A Stunning and Impressively Powerful Koto Katana, Circa 1500. With All Original Edo Period Koshirae Mountings. A Fabulous Sword of Likely a Seieibushi {the Highest Ranked Elite Samurai} Traditionally the Highest Rank of Elite Samurai

Originally made around 500 years ago for a samurai of considerable size and status befitting a sword of this power and presence. Photos of the blade to add Friday 12th

It bears a beautfully fine Koto blade, around 1500, yet, most rarely it shows it is ubu {unshortened} and it displays a very fine suguha hamon, very much the usual tradition during the Koto period.

Most blades of this age have had some element of shortening, which is entirely usual, and most normal.
Shortening most commonly occurs when a successor to the original katana owner, another samurai, was shorter than his predecessor, and thus so on, and thefore needs the blade slightly shortened {always from the bottom of the nakago under the hilt upwards, even if it’s just by an inch or so}. Very ancient blades can often show evidence of several shortenings, by the presence of numerous mekugi ana interspaced down the tang.

The all original Edo period mounts, fuchi kashira, are Higo style in tetsu, decorated with a takebori cormorant fisherman carrying his catch to market, on the fuchi, and his hanging nets on the kashira. The tsuba, also in finely aged tetsu, tsuchime, with very delicate Amidayasuri filemarks, or carving, representing the halo emanating from Amida Buddha, is very beautiful, impressive and signed, with two, most unusually still present, narrow bars of sinchu bordering the inner kogai hitsu-ana and kozuka hitsu-ana, these are more than often lost .
It appears the mei {signature} on the tsuba is 山吉 or Yamakichi bei who was originally an armour smith from Owari or modern Nagoya area.
The shodai worked around the same time as the first Nobuie (end of Muromachi) and nearly as highly regarded, but this example may well be later. Pale gold tsukaito silk binding over pure gold decorated shakudo menuki on the samegawa {giant rayskin}.

The saya is traditional and original Edo period, brown urushi, ishime style, stone finish lacquer, in very fine condition, and the saya is mounted with a Higo sayajiri depicting a dragon in light takebori tettsu.

When one considers this sword was carried by successive samurai from the British timeline of the Tudor kings, starting with King Henry VIIth, King Henry VIIIth’s father, it is in simply remarkable condition. We doubt of there is a single solitary example of a European sword of this great age, preserved anywhere near as well as this blade, that is appearing almost as new.


The samurai were roughly the equivalent of feudal knights. Employed by the Shogun or Daimyo, they were members of hereditary warrior class that followed a strict "code" that defined their clothes, armour and behaviour on the battlefield. But unlike most medieval knights, samurai warriors could read and they were well versed in Japanese art, literature and poetry.
Samurai endured for almost 700 years, from 1185 to 1867. Samurai families were considered the elite. They made up only about six percent of the population and included daimyo and the loyal soldiers who fought under them. Samurai means one who serves."

Samurai were expected to be both fierce warriors and lovers of art, a dichotomy summed up by the Japanese concepts of to stop the spear expanding into bushido (the way of life of the warrior) and bun (the artistic, intellectual and spiritual side of the samurai). Originally conceived as away of dignifying raw military power, the two concepts were synthesised in feudal Japan and later became a key feature of Japanese culture and morality.The quintessential samurai was Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary early Edo-period swordsman who reportedly killed 60 men before his 30th birthday and was also a painting master. Members of a hierarchal class or caste, samurai were the sons of samurai and they were taught from an early age to unquestionably obey their mother, father and daimyo. When they grew older they may be trained by Zen Buddhist masters in meditation and the Zen concepts of impermanence and harmony with nature. The were also taught about painting, calligraphy, nature poetry, mythological literature, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony.

it has been said that part of their military training, samurai were taught to sleep with their right arm underneath them so if they were attacked in the middle of the night and their the left arm was cut off the could still fight with their right arm. Samurai that tossed and turned at night were cured of the habit by having two knives placed on either side of their pillow.

