Original 1930’s Third Reich Portrait of Rudolf Jordan Hitler's Personally Appointed Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg & Magdeburg-Anhalt and Former General of the SA, Gruppenfuhrer der SA. Likely Commissioned & Paid For By Adolf Hitler Personally

Most rare surviving example of the official portrait of one of Hitler’s personally appointed district political leaders known as a Gauleiter, as almost all of around 450 original, 1930’s German portraits of Hitler’s inner circle and high command are now in the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington. Each portrait could have cost up to 12,000 Reichmarks each, a most considerable sum in 1939. Approximately 114 men held the highly esteemed position of Gauleiter. Many shared a common background. Most of them, particularly during the early years, were drawn from the cadre of "old fighters" that had helped Hitler forge the Party during the Kampfzeit (Time of Struggle). The rank and power of these men was shared equally and was only four below Hitler himself. Their power was thus highly significant within the echelons of the Third Reich.

Many of these portraits were either commissioned, or acquired by Hitler personally, and they are all part of the record of Hitler and his elite commanders rise to power, in order to satisfy his determination to conquer the world and subjugate and destroy all who resisted.

No dictator can effectively govern a nation on his own. This was certainly the case with Adolf Hitler who had little time for or interest in the day-to-day regional administration of the Nazi Party.

For that purpose, he appointed his most loyal, charismatic and brutal subordinates: the ‘Little Hitlers’, officially known as Gauleiters.

Firstly, after the NSDAP gained power over Germany the Nazi Party adopted a new framework, which divided Germany into regions called Gaue. Each Gaue had its own leader, a Gauleiter. Each Gaue was then divided into subsections, called Kreise. Each Kreise then had its own leader, called a Kreisleiter. Each Kreise was then divided into even smaller sections, each with its own leader, and so on. Each of these sections were responsible to the section above them, with Hitler at the very top of the party with ultimate authority.

As almost all these oil portraits of Germany’s ‘Little Hitler’s’ were removed from Germany in 1945/6 and transported to America, it is estimated that just a very few, perhaps as few as between five or ten remained in Europe and in private hands. This is one of those tiny few. An incredibly rare example of the original, historical, visual record of the power structure organised by Hitler himself. Which makes this an incredibly rare original artifact that is an historically important representation of likely the most important and radical political events of the past thousand years. From those three decades of the 20th century that has changed the very structure of the world for all time.

The US high command in 1945/6 realised just how important it was to keep and save as many such portraits of his gauleiters as possible, as a permanent record and reminder for the future, of the monumental fight and sacrifices in order to subdue the axis powers from their schemes of world domination, during the two most significant decades of the past 300 years..

This is original portrait, in oil on canvas, of Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan (21 June 1902 - 27 October 1988). He was a Nazi Gauleiter in Halle-Merseburg and Magdeburg-Anhalt during Hitler’s socialist Third Reich. One of the notorious and prominent high command of Hitler’s Third Reich. An original Nazi oil portrait from the 1930's. Most similar in the new Aryan style of the Nazi portrait painter Fritz Erler, and his painting of 'Minister and Gauleiter Adolf Wagner', 1936. It was exhibited in the GDK, the Great German Art Exhibition, in 1939, in room 23. It was bought there by Hitler for 12.000 RM. In fact he bought two paintings by Fritz Erler: Portrait des Staatsministers und Gauleiters Adolf Wagner and Portrait des Reichsministers Fricke.

They are now in the possession of the US Army Military Center of History. Possibly this portrait was also in that exhibition with the two other Gauleiter Wagner and Frick. Erlers similar style portrait of Hitler, also painted in his SA uniform, in 1931, is currently valued for sale at 725,000 Euros. Around 450 portraits depicting Hitler and other Nazi-officials and symbols are currently stored in the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington

From 19 January 1931, Jordan was appointed Nazi Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg, and then began rising within the Party ranks, acting as member of the Prussian Landtag between April 1932 and October 1933 and being appointed to the Prussian State Council and made an SA Gruppenfuhrer. In the same year began the publication of the Mitteldeutsche Tageszeitung newspaper, led by Jordan. In March 1933 came his appointment as Plenipotentiary for the Province of Saxony in the Reichsrat and in November 1933 his election as a member of the Reichstag. On 20 April 1937, Adolf Hitler personally appointed him Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) in Braunschweig and Anhalt and NSDAP Gauleiter of Magdeburg-Anhalt. Jordan was succeeded as Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg by Joachim Albrecht Eggeling.

