A Beautiful 17th-18th Century Sikh Tulwar With Gold Inlaid Royal Hilt & Seal Stamped Blade, With Double Crescent Armourer’s Marks. It Has Just Returned From Expert Museum Grade Conservation, Polishing & Etching of The Blade To Reveal Its Stunning Pattern

The tulwar hilt is covered in pure gold Koftgari decoration. superb hybrid wootz Damascus shamshir blade with square seal mark and twin crescent armourer's mark to the blade. It has now returned from a no expense spared museum grade conservation and polish that has revealed its absolutely stunning hybrid wootz Damascus grain. The blade was not removed from the gold hilt, so the blade polishing had started below the hilt, in order to maintain its historical integrity. The beauty of this wonderful historical sword and blade is breathtaking in its combination of opulence and subtlety. The blade has a wondrous and elegant deep curvature, that joined with its material beauty is a joy to behold. It would have been a credit to the former Dr Leo S.Figial Collection that, until it’s auction and dispersal in 1998 at Butterfields Auction, was one of the finest in the world outside of any national museum.

Persian: شمشیر (type, which refers to a Persian or Iranian sword with a radical curve. The name is derived from the shamshīr, which means “lion’s claw or lions tale” in the Persian language – pointing towards the curve of the blade. These types of blades are normally used for slashing unarmored opponents either on foot or mounted; while the tip could be used for thrusting. In India, the term ‘Goliya’ (meaning circle) was used to describe these types of blades; referring to their curve.

The Tulwar had historically been the quintessential combat sword used by Sikhs as their sacred kirpan due to its superior handling while mounted on horseback. With a curved blade optimized for cutting and slashing with sweeping cuts delivered from the shoulder by a horseman the curved blade of the tulwar could strike repeated blows without the danger of the blade getting stuck in bone or armour. It allowed for fierce slashing on all sides cutting through enemy formations while mounted on horseback.

This tulwar has a curved blade of approximately 76cm in length with a graduating blade where it eventually begins its taper to the point. With its curved blade the point of the sword cannot be very effectively used for thrusting and the Tulwars defensive capabilities are limited. In this circumstance defence was taken up by using the shield (Dhal) in tandem with the Tulwar as an integral duo on the battlefield.

The blade was firmly attached to the hilt of the Tulwar commonly using a heated paste of lac or red dye from the papal tree which when it hardened provided a solid and effective adhesive between the two parts of the sword.

The hilt of the Tulwar has a button on top and a circular dished pommel disk featuring the koftgari design patterns of flowers in pure hammered gold. The grip of the Tulwar below the pommel disk narrows at the top and bottom while bulging out in the middle. The crossguard between the grip and the blade features two short but very thick rounded quillions. The index finger could be wrapped around a quillion rather than the grip providing the swordsman with extra maneuverability of the sword. Some Tulwars feature a knuckle guard extending from the quillion to the pommel disk, while others do not, both styles of Tulwars were commonly used by Sikhs.
The pure gold inlay upon the hilt is worn as is often the case due to its great age, but much still remains to show it wondrous quality and former royal status. The blade is now once more in superb condition for its age.

Guru Hargobind, { Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji } the 6th Sikh Guru is said to have always carried two such gold hilted Tulwars, representing his temporal and spiritual authority. They both had gold onlaid hilts just as this sword. It is possible, however slim, this sword may have been even the side arm of a member of the great Sikh Guru’s Darbar {court}. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was the first Sikh Guru to engage in warfare.
Guru HarGobind Ji excelled in matters of the state and his Darbar (Court) was noted for its splendor. The arming and training of some of his devoted followers began, and once the Guru came to possess seven hundred horses, his Risaldari (Army) grew to three hundred horsemen and sixty gunners. Additionally, five hundred men from the Majha area of Punjab were recruited as infantry. Guru HarGobind Ji built a fortress at Amritsar called Lohgarh (Fortress of Steel). He had his own flag and a war-drum which was beaten twice a day. Those who had worked to have Guru Arjan destroyed now turned their attention and efforts to convincing Jahangir that the Lohgarh fort, the Akal Takhat, and the growing Risaldari army were all intended to allow Guru HarGobind Ji to one day take revenge for his father's unjust death.  read more

Code: 25574

A Superb 1821 Pattern, Victorian British Trooper's or NCO's Light Cavalry Sabre, For Light Dragoon's, Lancer's or Hussars. Used in the Crimean War, Such As the Infamous and Renown 'Charge of the Light Brigade'. Ordnance Issue

In superb naturally aged and patinated condition. excellent fishkin grip, wire bound.
The predecessor to the regulation later 1853 pattern, that was issued to sme regiments immediately at the start of the Crimean war, but not though issued to all mounted regiments. Some regiments continually used the 1821 pattern, and others the 1853.