Samurai have been describes as "the most strictly trained human instruments of war to have existed." They were expected to be proficient in the martial arts of aikido and kendo as well as swordsmanship and archery---the traditional methods of samurai warfare---which were viewed not so much as skills but as art forms that flowed from natural forces that harmonized with nature.
An individual didn't become a full-fledged samurai until he wandered around the countryside as begging pilgrim for a couple of years to learn humility. When this was completed they achieved samurai status and receives a salary from his daimyo paid from taxes (usually rice) raised from the local populace. Swords in Japan have long been symbols of power and honour and seen as works of art. 40 inches long overall, blade tsuba to tip, 28.5 inches  read more

Code: 25215

A Superb Spencer Carbine, The Best Carbine Rifle of the American Civil War, & The Wild West. One of The 500 Guns Of The ‘Colorado Shipment’ & Used In The ‘Post Colorado War’ Indian Wars, Between the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, & Brulé and Oglala Sioux

An absolutely cracking example in superb condition for age, probably one of the best we have seen in years, and comparable or possibly better to one we had last year, which was, until then, the finest we had seen anywhere in the last 10 years. Complete with its removable and reloadable magazine. Serial numbered 33k range.

It bears a US inspector’s cartouche stamp on the stock, and that particular inspector is seen on the Colorado issue range, within the 33k serial numbered guns, this is rare in that only 500 carbines from this serial numbered range were transferred to the Colorado territory, and this is only the second we have ever seen, both in that rarely seen 33k serial number sequence.

Colorado, in the world famous Rocky Mountains aka ‘The Rockies’, was at the very heart of what is known today as the “Wild West’ period, and it went through an incredible series of historical events at this time, it was not granted statehood till August 1st 1876, as President Andrew Jackson vetoed it in 1865, it had an amazing and violent ‘Gold Rush’ period during the war, and it was experiencing all manner of difficulties and dangers regarding the breaking of the Fort Laramie Treaty, which became known as the the Colorado War, between the warring Native American tribes, such as between the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and allied Brulé and Oglala Sioux. It became the centre of so many Hollywood ‘Wild West’ films in the entire 20th century, in the telling of the stories of Colorado and ‘The Rockies’ that one way or another it became one of the most famous territories and states of America around the world.

In modern movie times the 1860 Spencer Rifle was used by Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman in ‘The Unforgiven’ and in ‘3.10 to Yuma’ by Christin Bale

The Spencer was the most advanced infantry weapon in the world of its times, it was patented in 1860 by Christian Spencer, a machinist who worked in Hartford. Conn. For Sharps and developed the Spencer on his own time. We are offering this simply superb example that is in great condition for its age. This carbine was a fundamental game changer of the entire Civil War. Although Confederates captured some of these weapons, the South's armament industry was unable to manufacture much of the ammunition due to a shortage of copper. It is only a small exaggeration to state that this cartridge decided the outcome of the Civil War.
Col. John T. Wilder said of them:"Hoover's Gap was the first battle where the Spencer repeating rifle had ever been used, and in my estimation they were better weapons that has yet taken their place, being strong and not easily injured by the rough usage of army movements, and carrying a projectiile that disabled any man who was unlucky enough to be hit by it." One of his soldiers wrote about the Spencer that it "never got out of repair. It would shoot a mile just as accurately as the finest rifle in the world. It was the easiest gun to handle in the manual of arms drill I have ever seen. It could be taken all to pieces to clean, and hence was little trouble to keep in order -- quite an item to lazy soldiers." According to Smith Aktins, a colonel in Wilder's regiment, it was "the best arm for service in the field ever invented, better than any other arm in the world then or now, so simple in its mechanism that it never got out of order, and was always ready for instant service.".