In the same year came Jordan's promotion to SA-Obergruppenfuhrer. In 1939, Jordan became Chief of the Anhalt Provincial Government and Reichsverteidigungskommissar (Reich Defence Commissar, or RVK) in Defence District XI. On 18 April 1944 came Jordan's last leap up the career ladder when he was appointed High President (Oberpresident) of the Province of MagdeburgIn the war's dying days, Jordan managed to go underground with his family under a false name. He was nonetheless arrested by the British on 30 May 1945, and in July of the next year, the Western Allies handed him over to the Soviets. Late in 1950 after four years in custody in the Soviet occupation zone Jordan was sentenced to 25 years in a labour camp in the Soviet Union. Only Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's visit to Moscow managed to persuade the Soviets to reconsider Jordan's sentence, and then he was released on 13 October 1955. In the years to come, Jordan earned a living as a sales representative, and worked as an administrator for an aircraft manufacturing firm. He died in Munich. The Gardelegen massacre was the cold-blooded murder of inmates that had been evacuated from the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp and some of its sub-camps on April 3rd, 4th and 5th. Around 4,000 prisoners had been bound for the Bergen-Belsen, Sachsenhausen or Neuengamme concentration camps, but when the railroad tracks were bombed by American planes, they had been re-routed to Gardelegen, which was the site of a Cavalry Training School and a Parachutist Training School. The trains were forced to stop before reaching the town of Gardelegen and some of the escaped prisoners had terrorized the nearby villages, raping, looting and killing civilians.

The man who is considered to be the main instigator of the Gardelegen massacre is 34-year-old Gerhard Thiele , who was the Nazi party district leader of Gardelegen. On April 6, 1945, Thiele called a meeting of his staff and other officials at which he issued an order, which had been given to him a few days before by Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan , that any prisoners who were caught looting or who tried to escape should be shot on the spot. In 1932, Nazi Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan claimed that SS Security Chief Reinhard Heydrich was not a pure "Aryan". Within the Nazi organisation such innuendo could be damning, even for the head of the Reich's counterintelligence service. Gregor Strasser passed the allegations on to Achim Gercke who investigated Heydrich's genealogy. Gercke reported that Heydrich was "... of German origin and free from any coloured and Jewish blood". He insisted that the rumours were baseless. Even with this report, Heydrich privately engaged SD member Ernst Hoffman to further investigate and deny the rumours. The last two pictures in the gallery of Jordan with Hitler and his Gaulieters at his 50th birthday examining his convertible Volkwagen Beetle, and the Erler painting of Gauleiter Wagner, bought by Hitler. 2 foot x 3 foot unframed. Water stain at the rear of the canvas. Surviving original portraits of Third Reich leaders are now very rare for at the end of the war thousands of paintings, portraits of Nazi-leaders, paintings containing a swastika or depicting military/war sceneries were destroyed. With knives, fires and hammers, they smashed countless sculptures and burned thousands of paintings. However around 8,722 artworks were shipped to military deposits in the U.S. From 1933 to 1949 Germany experienced two massive art purges. Both the National Socialist government and OMGUS (the U.S. Military Government in Germany) were highly concerned with controlling what people saw and how they saw it. The Nazis eliminated what they called Degenerate art, erasing the pictorial traces of turmoil and heterogeneity that they associated with modern art. The Western Allies in turn eradicated Nazi art. Whatever one considers about the actions of all of the entire third reich, art is art, and every piece is a representation of a portion of history, good or bad. One thing we learned very well from the tragic 1930s and 1940s is that classifying art as non-art and forbidding books or art for political reasons is a dead-end street. No matter how much one dislikes or despises the infamous despots and dictators of history, such as Hitler, Caligula, Pol Pot & Stalin, and no matter how much their depictions were used as propaganda, a painting or sculpture of them cannot be re-classified as 'non art'. This painting depicts a member of Hitler’s notorious inner circle, that for a brief period of world history very nearly placed the entire world in subjugation to the will of Germany and it’s ally Japan. It is the embodiment of why the preservation of such art can remind the thousands of its observers, for generations to come, that those people such as Rudolf Jordan, who were just ordinary looking nondescript individuals, that if left unchecked would have condemned the entire world to a nightmarish dystopia, of slavery, starvation and misery. And thanks to great leaders such as Winston Churchill, who had the talent and skill to embolden a solitary nation, racked by trepidation, facing the free world’s greatest foe alone, they were utterly routed and deposed by the near defeated and subdued great democracies. Part of the theory of Hannah Ahrend Johanna "Hannah" Arendt, 14 October 1906 - 4 December 1975 was a German-born Jewish American political theorist. Though often described as a philosopher, she rejected that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular" and instead described herself as a political theorist because her work centres on the fact that "men, not Man, live on the earth and inhabit the world." This portrait would nicely improve with some cosmetic restoration and cleaning.  read more

