cruisers found her and the action which led to her destruction.

The Second World War against Nazi Germany had been waged for three months. At sea Britain had lost the passenger liner, Athenia, the armed merchant cruiser, HMS Rawalpindi, the battleship HMS Royal Oak and the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. There was very little good news for Britain and France.

In the South Atlantic Captain Langsdorff in the German pocket battleship, Admiral Graf Spee had been sinking British merchant ships since September 1939. Commodore Harwood, commanding Royal Navy Hunting Group G, had studied the area and knew the attraction to a German raider of the rich pickings of British merchant ships leaving the River Plate estuary between Argentina and Uruguay in South America. The Germans claimed that their pocket battleships could out-gun any ships faster than them and outrun any ship with heavier armament.

In early December 1939 Harwood received enemy reports from the British freighters Doric Star and Tairoa as they were captured and sunk. He calculated that if the raider chose to head for South America she would probably arrive in the area off the River Plate on the morning of the 13th December. With this in mind, Harwood ordered the cruisers, HMS Ajax, Achilles and Exeter to concentrate there the previous day (12th December). They met at the pre-arranged time and exercised their action plan. On the morning of 13th December HMS Exeter was ordered to investigate smoke that was spotted on the horizon. She soon signaled, “I think it is a pocket battleship”. The three ships had finally met Admiral Graf Spee and at 0617 they went into action, following Harwood’s orders, “Attack at once, by day or night”. At first Graf Spee concentrated her fire on Exeter. Ajax and Achilles then closed on Graf Spee at speed, drawing her fire and causing significant upper deck damage and loss of morale. Graf Spee's Captain Langsdorff later said, “They came at me like destroyers”. At 0636 Graf Spee about-turned to the west, from where she started her retreat. With 66 of her crew killed, Exeter later retired from the battle badly damaged and made for the Falklands.

By 0725 Ajax and Achilles had closed to within 4 miles from Graf Spee. Harwood then decided to open the range and shadow her. However Graf Spee steadied and concentrated her fire again on Ajax and Achilles. Ajax fired a salvo of torpedoes to encourage Graf Spee to maintain her westward course, which she did, but shortly afterwards Graf Spee obtained a hit on Ajax which put her two after-turrets out of action. Achilles also suffered severe damage to her director control tower from a near-miss. This was Graf Spee's chance to turn on the pursuers and regain the initiative but it was not taken. Captain Langsdorff chose to break off the action and head for port in Montevideo, the capital of neutral Uruguay. Whether this was the result of a confused state because of wounds and concussion, a sense of defeat or to preserve the lives of his men we do not know.

On return home the men of HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter were feted in London by King George VI and Winston Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty at the time). HMS Achilles' crew were similarly feted in their home town of Auckland, New Zealand.  read more

Code: 24923

A Fabulous, Huge, & Very Rare Original 1909 Poster For Schichtl's Marine-Theater. Depicting Germany’s Military Might In The Air, and Sea. Produced by the Showman Known at the Time as Germany’s P,T. Barnum The Greatest Showman on Earth

An extraordinarily beautiful original theatre poster from the turn of the 1900’s, and as far a we know, it may well the the only surviving example outside of a museum collection. In Excellent plus condition.

This spectacularly beautiful piece would grace any home or office surrounding, from contemporary modern to classical. The vibrant colours, artistry and the subject are a unique combination in antique poster art

A most rare collectors piece in that it covers the areas of interest of numerous fields. Such as, original theatrical production advertising posters, the rare artwork associated with the centuries old art of puppetry, early Imperial German propaganda of their military might, as a direct taunt to the British Empire of the Kaisers cousin King Edward VIIth, a rare poster of early German airships, and last but not least a beautiful surviving example of the very specific form artistry that appeared in the late 19th century and up to WW1.

Schichtl's Puppet Theater - The Original Marine Spectacles.