Major-General James H. Wilson, who was instrumental in crushing Hood at Nashville (15-16 Dec. 1864) and defeated Forrest at Selma (2 April 1865), wrote the following about them: "There is no doubt that the Spencer carbine is the best fire-arm yet put into the hands of the soldier, both for economy of ammunition and maximum effect, physical and moral. Our best officers estimate one man armed with it is equivalent to three with any other arm. I have never seen anything else like the confidence inspired by it in the regiments or brigades which have it. A common belief amongst them is if their flanks are covered they can go anywhere. I have seen a large number of dismounted charges made with them against cavalry, infantry, and breast-works, and never knew one to fail. It was the world's first practical repeater and fired a .52 calibre metallic rimfire cartridge (patented by Smith & Wesson in 1854 and perfected by Henry in the late 1850's} which completely prevented gas leakage from the back because the brass casing expanded on ignition to seal the chamber. It had a "rolling block" (actually a rotating block) activated by lowering the trigger guard. This movement opened the breech and extracted the spent cartridge. Raising the lever caused a new cartridge, pushed into position by a spring in the 7-round magazine, to be locked into the firing chamber. The 7-round magazine was located in the stock.
The Spencer was easy to manufacture (given the requisite industrial infrastructure), had relatively few parts, many of which were in common with the Sharps rifles, and was cheaper than other repeaters on the market such as the Henry. It also turned out to be extremely reliable under battlefield conditions. Its great advantage over the muzzle loading rifles such as the Enfields and Springfields lay not only in the rapidity of fire, but also in the ability of the shooter to aim each shot. In a normal battle situation, the muzzle loaders were fired in an aimed manner only the first few shots, thereafter it was usually a case of hurried fire after frantic loading. A trained soldier could get off two or three shots a minute with them until the barrel fouled with lead deposit. With the Spencer the soldier could fire 20 to 30 times a minute when necessary, taking advantage of the cartridge box which held 10 preloaded magazines. The only disadvantage of the Spencers was the relatively small powder charge in the cartridge which limited its range. Some marksmen therefore preferred the single shot Sharps breechloader which used paper or linen cartridges with a larger powder charge and had greater range. With the Sharps you could fire about 10 times a minute. But for the cavalry which fought mostly at close range, the Spencer was the weapon of choice.

Introduced in Jan. 1862, it found its first major use by Col. John Wilder's Indiana "Lightning Brigade" of mounted infantry at Hoover's Gap during the Tullahoma Campaign (22 June - 3 July 1863). The firepower and speed of this unit overwhelmed Wheeler's cavalry guarding the southern end of this pass and allowed George H. Thomas's 14th infantry corps to place itself on the flank of the Confederate General Hardee. This sudden development misled Hardee into thinking he had been outflanked by the entire Union Army of the Cumberland, and he retreated without orders back to Tullahoma, 15 miles in his rear. Wilder then spearheaded the turning movement to the east of Tullahoma, and this in turn undermined Bragg's entire defensive line, and he had to pull back into Chattanooga. At the price of about 500 casualties the Union Army advanced 100 miles and made military history. Later, at the battle of Chickamauga (19-20 Sept. 1863), his troops used them with decisive effect on the first day, keeping Bragg's troops from cutting the road to Chattanooga, and slowing Longstreet's attack on the second day. This is the scarcer Burnside Spencer Repeating Rifle Contract Carbine,

Made in Providence Rhode Island This specimen is one of the Burnside Contract, making it much scarcer and thus rarer than those standard carbines made by the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company. Out of the 34,000 made by Burnside, over 30,000 were purchased by the U.S. government, which in gun production numbers, during this period, 30,000 was a most small contract indeed.

On October 16, 1868, 500 Burnside Contract Spencer Carbines were transferred by the Ordnance Department to the Colorado Territory. The Ordnance inspector cartouche remain visible on the left side of the stock behind the sling ring bar, this particular Ordnance stamp is also the ones used for the 500 Colorado Territory guns shipment.

Thousands of people had flooded into Colorado between 1858-1861 trying to find quick riches. As a result, the Colorado territory was born. This was the first time that a concentrated group of people had began to settle the region. It was almost immediately filled with wealth, trade, and rail transportation. By 1865, more than 1 million ounces of gold had been found. But this now overpopulated area had spilt out and violated an already unstable situation; The Treaty of Fort Laramie had been broken. The Treaty was meant to establish boundaries and offer peace, internally and externally, among both the United States and Natives. The American miners settling on the Native land only exaggerated the existing conflicts between tribes. The result ended up being years of war between multiple tribes and the U.S. Government, in what is now known as the Colorado War.
As the conflicts ceased, population growth flourished, and resources kept flowing, the territory became a state on August 1, 1876. Colorado could have been a state a little sooner if President Andrew Jackson didn’t issue a veto against the statehood in 1865. A lot of American history happened in a short span of time. Colorado played a huge role in the history of the American West, making the potential of this rifle in our opinion very special indeed.
As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 23152