Code: 20504

A Very Fine & Most Beautiful 18th Century Royal Naval Officer’s Sword of Hunting Sword Cutlass Type. As Used By Ship's Captain's and Fleet Admirals

Gilt brass hilt with fluted wooden grip and finely engraved blade with maker mark and Solingen, and hunting scenes.

Quillon block decorated with relief hunting horn and hunting devices. Acorn finials and fluted brass pommel.

In the days of the early Royal Navy, officers carried short swords in the pattern of hunting sword cutlasses, with both straight or curved blades, fancy brass mounted single knucklebow hilts with principally stag horn or reeded ebony grips. Although initially designed to protect the huntsman from a close quarter predatory attack, or the coup de grace, they were far more popular in England for use as naval officer's swords, not as their initial design intended, as Britain had far fewer great wild beasts that might threaten a huntsman.

There are numerous portraits in the National Portrait Gallery and The National Maritime Musuem that show British Admirals such as Benbow and Clowdesly Shovel holding such swords, often originally made on the continent as was this beauty.

24.5 inches long overall.  read more

Code: 22526

18th Century 1770's Hallmarked Silver Hilted American Revolutionary War Period Officer's Sword Used By Both American and British Officers. Made by William Kinman of London

A fabulously intricate pattern of hilt with a complex geometric piercing with arabesque scrolling and cut stone patterning. It is sometimes referred to as the Boulton pattern, named after Matthew Boulton a renown London silversmith of the 18th century. The grip has silver banding interspersed with a herringbone pattern twisted silver wire. William Kinman was a leading member of the Founders Company of London was born in 1728 and is recorded as a prominent silver hilt maker. He is recorded at 8 Snow Hill for the last time circa 1781, is recorded circa 1728-1808, [see L. Southwick 2001, pp. 159-160.]. The small sword or smallsword is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance. The height of the small sword's popularity was between mid 17th and late 18th century. It is thought to have appeared in France and spread quickly across the rest of Europe. The small sword was the immediate predecessor of the French duelling sword (from which the épée developed) and its method of use—as typified in the works of such authors as Sieur de Liancour, Domenico Angelo, Monsieur J. Olivier, and Monsieur L'Abbat—developed into the techniques of the French classical school of fencing. Small swords were also used as status symbols and fashion accessories; for most of the 18th century anyone, civilian or military, and with gentlemanly status would have worn a small sword on a daily basis.
The small sword could be a highly effective duelling weapon, and some systems for the use of the bayonet were developed using the method of the smallsword as their foundation, (including perhaps most notably, that of Alfred Hutton).