Museum of Adolph Friedländer. A variety theatre that put on a production depicting Imperial Germany's Maritime and Aeronautical might for the amazement of the viewing public.

Set's and artists provided a theatrical view of Germany's Grand Fleet and Airships using clever sets, backdrops and marionettes.

A little like America's P.T.Barnum's circus and curiosity side shows, but more typically Germanic, having a greater militaristic perspective.

Schichtl's Marine-Theater
Werbeplakat, feine Farblithographie, Hamburg 1909, 71 x 95 cm,

gemarkt "Lith. Adolph Friedlender, Hamburg", selten.  read more

Code: 16905

A Very Good & Highly Desirable, 19th Century Pistol Powder Flask For Cased Duellers or Revolver

The most desirable kind of antique powder flask. The large fowling piece flasks can be very inexpensive, but the small 'cased pistol' sized flasks are incredibly sought after, as they can fit into cases were the flask is missing beautifully and complete a cased set perfectly..

A very good flask with crescent and bush embossed design, good spring and nice patination. All good seams. A great find for those that have a cased revolver single or pair or a pair of cased duellers lacking their flask. We show several cased pistols all with similar sized pistol flasks, including a cased pair of Colt pocket revolvers, and a pair of Durs Egg duellers.The flask is 4.75 inches long overall, max width 2 inches.  read more

Code: 21924

A Wonderful Victorian Dandy Cane, With the Head of an Expressive Monkey

The monkey's head is made of simulated amber, with decorated highlights. It conveys a somewhat wry expression. Monkeys have created a fascination in British art, design sculpture for over two centuries and their depiction in walking or dandy canes is nothing but a delight. This is an especially endearing large example. The cane haft is dark brown with a nickel collar beneath the head. Every other portrait of a Georgian, Victorian, or Edwardian gentleman, shows some nattily dressed fellow with a walking stick pegged jauntily into the ground or a slim baton negligently tucked under the elbow. The dress cane was the quintessential mark of the dandy for three centuries, part fashion accessory, part aid to communication, part weapon, and of course, a walking aid. A dandy, historically, is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain.

Previous manifestations of the petit-maitre (French for "small master") and the Muscadin have been noted by John C. Prevost, but the modern practice of dandyism first appeared in the revolutionary 1790s, both in London and in Paris. The dandy cultivated cynical reserve, yet to such extremes that novelist George Meredith, himself no dandy, once defined cynicism as "intellectual dandyism". Some took a more benign view; Thomas Carlyle wrote in Sartor Resartus that a dandy was no more than "a clothes-wearing man". Honore De Balzac introduced the perfectly worldly and unmoved Henri de Marsay in La fille aux yeux d'or (1835), a part of La Comedie Humaine, who fulfils at first the model of a perfect dandy, until an obsessive love-pursuit unravels him in passionate and murderous jealousy.

Charles Baudelaire defined the dandy, in the later "metaphysical" phase of dandyism, as one who elevates esthetics to a living religion, that the dandy's mere existence reproaches the responsible citizen of the middle class: "Dandyism in certain respects comes close to spirituality and to stoicism" and "These beings have no other status, but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons, of satisfying their passions, of feeling and thinking Dandyism is a form of Romanticism. Contrary to what many thoughtless people seem to believe, dandyism is not even an excessive delight in clothes and material elegance. For the perfect dandy, these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of mind."

The linkage of clothing with political protest had become a particularly English characteristic during the 18th century. Given these connotations, dandyism can be seen as a political protest against the levelling effect of egalitarian principles, often including nostalgic adherence to feudal or pre-industrial values, such as the ideals of "the perfect gentleman" or "the autonomous aristocrat". Paradoxically, the dandy required an audience, as Susann Schmid observed in examining the "successfully marketed lives" of Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron, who exemplify the dandy's roles in the public sphere, both as writers and as personae providing sources of gossip and scandal. Nigel Rodgers in The Dandy: Peacock or Enigma? Questions Wilde's status as a genuine dandy, seeing him as someone who only assumed a dandified stance in passing, not a man dedicated to the exacting ideals of dandyism. Inches long, the ears appear to have had some old restoration. Inches long, the ears appear to have had some old restoration.  read more