A Simply Stunning Edo Period Mighty Samurai Armour and Helmet Piercer Tanto, Around 250 Years Old. An Absolute Beautiful Example of Samurai Sword Artistry & Skill

The blade is utterly amazing, with a great gunome hamon, superb grain in the hada, and powerful blade designed to pierce the strongest kabuto, iron plate war helmet, or even the strongest part of any gosuko armour, being an incredible 8 mm thick at the habaki.
Fully mounted with all its original Edo fuchi kashira decorated with takebori rabbits and reeds. Pure gold and silver rabbits on a shakudo nanako ground, with pure gold reeds. Pure gold menuki of shi shi lion dogs, under original edo black silk tsuka-itol.

It has a kozuka decorated on shakudo and gold of a herd of frolicking ponies . Original Edo period urushi lacquer ishime style, stone finish, lacquer saya with polished carved buffalo horn fittings. The only signs of age wear is on the lacquer saya, with three or four very small surface dings and slight blistering by the mid section on one side. The habaki is superb in shakudo. The tsuba is an iron tetsu oval inlaid with puer gold, with surface decoration of stylized serpent like beasts with gold stars both large and small with a pair of gold fronted seppa.

This would make a fabulous addition to any fine collection of original antique samurai weaponry or armour

Rabbits are one of the signs of the Japanese zodiac. They are considered lucky as the Japanese kanji used to write the word rabbit is similar to the kanji meaning "get rid of " or "make vanish". People believe that rabbits will make bad luck disappear! Rabbits are also known for jumping high. They can leap over nine feet! Rabbits symbolize everything going up in your life - improvement and success.

THE LANES ARMOURY, THE PREMIER HOME OF ORIGINAL AND AFFORDABLE ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES & ANTIQUE COLLECTABLES IN BRITAIN.

The Lanes Armoury, is world renown as Britain's favourite specialist collectors shop, and also a font of historical and educational information that is detailed with every single item. We detail each piece alongside its historical context, either generic or specific, for those that may wish to read, learn, or be informed, as opposed to simply acquire collectable items. We are probably one of the oldest companies of our kind in the whole of Europe and we have been established through generations, as specialists in armoury, military antiques, militaria collectables, and specialist books, since the early 1900’s, and thus we have continued to be one of the largest in the world today. The current partners were set on this path by their great grandfather, who while intrigued by historic antique arms and armour, was woefully under capitalised for his dream profession, so much so that even when starting his very small business, just after the first world war, he still kept up his original working class pre war trade as a scaffolder as his safety net in case his dreams folded. Just as well for his succeeding generations, he didn’t fail. However, true to his very old-fashioned working class ethics, every subsequent generation had to follow their own path, with no financial assistance whatsoever, with his son, grandson and great-grandsons having to make their own way, on their own skill and merits, whatever they may be.
We are also very pleased to know we are also studied and read by academics and students from hundreds of universities around the world, by those that are interested in not only British but worldwide history. Of course we are not perfect and errors can and will be made, but thanks to our viewers and visitors, errors can be corrected, and learnt from.
Our sacred principle is that every single country's history ought to be studied, and passed down, however good, or bad some of it may be. All history is knowledge, good, bad or indifferent.

Everyday we are contacted by historians that wish to make contributions to our detailed information for our pieces, and to thus add to our constant dedication to impart historical knowledge, that may be unknown to many of our millions of viewers.