Militarily, small swords continued to be used as a standard sidearm for infantry officers. In some branches with strong traditions, this practice continues to the modern day, albeit for ceremonial and formal dress only. The carrying of swords by officers in combat conditions was frequent in World War I and still saw some practice in World War II. The 1913 U.S. Army Manual of Bayonet Drill includes instructions for how to fight a man on foot with a small sword. Small swords are still featured on parade uniforms of some corps.
As a rule, the blade of a small sword is comparatively short at around 0.6 to 0.85 metres (24 to 33 in), though some reach over 0.9 metres (35 in). It usually tapers to a sharp point but may lack a cutting edge. It is typically triangular in cross-section. This sword's blade is approx 33 inches long. I its working life the pierced oval guard has been damaged, re-affixed and repaired

A sword by this maker with a very similar hilt is preserved in the Royal Armouries Leeds, IX.3782. See Southwick 2001, p. 290-1 pls. 75-7
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Code: 23950

A Beautiful, Signed Samurai Long 17th Century Katana With Very Fine Edo Period Mounts Including Fabulous Quality Hand Chisselled Silver Fuchi Kashira of Takebori Turbulent Seas and Sea Shells. Signed Hisamichi

The sword has just returned from our Japanese, trained polisher, for a final hand conservation and it look simply fabulous.

Its fabulous munuki are bound underneath the micro woven plaited tsuka-ito hilt binding, depict takebori gold and shakudo Mount Fuji, and a man running in the waves that are before Mount Fuji. The saya is black urushi lacquer with a carved buffalo horn kurigata and brown sageo wrap. The blade shows a beautiful notare based on suguha hamon, with fine hada. The nakago is signed and bears the signature, Omi no Kami Hisamichi, but not, or very unlikey to be one of the four Mashina school masters, also named Hisamichi.

Very fine signed iron plate hira-kaku-gata tsuba, but when mounted, the tsuba seppa-dai is covered by seppa (metal spacers) and the signature (mei) is not visible as usual. With a mimi {a prominant rim} and a kozuka hitsu-ana, and kogai hitsu ana, and very scarcely seen, twin holes near the rim at the bottom of the tsuba called ude-nuki ana. These represent the sun and moon and were likely used for threading a leather wrist thong to prevent dropping the sword in battle on horseback, and to tie the tsuka to the saya.

The name katana derives from two old Japanese written characters or symbols: kata, meaning side, and na, or edge. Thus a katana is a single-edged sword that has had few rivals in the annals of war, either in the East or the West. Because the sword was the main battle weapon of Japan's knightly man-at-arms (although spears and bows were also carried), an entire martial art grew up around learning how to use it. This was kenjutsu, the art of sword fighting, or kendo in its modern, non-warlike incarnation. The importance of studying kenjutsu and the other martial arts such as kyujutsu, the art of the bow, was so critical to the samurai a very real matter of life or death that Miyamoto Musashi, most renowned of all swordsmen, warned in his classic The Book of Five Rings: The science of martial arts for warriors requires construction of various weapons and understanding the properties of the weapons. A member of a warrior family who does not learn to use weapons and understand the specific advantages of each weapon would seem to be somewhat uncultivated. European knights and Japanese samurai have some interesting similarities. Both groups rode horses and wore armour. Both came from a wealthy upper class. And both were trained to follow strict codes of moral behaviour. In Europe, these ideals were called chivalry; the samurai code was called Bushido, "the way of the warrior." The rules of chivalry and Bushido both emphasize honour, self-control, loyalty, bravery, and military training.

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.
Some samurai, it has been claimed, 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.

Blade 28.3 inches long, tsuba to tip.  read more

Code: 25301

An, FN Model 1910, Fabrique Nationale D'Armes DeGuerre, .32 ACP, Semi Auto Pocket Pistol The Same Auto Pistol as Used to Assassinate Archduke Ferdinand That Caused WW1, & By Luftwaffe Officers in WW2. Famously Used By James Bond {Sean Connery} in Dr No.

A very good, original, Browning FN semi auto, pocket or concealed holster pistol, with monogrammed black grip plates, good and clear maker stamps Fabrique Nationale D'Armes De Guerre Herstal-Belgique, And deact proofs and fully cocking, firing, sliding action
The FN Model 1910, also known as the Browning model 1910, was a departure for Browning. Before, his designs were produced by both FN in Europe and Colt Firearms in the United States. Since Colt did not want to produce it, Browning chose to patent and produce this design in Europe only. Introduced in 1910, this pistol used a novel operating spring location surrounding the barrel. This location became the standard and copied in such future weapons as the Walther PPK and Russian Makarov.