A most impressive sabre, and very good indeed. The very type of ordnance made and issued Hussar's and Lancer's trooper's sabre, and Horse Artillery, used by British Cavalry in the ill fated charge in the Crimean War against Russia.
All steel three bar steel hilt, combat blade with fine-fishskin ribbed grip with original copper triple wire binding, which indicates it may have been issued to NCO's {sergeants and above}, as basic other ranks ordnance swords had regular utility leather bound grips.
Absolutely used at the time, and used, by all the serving NCO's of the light cavalry in the famous 'Charge'.

In the Crimean War (1854-56), the Light Dragoons were in the forefront of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, immortalised by Tennyson's poem of that name ("Into the valley of death rode the six hundred").

The regiments adopted the title hussars at this time, and the uniform became very stylish, aping the hussars of the Austro-Hungarian army. But soon the blues and yellows and golds gave way to khaki as the British army found itself in skirmishes throughout the far-flung Empire, in India and South Africa especially.

For example in 1854 the 13th Hussars regiment received its orders from the War Office to prepare for service overseas. Five transport ships - Harbinger, Negotiator, Calliope, Cullodon, and the Mary Anne ? embarking between the 8 May and 12 May, carried 20 officers, 292 other ranks and 298 horses. After a
troubled voyage, the regiment arrived at Varna, Bulgaria on the 2 June. On the 28 August the entire Light Brigade (consisting of the 4th Light Dragoons and 13th Light Dragoons, 17th Lancers, the 8th Hussars and 11th Hussars, under the command of Major General the Earl of
Cardigan) were inspected by Lord Lucan; five men of the 13th had already succumbed to cholera.
On the 1 September the regiment embarked for the Crimea - a further three men dying en-route.
On the 20 September the regiment, as part the Light Brigade, took part in the first major engagement of the Crimean War, the Battle of the Alma. The Light Brigade covered the left flank, although the regiment?s role in the battle was minimal. With the Russians in full retreat by late afternoon, Lord Lucan ordered the Light Brigade to pursue the fleeing enemy.

However, the brigade was recalled by Lord Raglan as the Russians had kept some 3,000 uncommitted cavalry in reserve.
During the 25 October the regiments, the Light Brigade, took part in the Battle of Balaclava and the famous Charge of the Light Brigade.
The 13th Light Dragoons formed the right of the front line. The 13th and 17th moved forward; after 100 yards the 11th Hussars, in the second line, also moved off followed by the 4th and 8th.

It was not long before the brigade came under heavy Russian fire. Lord Cardigan, at the front of his men, charged into the Russian guns receiving a slight wound. He was soon followed by the 13th and 17th. The two squadrons of the 13th and the right squadron of the 17th were soon cutting down the artillerymen that had remained at their posts. Once the Russian guns had been passed, they engaged in a hand-to-hand fighting with the enemy that was endeavoring to surround them by closing in on either flank.

However, the Light Brigade having insufficient forces and suffering heavy casualties, were soon forced to retire. Capt. Louis Edward Nolan (January 4 1818-October 25 1854), who was a British Army officer of the Victorian era, an authority on cavalry tactics, and best known for his controversial role in launching the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava. He was the first casualty of that engagement. No scabbard. Great all round steel condition, and excellent grip patina.  read more

Code: 20877

A Very Historically Interesting, Significant and Beautiful 'Broomhandle' C96 Mauser Semi Auto Pistol. Winston Churchill & Lawrence of Arabia's Favourite Pistol. Made By Mauser of Obendorf For The Revolutionary Bolshovik Army Of Russia 1921

Designed and used from the late Victorian era, this beautiful and distinctive gun was hugely popular throughout the world, and was the type used by German Officers in WW1. This was, at the time, one of the best designed and most expensive pistols ever made. It was designed to have completely interlocking parts without a single screw in its construction other than one to hold the grips in place This type was Winston Churchill's personal choice of pistol, and he used one in his personal milItary service before WW1.