As once told to us by an esteemed regular visitor to us here in our gallery, in order to view and study our Japanese edged weapons and armour gallery, and the same words that are repeated in his book;

“In these textures lies an extraordinary and unique feature of the sword - the steel itself possesses an intrinsic beauty. The Japanese sword has been appreciated as an art object since its perfection some time during the tenth century AD. Fine swords have been more highly prized than lands or riches, those of superior quality being handed down from generation to generation. In fact, many well-documented swords, whose blades are signed by their makers, survive from nearly a thousand years ago. Recognizable features of the blades of hundreds of schools of sword-making have been punctiliously recorded, and the study of the sword is a guide to the flow of Japanese history.”
Victor Harris
Curator, Assistant Keeper and then Keeper (1998-2003) of the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum. He studied from 1968-71 under Sato Kenzan, Tokyo National Museum and Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swords

Blade 12 inches long  read more

Code: 24380

A Stunning and Fine Edo Period Antique Nanban Iron and Gold Sukashi Tsuba with Pagoda Scene

Superb Nanban tsuba in Iron and gold highlights Landscape scene of a pagoda, bridge, prunus tree and river.
Nanban often regarded as meaning Southern Barbarian, are very much of the Chinese influence. The Chinese influence on this group of tsuba was of more import than the Western one, however, and resulted not merely in the utilisation of fresh images by the existing schools, but also in the introduction of a
completely fresh style of metalworking.
The term 'namban' was also used by the Japanese to describe an iron of foreign origin.
Neither can the Namban group be considered to represent 'native Japanese art'.
The required presence in the group, by definition, of 'foreign influence', together with the possibility of their being 'foreign made', was probably responsible for their great popularity at the time.

Tsuba are usually finely decorated, and are highly desirable collectors' items in their own right. Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down.
68mm x 72mm  read more

Code: 24078

A Rare, Superb and Impressive Original British or American 24-Pounder Naval Cannon Ball Souvenir of the War of 1812. The Round Shot Cannon Ball Is Indistinguishable Between US or British Fired 24 Pounders

This cast iron ball, a battle souvenir from the War of 1812, was a form of ammunition that could wreak havoc when shot from a cannon and blasted across the decks or into the hulls of warships in the late 18th and 19th centuries. And the 24 pounder was the most prolific cannon of the US Navy fleet in the War of 1812, and a main or secondary armament of the Royal Navy, depending on the rating of the vessel. This shot was returned to England and unloaded when the HMS Terror and its sister ship returned from the Fort McHenry bombardment, {part of Admiral Cochrane’s fleet} and they removed their unfired 90 pounder 10 inch mortars.

The solid shot balls were made to fit both Amarican and British 24 pounder cannon, so it may have been an unfired British shot aboard a British ship, or, an American ball that impacted once fired by a 24 pounder from an American frigate. There are numerous accounts of ‘at sea’ ship repairs, after naval engagements, where vessels of both sides removed from their hulls impacted shot that failed to penetrate the thick solid oak .

A brief resume of the War of 1812 at Baltimore;

With Washington in ruins, the British next set their sights on Baltimore, then America’s third-largest city. Moving up the Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the Patapsco River, they plotted a joint attack on Baltimore by land and water. On the morning of September 12, General Ross’s troops landed at North Point, Maryland, and progressed towards the city. They soon encountered the American forward line, part of an extensive network of defences established around Baltimore in anticipation of the British assault. During the skirmish with American troops, General Ross, so successful in the attack on Washington, was killed by a sharpshooter. Surprised by the strength of the American defences, British forces camped on the battlefield and waited for nightfall on September 13, planning to attempt another attack under cover of darkness.

Meanwhile, Britain’s naval force, buoyed by its earlier successful attack on Alexandria, Virginia, was poised to strike Fort McHenry and enter Baltimore Harbour. At 6:30 AM on September 13, 1814, Admiral Cochrane’s ships began a 25-hour bombardment of the fort. Rockets whistled through the air and burst into flame wherever they struck. Mortars fired 10- and 13-inch bombshells that exploded overhead in showers of fiery shrapnel. It is said many exploded too soon as the fuses were set too short, which created the firework effect. Major Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry and its defending force of one thousand troops, ordered his men to return fire, but their guns couldn’t reach the enemy’s ships. When British ships advanced on the afternoon of the 13th, however, American gunners badly damaged them, forcing them to pull back out of range. All through the night, Armistead’s men continued to hold the fort, refusing to surrender. That night British attempts at a diversionary attack also failed, and by dawn they had given up hope of taking the city. At 7:30 on the morning of September 14, Admiral Cochrane called an end to the bombardment, and the British fleet withdrew. The successful defense of Baltimore marked a turning point in the War of 1812. Three months later, on December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent formally ended the war. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbour during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the U.S. victory. During the bombardment, HMS Terror and HMS Meteor provided some of the "bombs bursting in air".