It incorporated the standard Browning striker-firing mechanism and a grip safety along with a magazine safety and an external safety lever (known as the "triple safety") in a compact package. Offered in both .380 ACP (6-round magazine) and .32 ACP (7-round magazine) calibres, it remained in production until 1983. It is possible to switch calibres by changing only the barrel. However, FN never offered packages containing a single pistol with both calibre barrels.

An FN M1910, serial number 19074, was the handgun used by Gavrilo Princip aka 'the Black Hand' to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, the act that precipitated the First World War.

Paul Doumer, President of France, was assassinated by Russian emigre Paul Gorguloff on 6 May 1932 with a Model 1910 in .32 ACP. The pistol is now in the Musée des Collections Historiques de la Préfecture de Police.

A Model 1910 was also allegedly used to assassinate Huey Long, governor of Louisiana, on 5 September 1935. Physician Carl Weiss, the alleged assassin, bought the FN M1910 now on display Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge, in Europe for $25 in 1930.

Hannie Schaft ‘The Girl With The Red Hair” a famous Dutch heroine and assassin for the resistance, used a model M1910, with M1922 extended barrel, during her German and Dutch Nazi assassinations as part of the Dutch communist resistance against Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

This type of semi auto was as much favoured by Luftwaffe Officers in WW2 as the Walther PPK. Made in the Browning, Frabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre factory in occupied Belgium, one of the great prize assets of the Third Reich, thanks to Hitler's invasion of Belgium at the beginning of WW2.
,Admiral, Lord Jellicoe, 1st Sea Lord of His Majesty's Royal Navy, carried such a pistol, which is now an exhibit in the National Maritime Museum. A barrel extended version of the 1910 model Browning

James Bond (Sean Connery) uses an FN Model 1910 in Dr No, with a suppressor added, to kill Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson).

Hannie Schaft wanted to work with weapons when she joined the Dutch Resistance in early WW2. She was responsible for sabotaging and assassinating various targets. She carried out attacks on Germans, Dutch Nazis, collaborators and traitors. She learned to speak German fluently and became involved with German soldiers. Before facing her targets, Schaft put on makeup — including lipstick and mascara — and styled her hair. In one of the few direct quotations that have been attributed to Schaft, she explained to Truus Oversteegen: “I’ll die clean and beautiful.”

Schaft did not, however, accept every assignment. When asked to kidnap the children of a Nazi official she refused. If the plan had failed, the children would have to be killed, and Schaft felt that was too similar to the Nazis' acts of terror. When seen at the location of a particular assassination, Schaft was identified as "the girl with the red hair". Her involvement led "the girl with the red hair" to be placed on the Nazis' most-wanted list. She was eventually betrayed by accident and was executed before the wars end.

Deactivated to UK old specification, stamped accordingly, cocking and firing actionable, fully operational, but non functional since its official deactivation. Thus, no licence required to own and collect, not suitable to export.  read more

Code: 25693

A Most Attractive 500 Plus Year Old Samurai Battle Katana With All Original Edo Mounts,

Shibui mounted in all its original Edo period mounts and saya. Higo iron fushigashira mounts, decorated with takebori gold aoi leaves. Tetsu round tsuba with pierced kozuka and [gilt copper filled] kogai hitsu-ana. The original Edo saya lacquer is simply beautiful, in two shades of black with an intricate fine rainfall pattern within the design. The menuki under the Edo silk binding, are patinated takebori flowers with pure gold highlights. The blade has a beautiful undulating hamon pattern of considerable depth.
Shibui is a term that effectively translates to ‘quiet’ , it is a reference to a sword that has a relatively subdued look as it concentrates on high quality yet subtle elegance, as it is a sword entirely concentrating on combat and less on flamboyant display. Of course all samurai swords were designed for combat, often despite being mounted as works of art, often with fantastic quality fittings worthy of Italian Renaissance jewels, such as the European equivalent work by the Italian master Cellini, but they would be for samurai eager to display their status in the elite hierarchy of the samurai class, such as daimyo. The swords mounted shibui were for the samurai of far more serious nature, dedicated to their more basic standards of bushido, the art of the ultimate warrior, with little or no interest in displays of rank. A samurai of the highest skill but preferring the anonymity of almost being invisible to unwanted attention.