Code: 23190

Very Rare Aeronautical Stamps. Canada: 1918 (Aug) Aero Club of Canada 25c "flaming Zeppelin" Stamps

label CLP2 tete-beche pair, perfectly centred, one stamp very lightly mounted, the other unmounted, one with surface tear. A scarce collectable stamp from the very earliest Canadian Airmail service. We have seen good single stamps of this type achieving prices up to $1100. We are pricing as for a single stamp with it's matching companion free.  read more

Code: 16711

A Most Rare Original, Nazi Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei Serving Platter From the Graf Zeppelin

The platter has the German Zeppelin Co. logo, of the Third Reich Zeppelin, flying across the globe, the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei. Manufactured by GEBRUDER HEPP PFORZHEIM, in 90 grade. In March 1935, the South Atlantic flights became the responsibility of the Nazi controlled Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei, after this company had been set up jointly by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, the German Air Ministry and Deutsche Lufthansa. The DZR was created at the instigation of Air Minister Hermann Goring as a way to increase Nazi control over zeppelin operations, and can be see as part of the larger policy of Gleichschaltung, or coordination, which affected all aspects of German life in the years following Hitler?s assumption of power.

Consistent with Nazi ideology, the airship was expected to be more than just a private commercial venture; it was to be a public symbol of the new German nation. In a speech marking the founding of the DZR, Goring commented: ?I hope that the new ship will also fulfil its duty in furthering the cause of Germany? The airship does not have the exclusive purpose of flying across the Atlantic, but also has a responsibility to act as the nation?s representative.?

The even larger airship, the LZ 129 'Hindenburg' joined the 'Graf Zeppelin' in 1936, and, in addition to South Atlantic flights with its partner, inaugurated a service over the North Atlantic, between Frankfurt and Lakehurst in New Jersey, in the summer. Also in 1936 the South American route was extended to Rio de Janeiro. Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei ceased operations as the commercial use of airships came to an abrupt end on 6 May 1937, when the 'Hindenburg' exploded at Lakehurst.
This large silver tray is made of German silver plate, 90 grade, and was the product of the same silver company that made the Third Reich military cutlery and other silver objects for the Third Reich hierarchy - Gbr. Hepp. His company alongside his rival, Wellner, was a maker of much of the Fuhrer's formal dinnerware, and the Reich chancellery dinnerware pieces. Many items by were used in several of Hitler's residences, the Hotel [Der Deutscher Hof] personally used by Hitler, and numerous state offices. The Zeppelin Corps became one of the shortest-lived German service branches of World War II. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Luftwaffe ordered the last two Zeppelin airships moved to a large Zeppelin hangar in Frankfurt. In March of 1940, Goring ordered their destruction and the aluminium fed into the Nazi war industry. In May, a fire broke out in the Zeppelin facility which destroyed most of the remaining parts. The rest of the parts and materials were soon scrapped with almost no trace of the German "Giants of the Air" remaining by the end of the year. 49cm x 32.5cm  read more

Code: 22618

A Good English Box Lock Flintlock Pistol By Garratt of London

Good action with sliding safety, and a nice turn off barrel for breech loading. Good walnut stock. Made when William Garratt had a shop at Mile End Old Town, London, around 1800. A great conversational piece, and almost all gentlemen required such a piece of personal defense weaponry. Although one likes to think that jolly old Georgian England had a London full of cheerful cockneys and laddish chimney sweeps, it was also plagued with political intrigue, nefarious characters and caddish swine prowling the endless foggy thoroughfares and dimly lit passageways, wishing to do harm to their unsuspecting victim. As with all our antique guns there is no license required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 22805

Solid Silver Hallmarked L.Z.127 Graf Zeppelin Airship Aerospace Medal 1929 World Flight Issue

FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, STADT Medal 1929 (stamped by Josef Bernhart) on the 1st world flight of the LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin". Busts of Zeppelin and Eckener l. Rev: Zeppelin. Beautiful patina. 36mm; 25g excellent condition Edge stamped hallmark: PREUSS. STATE COIN. SILVER 900

The around-the-globe flight of the German-built and -operated hydrogen-filled airship began in August 1929 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, where it ended 21 days, five hours and 31 minutes later after covering some 20,651 miles in four legs.