Long guns, so-called because of their longer barrels, loaded with 24-pound balls (or shot) were referred to as “24-pounder long guns.” The weight of the ball combined with the length of the gun was an efficient and effective weapon used by many maritime nations at the time. Larger ships-of-the-line in the Royal Navy carried such guns as their secondary battery, but both British and American large frigates carried the 24-pounders as their primary battery.

A naval 24-pounder, which was the primary gun on board early U.S. Navy vessels during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The U.S.S. Constitution carried thirty 24-pounder guns on her gun deck below the spar deck, which carried twenty-four 32-pounder carronades. Photo 3 in the gallery is from aboard the USS Constitution, where one can see, likely, a 30 pounder ball alongside a 24 pounder. The guns were mounted in naval carriages, which were sometimes painted green, black, red, or brown, but more than likely left in their natural wood, but treated with a protective varnish that had a slight red-brown hue. All 24-pounder cannon made in the United States were cast from iron as tin and copper were not assessable natural resources at the time, so they were painted black to prevent rust. Even the bores were painted black with a scrub brush on a rod. At sea they were cleaned and painted often. Iron 24-pounder guns actually weighed some 300 pounds lighter than their bronze or brass contemporaries. The dimensions for a heavy 24-pounder are: Length: 9 ft. 6 in.; Weight: 5,488 pounds; Calibre of gun: 5.83 in.; Calibre of projectile: 5.54 in.; Weight of charge: 4 to 6 pounds; Types of projectiles: 24 pound round shot, grape shot, chain shot, and case or canister shot; Range: 300 - 400 yards.  read more

Code: 25852

A Superb Vintage, Wartime, British Military Surgeon's Campaign Set, A Nickel Plated Medical Instrument Cylinder, With In-Built High Pressure Sterilizer

With numerous tools, scissors clamps etc., and cases for needles and blades, for principally bullet and shrapnel extractions. One instrument lacking. Superbly engineered, and a beautiful quality piece.

Maker marked by Brown of Leicester. It appears that the case may be designed to be pressure boil sterilized in the field of combat, with a pressure release type system built into the lid. The significance of military medicine for combat strength goes far beyond treatment of battlefield injuries; in every major war fought until the late 19th century disease claimed more soldier casualties than did enemy action. During the American Civil War (1860-65), for example, about twice as many soldiers died of disease as were killed or mortally wounded in combat. The Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) is considered to have been the first conflict in which combat injury exceeded disease, at least in the German coalition army which lost 3.47% of its average headcount to combat and only 1.82% to disease. In new world countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, military physicians and surgeons contributed significantly to the development of civilian health care.

Improvements in military medicine have increased the survival rates in successive wars, due to improvements in medical evacuation, battlefield medicine and trauma care. Similar improvements have been seen in the trauma practices during the Iraq war. Some military trauma care practices are disseminated by citizen soldiers who return to civilian practice. One such practice is where major trauma patients are transferred to an operating theater as soon as possible, to stop internal bleeding, increasing the survival rate. Within the United States, the survival rate for gunshot wounds has increased, leading to apparent declines in the gun death rate in states that have stable rates of gunshot hospitalizations  read more

Code: 22685

A Very Rare Fabulous, Original Battle of Waterloo Recovered 12 Pounder Explosive French 'Gribeauval' Cannon Ball. Fired by What Napoleon Called His "Beautiful Daughters" Likely From The Grand Battery Pounding Mont St Jean

Recovered from the time of excavation of the battle field site of Waterloo for the construction of the 'Waterloo Mound' in the 1820's, constructed to hold the massive lion statue, to commemorate the Prince of Orange's contribution to the battle. The mound is frequently believed to be far more impressive than the prince's actual efforts as the commander of his men during the battle.
Obviously a miss-fired explosive French cannon ball that failed to detonate.