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 bu [to stop the spear] exanding 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. 40 inches long overall. 28.5 inch long blade, from tsuba to tip., The blade is in super condition for its age, with just a few wear marks, and pit marks on the mune back edge near the boshi. The saya lacquer has some natural age craking at the base  read more

Code: 24217

A Ko Wakizashi, or Long Sunobi Tanto, Signed Blade Shinto Period Circa 1650

All original Edo mounts and a most fine and elegant blade with notare based on suguha hamon, signed, possibly Norishige, but the kanji are somewhat difficult to interpret, 15.5 inch blade measured from tsuba to tip.

Suite of matching koshirae mounts in tetsu with the tsuba gold inlaid with a stylized dragon and clouds, similary in laid in the sayajiri and saya band inlaid, with a black stippled erushi lacquer, and a carved wood tsuka. The kozuka is a takebori dragon on the plain tetsu ground, the blade is carved wood. The blade has a fine silver foiled habaki engraved with oblique raindrop pattern.

Sunobi Tanto
The Tanto that varied from the traditional size were called Sunobi-Tanto or O-Tanto. These were larger versions of the Tanto which featured blades usually measuring between 13 to 14 inches long. It was close to the size of the Ko-Wakizashi, which is a shorter version of the Wakizashi. However as this blade is even longer that the usual 14 inches, that is why it can be considered as a transitional weapon that has a foot in both camps so to speak. Because of its often small size, the Samurai warriors were able to conceal the Tanto in their clothing. It was also the Shoto or small sword in the Daisho and was paired with the Tachi. This was before the Samurai chose to use the Wakizashi over the Tanto as an auxiliary sword.
The Wakizashi was a Samurai warrior’s backup weapon that was used for close-quarter battles. Aside from this, the sword was a Samurai warrior’s tool for beheading a defeated opponent. It was sometimes used for committing Seppuku, a ritualistic suicide.

In addition, the Wakizashi was one of the few short swords available to the Samurai warrior. Another sword they might use was called a Chisa Katana, effectively a short Katana perfect for use within buildings castles etc. and the prerogative of the personal full time bodyguard of a Daimyo lord, who were the usually the only samurai permitted to be armed in his presence day and night.

Because the sword was the main battle weapon of Japan's knightly man-at-arms (although spears and bows were also carried), an entire martial art grew up around learning how to use it. This was kenjutsu, the art of sword fighting, or kendo in its modern, non-warlike incarnation. The importance of studying kenjutsu and the other martial arts such as kyujutsu, the art of the bow, was so critical to the samurai a very real matter of life or death that Miyamoto Musashi, most renowned of all swordsmen, warned in his classic The Book of Five Rings: The science of martial arts for warriors requires construction of various weapons and understanding the properties of the weapons. A member of a warrior family who does not learn to use weapons and understand the specific advantages of each weapon would seem to be somewhat uncultivated. European knights and Japanese samurai have some interesting similarities. Both groups rode horses and wore armour. Both came from a wealthy upper class. And both were trained to follow strict codes of moral behaviour. In Europe, these ideals were called chivalry; the samurai code was called Bushido, "the way of the warrior." The rules of chivalry and Bushido both emphasize honour, self-control, loyalty, bravery, and military training  read more

Code: 24350

A Most Impressive and Beautiful Wakizashi Circa 1580 with Representations of the Two of the Japanese Seven Lucky Gods