Sponsored in part by Newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, one of the worlds most influential newspaper owners and also one of the richest men in the world, in his day. His notoriety was also subject to a biographical movie loosely based on his life, Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles. The result of which caused W.R.Hearst to spend many years trying, and in many ways succeeding, to destroy Orson Welles' career.

Costs for the flight were subsidized by the transport of souvenir mail to and from the stops in Lakehurst, Friedrichshafen, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, and these pieces are highly collectible today. 1929. it was originally owned and run by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft German Airship Transportation Corporation Ltd But in 1935 Reich Minister of Aviation, Hermann Göring insisted that a new agency be created to extend Party control over LZ Group. A personal rivalry between Göring and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels also played a role. Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei was therefore incorporated on 22 March 1935 as a joint venture between Zeppelin Luftschiffbau, the Ministry of Aviation, and Deutsche Lufthansa.

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship which flew from 1928 to 1937. It was designed and built to show that intercontinental airship travel was practicable. Its operational history included several long flights, such as a polar exploration mission, a round-the-world trip, trips to the Middle East and the Americas (operating five years of regular passenger and mail flights from Germany to Brazil), and latterly being used as a propaganda vehicle for the ruling Nazi Party. The airship was withdrawn from service following the Hindenburg disaster.

Although to most this piece looks like a coin, in Germany and also in France, medals could come in the table medal variety, not ever meant to be worn but for display in a table cabinet or mounted and framed. Awarded for the same reason as a medal made to be only worn on the person, as all British medals are.


Photo in the gallery of the medals with the armband of the Ortsgruppenleiter, from whom the medals came from all sold seperately  read more

Code: 24905

Solid Silver Hallmarked L.Z.127 Graf Zeppelin Airship Aerospace Medal 1928 Issue

Zeppelin Aerospace medal in solid siver.
Silver medal 1928 (J. Bernhart) Airship LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin". Half-length portraits of Zeppelin and Eckener side by side to the left / Airship over ocean. Edge stamped hallmark: PREUSS. STATE COIN. SILVER 900 FINE. 36 mm, 24.37 g Fine patina,

L.Z.127 Graf Zeppelin airship medals, one awarded in 1928 the other 1929. Sold separately, acquired with the Ortsgruppenleiter's armband taken as war souvenirs in 1945, sadly the name of the NSDAP Ortsgruppenleiter and his medals was not noted at the time.

LZ127 it was originally owned and run by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft German Airship Transportation Corporation Ltd But in 1935 Reich Minister of Aviation, Hermann Göring insisted that a new agency be created to extend Party control over LZ Group. A personal rivalry between Göring and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels also played a role.Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei was therefore incorporated on 22 March 1935 as a joint venture between Zeppelin Luftschiffbau, the Ministry of Aviation, and Deutsche Luft Hansa.

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship which flew from 1928 to 1937. It was designed and built to show that intercontinental airship travel was practicable. Its operational history included several long flights, such as a polar exploration mission, a round-the-world trip, trips to the Middle East and the Americas (operating five years of regular passenger and mail flights from Germany to Brazil), and latterly being used as a propaganda vehicle for the ruling Nazi Party. The airship was withdrawn from service following the Hindenburg disaster.