This is one of the best surviving examples we have ever seen, with near perfect matching parts integrity, 1000m ladder sight. And it has an extremely sensitive deactivation, in order to preserve its good condition accordingly, with UK certificate

A 4 inch barrel Mauser Pistol known as the 'Bolo' short for Bolshovick and named for the use of the early Revolutionary Red Army Officer's of Russia, just after WW1. This example has the rarer feature of a special safety proof on the hammer. A most attractive piece, with areas of good matt finish. It is highly collectable by those seeking early examples of both famous German pistols and early Russian Revolutionary arms. It became the favourite arm for Bolshevik agents of the Cheka-OGPU.

The Bolshevik Army, also known as the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, was the military force of the Bolshevik government formed after the October Revolution in 1917. Led by Leon Trotsky, it was initially composed of Red Guards, volunteers, and a component of the Cheka (the Bolshevik secret police), later expanded through conscription. The Red Army played a crucial role in the Russian Civil War, defending the Bolsheviks against various opposition forces, including the White Army and foreign interventionist forces.

The revolver is a traditional and popular weapon in Russia, but ... for some reason, in Soviet Russia, immediately after the end of the Civil War, they did not appeal to the old traditions and solve the issue of developing their own production of these revolvers in Tula, but thought about equipping them with modern samples of self-loading weapons, and first of all, the operational staff of the Cheka-OGPU.The only question was where to get it.
And ... the place was immediately found - yesterday's fierce enemy, and today, potentially the best friend - Weimar Germany. The memory was still alive that in Russia since pre-revolutionary times German Mauser pistols were popular, which became even more popular during the Civil War.
Kozhanka and Mauser became the "calling card" of security officers, commissars, crews of "Comrade Trotsky's propaganda armoured train" and all sorts of chieftains, fathers and ... sailors-anarchists. In general, it was the Mauser, and by no means the "good old revolver", that became a kind of symbol of the revolution, so that even during the civil war in Spain in 1936-1939, the fashion for it, as a symbolic weapon of the revolution, was revived again, and they were worn there and anarchists of Durruti, and Canadian volunteers and ... Soviet military advisers.

Deactivated yet fully actionable. Small areas of old pitting. Almost all the parts have matching numbers
Winston Churchill was very fond of his Mauser C96, and used one at the Battle of Omdurman and during the Second Boer War; similarly, Lawrence of Arabia carried a Mauser C96 for a period during his time in the Middle East. Chinese Communist general Zhu De carried a Mauser C96 during his Nanchang Uprising and other future conflicts, his gun (with his name printed on) can be viewed in Beijing war museum as a first class relic. It can also be seen used in the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes movie Games of Shadows, an absolutely marvelous film..
Not suitable for export UK mainland sales only  read more

Code: 25744

NOW SOLD!! Probably One Of The Most Historical Original British Royal Naval Officer's Sword of WW2, Of the Lt Commander Involved In The Capture of Kriegmarine U Boat, U110. The Most Important Maritime Combat Event of WW2, ‘Operation Primrose’

Every single day we try our upmost to acquire, and thus offer to our collectors, interesting and fascinating souvenirs of history going back thousands of years.

Today is no exception. We are showing the RN officer's sword, and the WW2 Kriegsmarine Dirk from Kptlt. Fritz Julius Lemp Top Secret Code Room Cabin. It was from U110 that men from HMS Bulldog recovered an Enigma Machine, and the Kapitan's all too vital super top secret Kriegsmarine code books, his service dagger, film of U110 at sea {filmed from the conning tower} and several other vital pieces. The dagger was 'retreived' by the Royal Naval engineering officer, a former Secret Service Section Officer. Lt. Commander Dodds, who boarded the U110 to ensure it was safe to tow to an allied safe port after its capture {it was however ordered to be scuttled} and this was his sword. When called up from the RNR before the imminent outbreak of war, Lt. Commander Dodds was promoted Lt-Commander and sent to serve, from September 1939 until June 1940, in the Secret Service Section of the Admiralty in London, on the staff of Vice-Admiral Gordon Campbell.