Signed Izumi kami Kanesada original edo period fittings and saya. The saya has a light application of crushed abilone shell and pockets for the kodzuka and kogai. The fushigashira are iron inlaid with tendrils in gold and silver, with dragon menuki in patinated copper, a circular tsuba with kodzuka ana and kogai ana. the kodzuka has decor of takebori war fans, two open and one closed. the blade is signed. The kogai has has a takebori sinchu scroll and staff of Jurojin, and the blade is superb with a nice suguha hamon and a gold covered habaki with engraved raindrop pattern. The saya has a pair of very fine quality matching fittings, both gold and shakudo, a kurigata engraved with Hotei and the sayajiri, with engraved Jurojin. In Japan, Hotei and Jurojin are two of the Seven Gods of Fortune or Shichifukujin, according to Taoist beliefs.Jurojin is the god of longevity. Jurojin originated from the Chinese Taoist god, the Old Man of the South Pole. He is known as the immortal of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), and may have been a historical figure of the period. Jurojin is identified as the personification of the Southern Polar Star. While paintings and statues of Jurojin are considered auspicious, he never developed a following independent of the other deities Seven Gods of Fortune.

Jurojin is often identified with Fukurokuju, another of the Several Gods of Fortune. In some accounts, the two are said to inhabit the same body. As such, the two are often confused.

Jurojin walks with a staff and a fan. He is depicted as an old man of slight stature, and by tradition, less than 3 shaku (approximately 90 centimetres (35 in) He is depicted with a long white beard and often a very tall, bald head. He has a scroll tied to his staff, on which is written the lifespan of all living things. The scroll is sometimes identified as a Buddhist sutra. The deer, a symbol of longevity, usually (but not always) accompanies him as a messenger, as do other long-lived animals such as the crane and the tortoise. Hotei is the god of fortune, guardian of children, patron of diviners and barmen, and also the god of popularity. He is depicted as a fat, smiling, bald man with a curly moustache. He always appears half-naked, as his clothes are not wide enough to cover his enormous belly. He blessed the Chinese, and they nicknamed him "Cho-Tei-Shi" or "Ho-Tei-Shi", which means ‘bag of old clothes’.

Hotei was a Zen priest, but his appearance and some of his actions were against their moral code: his appearance made him look like quite a mischievous person and he had no fixed place to sleep.

He carries a bag on his shoulders which is loaded with fortunes for those who believe in his virtues. Hotei's traits and virtue are contentment, magnanimous and happiness.

Hotei's original Chinese name was Kaishi, and according to legend, he died in March 916.

The Japanese began to believe in Hotei during the Edo era. The reason why the Japanese have such great respect for this god comes from a legend that says that, before the Zen Buddhism arrived to Japan, an alternative Buddhist thought was extended by a priest of dubious aesthetic, who actually was a manifestation of Miroku. Miroku was the patron of those who could not be saved by the beliefs of Buddha, and Hotei was later perceived and accepted by the Japanese as a second Miroku.A Good Edo Period Noda Maru Gata Oval Iron Wakazashi Tsuba
With a simulated stone finish surface. The Tsuba can be solid, semi pierced of fully pierced, with an overall perforated design, but it always a central opening which narrows at its peak for the blade to fit within. It often can have openings for the kozuka and kogai to pass through, and these openings can also often be filled with metal to seal them closed. For the Samurai, it also functioned as an article of distinction, as his sole personal ornament. 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.  read more

Code: 23932

A Very Good Deactivated Smith & Wesson .38 Cal. 6 Shot Double Action Revolver 5" Barrel Superb Tight Action With Much Original Mirror Blue Finish Remaining

The Smith & Wesson Model 10, previously known as the Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector Model of 1899, the Smith & Wesson Military & Police or the Smith & Wesson Victory Model, is a K-frame revolver. In production since 1899, the Model 10 is a six-shot, .38 Special, double-action revolver with fixed sights. Over its production run it has been available with barrel lengths of 2 in (51 mm), 3 in (76 mm), 4 in (100 mm), 5 in (130 mm), and 6 in (150 mm). Barrels of 2.5 inches (64 mm) are also known to have been made for special contracts.

In 1899, the United States Army and Navy placed orders with Smith & Wesson for two to three thousand Model 1899 Hand Ejector revolvers chambered for the M1892 .38 Long Colt U.S. Service Cartridge. With this order, the Hand Ejector Model became known as the .38 Military and Police model.5 That same year, in response to reports from military sources serving in the Philippines on the relative ineffectiveness of the new cartridge, Smith & Wesson began offering the Military & Police in a new chambering, .38 S&W Special

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) supplied thousands of these .38 5" barrel model revolvers to resistance forces.