Photo in the gallery of the medals with the armband of the Ortsgruppenleiter, from whom the medals came from all sold seperately

Although to most this piece looks like a coin, in Germany and also in France, medals could come in the table medal variety, not ever meant to be worn but for display in a table cabinet or mounted and framed. Awarded for the same reason as a medal made to be only worn on the person, as all British medals are.  read more

Code: 24904

Historian Uncovers Graves of the Knights Templar in Staffordshire, Believed To Be One of the 'Most Nationally Important Discoveries' of its Kind

Graves belonging to members of the Knights Templar - a somewhat mysterious holy militia that sprang up in the 12th century - have been uncovered at an English village church in one of the 'most nationally important discoveries' of its kind.

The medieval order, which had chapters across Europe, including in Britain, were known for their role in the Crusades and as one of the Middle Ages' most powerful and wealthy religious organisations.

Historian Edward Spencer Dyas made the Da Vinci Code-style discovery of eight Knights Templar graves at St Mary's Church in Enville, Staffordshire.

In Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, and the film of the same name starring Tom Hanks, Professor Robert Langdon delves beneath Rosslyn Chapel, in Scotland, in the hunt for Knights Templar treasure.

Mr Dyas now believes St Mary's could be one of the most nationally important Templar churches in the country because of its links to 'England's greatest knight' of the Middle Ages.
Mr Dyas' research led him to establish that St Mary's was built by Roger de Bermingham - a priest whose family owned all Enville land including Morfe, a medieval royal forest in neighbouring Shropshire.

Although records are missing it is clear the de Bermingham family built the Norman church at Enville, using Templar financing,' he added.
'Henry de Morfe, who held land owned by the de Berminghams, sold part of Morfe Forest to the Templars at this time, and the de Berminghams instated Roger de Bermingham as the first priest of St Mary's Church, Enville.'

It is for this reason that Mr Dyas believes the church was 'under the patronage of the Templars'.
William Marshal, the 1st Earl of Pembroke, was a jouster, warrior, diplomat and even twice de facto king who was the inspiration for Lancelot in medieval Arthurian tales and also drafted the Magna Carta.

Marshal died aged 73 in 1219 and was buried in Temple Church in London after being invested into the order of the Knights Templar on his deathbed.
But at St Mary's, the stained glass windows depict an array of coats of arms including one that belonged to Hugh Mortimer of Chelmarsh, who married Marshal's granddaughter.

There is little other explanation why there would be so many Templar graves at the quaint village church, although members of the group are believed to have attached themselves to churches dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The church on the outskirts of the Black Country was built in the early 12th century at a time when the Templars were creating Preceptories - a type of monastery - around Britain.

Each of the graves he has uncovered features a Templar cross within double circles in a standard Templar design. One also includes a Crusader cross, suggesting the knight was both a Templar and a Crusader of the ancient military order.

At the foot of the same grave there's also a Templar Cross - a variation of the Jerusalem Cross - revealing the unknown knight had once been part of the Templar Order at Temple Mount, Jerusalem.

'I believe these discoveries make Enville one of the most nationally important churches in the country,' Mr Dyas said.

'That's due to its close links with William Marshall, who is considered of the greatest warriors England ever produced.
'But there is a mystery of why an European Templar is buried at Enville and why they were secretly so prominent there.'

The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between 1095 and 1291, in which Christian invaders tried to claim the near East.

It's known that nobility led the Crusades, but historical records lack details of the ordinary soldiers who travelled to, lived and died in the near East.

The Crusades set the stage for several religious knightly military orders, including the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights, and the Hospitallers.

These groups defended the Holy Land and protected pilgrims travelling to and from the region.

We have a few original Templar and Templar period artefacts, which we show, and some are only a few hundred pounds. It represents an incredible opportunity to own a spectacular piece of world history.

If you wish to read the full story, the link is below;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12408493/The-real-life-Da-Vinci-Code-Historian-uncovers-graves-belonging-members-Knights-Templar-Staffordshire-one-nationally-important-discoveries-kind.html  read more

Code: 24895