At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the French army, under Napoleon's command, utilized the 12-pounder Gribeauval cannon. This cannon, which fired a 12-pound round shot, and explosive ball, was a mainstay of the French artillery and a key component of Napoleon's forces. The Gribeauval system, including the 12-pounder, was known for its lighter weight compared to other artillery of the time, contributing to the French army's mobility.

The 12-pounder Gribeauval cannon was a field artillery piece that fired a 12-pound (approximately 5.4 kg) round shot. It was also capable of firing other projectiles like grapeshot, canister shot, explosive Howitzer type, and later, shells.

Napoleon favoured the Gribeauval system, including the 12-pounder, calling it his "beautiful daughters". He valued its lighter weight, which allowed for greater maneuverability on the battlefield.
Waterloo Deployment:
At Waterloo, the French artillery, including the 12-pounders, played a significant role, though the battle's outcome was ultimately determined by other factors. While the exact number of 12-pounders deployed at Waterloo is debated, historical accounts mention batteries of 12-pounders being used to bombard Wellington's lines.
British 12-pounders:
It's also worth noting that the British, under Wellington's command, also used 12-pounder guns, although they were heavier than the French Gribeauval system.

The battle involved a significant amount of artillery fire from both sides. Solid shot, like that fired from the 12-pounders, was a powerful weapon capable of inflicting serious damage on troops and fortifications,

We know from his Memoirs that Napoleon ordered at 11am that the 12-pounder batteries of II and VI Corps would mass with that of the I Corps, that these 24 guns would bombard the troops holding Mont St Jean and that Comte d’Erlon would commence the attack, by first launching his left division, and when necessary, supporting it by the other divisions of the I Corps. Now, this established a battery of 18 x 12 pounders and 6 x 6 inch howitzers to batter Wellington’s line in advance of Mont St Jean.

Empty safe and inert.  read more

Code: 25842

A Most Rare, 'Trench Art', .55 Boys Anti Tank Rifle Round 1942, Converted Into a Soldier's Desert Rat Period Campaign Cigarette Lighter

As you might be aware, being a militaria and specialist bookshop for over 100 years we have had all manner of examples of ‘trench art’. It is known principally for artefacts and souvenirs made by our boys in the trenches of the first world war, and later in the second. Small pieces of military, discharged kit, artillery shell cases, bullet shell cases, and simply pieces of brass metal that were ‘hanging around, could be converted, with a little skill and effort, into useful or decorative items, for the folks back home. The creation all manner of curious pieces were constructed, from paperknives, butter knives, miniature tanks, to planes, miniature hats, dinner gongs, or armoured cars. in fact all manner of souvenirs for their loved ones. A relatively popular item was the petrol cigarette lighter, which was mostly made for their own immediate use, usually created from discharged bullets, or very small shellcases. They were no doubt extremely useful, in fact pretty much vital, especially during the privations of life in the wet and intolerable confines of a trench, in the days where smoking was nigh on compulsory.
Trench art continued to be made into the Second World War, but was not made in the same quantities as it was in WW1. The Second World War war was far more mobile, and not static as it was in the first world war, with little or no ‘down time’, unlike WW1, what with areas of trenches being maintained and occupied by soldiers of both sides, sometimes for months or even years on end.
Over the years we have seen many types of lighter but a Boys tank bullet converted to a lighter has to be one of the rarest we’ve seen, in fact I can’t remember the last one, it has possibly even as long as 40 to 50 years ago.
A .55 Boys Mark 2 Anti-Tank Rifle.55 Boys Mark 2 1942 Dated Anti-Tank Rifle Round, converted to use as a piece of functional, servicemen's, 'trench art', a useful lighter on campaign. The rifle developed by Captain H C Boys, a designer at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield resulting in the .55 Boys anti-tank rifle being adopted in 1937. Although the round was adequate against light tanks in the early part of the war, the Boys was ineffective against heavier armour and was phased out in favour of the PIAT mid-war. During the early campaigns, like Norway and France, the Boys performed adequately against the thinly armored Panzer I, II and IIIs. The first German tanks knocked out by British troops were by a Boys during the Norwegian campaign. Sergeant Major John Sheppard of the 1/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment (TA) was deployed near the village of Tretten to help protect the right flank when three German Panzers approached his position. Taking up the Platoon’s Boys, which he had never used before, Sheppard fired three rounds into each tank, knocking out two of them and making the rest third retreat. For his actions that day, which helped keep the right flank of the British position solid, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.The Boys anti-tank rifle was a bolt action rifle fed from a five-shot magazine, loaded by means of a 5 round stripper clip. The rifle was large, heavy with a bipod at the front and a separate grip below the padded butt. The Boys anti tank gun was also made in Canada and sold to America, we sold it to Russia, and Finland, and many thousands were captured at Dunkirk by the German's and issued by their special anti tank units. See photos in the gallery of the British Desert Rats using in against Rommel in Africa, the Finns using it against the Russians in the Finish Russian Winter War, and by the Germans in WW2. Not suitable top export due to bullet shape.  read more