They have been used in more movies than we are able to list here, but two exceptional examples would be our old customer, the late and much lamented 'Chuck' Heston, in 55 Days in Peking in which he starred with David Niven and Ava Gardner, and by Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. Photographs of both actors with their .38 DA S&W we show in the gallery {for illustrative purposes only}

We show a WW2 photograph of a Milice officer with his S&W pattern revolver, note his German wound badge worn upon his left uniform breast pocket
The Milice française (French Militia), generally called la Milice, was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy régime (with German aid) to help fight against the French Resistance during World War II. The Milice's formal head was Vichy France's Prime Minister Pierre Laval (in office 1942 to 1944), although its chief of operations and de facto leader was Secretary General Joseph Darnand. The Milice participated in summary executions and assassinations, helping to round up Jews and résistants in France for deportation. It was the successor to Darnand's Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL) militia (founded in 1941). The Milice was the Vichy régime's most extreme manifestation of fascism. Ultimately, Darnand envisaged the Milice as a fascist single-party political movement for the French State

Deactivated with certificate but fully actionable. Not suitable to export.  read more

Code: 25698

A Very Rare Renaissance Main-Gauche, a Left Hand Parrying Dagger. Italian circa 1590-1620. Likely Made for a Royal Duke. With A Ducal Crown Engraved Pommel

A wonderful elegant example of these rare 'Maine Gauche' daggers used for parrying in the duel, in the era of England’s Queen Elizabeth the 1st, King James 1st, to King Charles the 1st, and it is in excellent plus condition.
The left handed parrying weapon used in the left hand, in conjunction with the long bladed Rapier in the right, in sword combat. In sword fighting, the main-gauche French for "left hand" is a dagger used in the off-hand, mainly to assist in parrying incoming thrusts, while the dominant hand wields a rapier or similar longer weapon intended for one-handed use. It may also be used for attack if an opportunity arises, such as for the ‘coup de grace’. The dagger has a slender four sided blade of diamond-section, with twin Crowned M armourer's marks, one per side at the ricasso. The hilt is fully engraved, and the outside of the pommel it has an engraved ducal crown within a circlet, and the inside pommel a rhombic Chinese flower, possibly part of the dukes family crest or symbol. It has an outer single ring guard and a polygon form conical pommel, converging towards the top pommel button. {A design recognised as pommel ‘32’, circa 1590-1610, in A.V.B.Normans Rapier and Small Sword 1460-1820.} It also has a very fine Turk's Head knot terminated twisted steel wire grip, in excellent condition.

We show in the gallery a close up of the pommel engraving, showing the style of crown, as can be seen in an early portrait of one being worn, that we show attached with it.

The parrying dagger is a category of small handheld weapons from the European late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. These weapons were used as off-hand weapons in conjunction with a single-handed sword such as a rapier. As the name implies they were designed to parry, or defend, more effectively than a simple dagger form, typically incorporating a wider guard, and often some other defensive features to better protect the hand as well. They may also be used for attack if an opportunity arises.
The use of this off-hand weapon gradually fell out of favour as sword fighting evolved. The use of progressively lighter primary weapons such as the small sword and épée.

The main-gauche {French for "left hand"}, was used mainly to assist in defense by parrying enemy thrusts, while the dominant hand wielded a rapier or similar longer weapon intended for one-handed use. Its most characteristic feature was downturned quillons that protected the hand, and the ring to one side.

Courtiers in later half of the 16th century did indeed wore rapiers to court as a sign of gentlemanly status and the privilege of engaging in extra-judicial duels of honour, with the main-gauche parrying dagger.

The rapier and dagger combination was primarily designed for self-defence using fighting techniques developed in Italy that are the ancestors of modern fencing. The sixteenth-century rapier was both a slashing and stabbing weapon. Its accompanying dagger was used in the left hand for parrying and stabbing in close. The stiff slender blades of both were designed to pierce clothing rather than armour.

The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.

Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.  read more

Code: 25340