Code: 24019

German WW2 Combat Engineer's Short Wire Cutter's

Combat Pioneer personnel, (Engineers), were issued assorted specialized equipment designed to meet their needs as the spearhead troops tasked with destroying enemy obstacles and creating forward defensive positions for their own troops in the face of the enemy. Each Division in the German Army and the Waffen-SS, (Armed-SS), had an organic Pionier, (Combat Engineer), battalion that consisted of personnel specially trained in destroying enemy obstacles, creating forward defensive positions, bridging and assault tactics.
As the spearhead troops the Engineers were issued with assorted specialized equipment including assault packs, pick axes, saws, long handle shovels, wire cutters, explosive tool kits and other construction and demolition equipment. The Combat Engineer's equipment also included a wide variety of assorted demolition charges, anti-personnel and anti-vehicles mines along with the appropriate detonators, igniters and timers. The Combat Engineers were utilized two, different models of wire cutters enabling personnel to cut through barbwire entanglements. The wire cutters came in both a short and a long model and both were issue with a specific carrying case that was to be worn on the load carrying waist belt.  read more

Code: 23360

A Superb, Antique, Meteoric Steel Kris With Singularly Beautiful Blade of Meteorite Steel. The Metalurgical Graining in The Blade Is Absolutely Spectacular

Made with laminate steel and pamor and likely with metal from a meteorite. An old, 18th century Bali Keris [or Kris] with a superbly sculpted serpentine seven wave blade bearing pamor wos wutah. The old wrongko is the batun form in the South Bali style, it is made from an outstanding piece of timoho. The old bondolan hilt is from well patterned timoho wood and is fitted with an old wewer set with pastes.
This keris displays impeccable blade quality in a scabbard of beautifully marked timoho wood and is an outstanding example of the Balinese keris. Pamor is the pattern of white lines appearing on the blade. Kris blades are forged by a technique known as pattern welding, one in which layers of different metals are pounded and fused together while red hot, folded or twisted, adding more different metals, pounded more and folded more until the desired number of layers are obtained. The rough blade is then shaped, filed and sometimes polished smooth before finally acid etched to bring out the contrasting colors of the low and high carbon metals. The traditional Indonesian weapon allegedly endowed with religious and mystical powers. With probably a traditional Meteorite laminated iron blade with hammered nickel for the contrasting pattern. Traditionally the pamor material for the kris smiths connected with the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta originates from an iron meteorite that fell to earth at the end of 18th century in the neighborhood of the Prambanan temple complex. The meteorite was excavated and transported to the keraton of Surakarta; from that time on the smiths of Vorstenlanden (the Royal territories) used small pieces of meteoric iron to produce pamor patterns in their kris, pikes, and other status weapons. After etching the blade with acidic substances, it is the small percentage of nickel present in meteoric iron that creates the distinctive silvery patterns that faintly light up against the dark background of iron or steel that become darkened by the effect of the acids.  read more

Code: 22611