When wearing this sword, as used in his service aboard HMS Bulldog, he was personally decorated with his Distinguished Service Cross by His Majesty King George VIth, the king, who confirmed, when he spoke to Lt.Commander Dodds as he awarded him his DSC gallantry medal, that his involvement in the ultra top secret action was probably the most important and top secret maritime combat success of the entire war.

This stunning historical sword is in superb condition and has a deluxe etched blade, that still has its original frosting. It is offered as a testament to this Officer’s magnificent, devoted and heroic service to his country and the Royal Navy, and his love of his personal heroes, Nelson, Kipling, Rhodes, and Churchill. It was due to their mutual love of Nelson that the previous owner of this sword and dagger, acquired them from Mr Dodds’s widow, sometime after his death, that was due to severe illness, likely caused by his war service, in 1963, aged just 61.

"The Secret Capture"

U-110 was captured by the Royal Navy on May 9 1941. This was perhaps the most important capture of the entire war and was so secret that even the crew of U-110 did not know of it! U-110, under the command of Kptlt. Fritz Julius Lemp, had been attacking a convoy in the Atlantic south of Iceland together with U-201 (Oblt. Adalbert Schnee), when Lemp left his periscope up too long (probably to confirm a kill: he sank two ships totalling 7500 GRT that day) and the escort corvette HMS Aubretia sighted it and rushed to the scene and began depth charging.

U-110 survived the first attacks, but then HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway joined the hunt. U-110 was forced to surface, and HMS Bulldog immediately set course to ram (its commander realised it might be possible to capture U-110, and veered aside at the last moment) which caused Lemp to order "Abandon Ship". Lemp assumed the boat would be sunk, and its confidential material would go down with it. When he was in the water he realised the boat was not sinking, and attempted to swim back to prevent capture. That was the last seen of him. Members of U-110s crew later claimed he was shot in the water by the British boarding party, but that was never confirmed.

The boarding party commanded by Lt David Balme, followed by Lt Commander Dodds, made several journeys between U-110 and HMS Bulldog to collect whatever they could get their hands on inside the boat. This proved to be very fruitful, as U-110 was abandoned in a hurry, and being a Type IXB U-boat, did not sink as rapidly as a Type VIIC would have. It is almost certain that many U-boats were sunk as a result of the material found inside U-110, including from the kapitan's code room an Enigma machine with rotors set, current code books & his kriegsmarine officer's dirk. Dodds and his men joined Balme and the others in collecting charts, books and any other equipment and materials that could be removed, and passed them to the motor boat. A few other trophies were collected as well. Dodds and Balme took pairs of Zeiss binoculars, a Eumig cine camera with which they filmed the interior, Lemp’s Iron Cross, the submarine’s Visitor Book and other pieces. The naval ratings were most impressed by the sight of fresh fruit and good food in the magnificent galley. Lemp’s Knight’s Insignia of the Iron Cross was returned many years later to his sister by Baker-Cresswell

The day after the capture, the British Admiralty realised the importance of this, and that if the Germans knew the boat had been captured, they would assume the worst and change their codes and cipher system. The boat was accordingly ordered to be scuttled while being towed to Britain, the surviving crew were taken straight to Iceland to be interned, and everyone involved in the capture sworn to secrecy. 15 of U-110's crew died in the action and 32 were interned.
This amazing and supremely important action was portrayed in the Hollywood movie, U-571, but its name changed and the capture was made, not by the Royal Navy, but by American vessels.

This event was the subject of a British parliamentary motion in 1999 condemning the portrayal of the capture of U-110 and subsequent breaking of German codes as an American success in the film U-571.

KptLt. Lemp had previously achieved great success in his second U boat, U-30, sinking 17 ships and damaging two, including the British battleship HMS Barham (04). She was the first U-boat to make use of the French bases in July 1940, and on 14 August 1940 Lemp, aged 26, became the seventh U-boat commander to be awarded the Knights Cross.

The secret was the capture of the Enigma machine by the Royal Navy from U-110. We have the Kriegsmarine dagger, Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp (Knights Cross) taken from the captain's map room of U110 by the RN officer of HMS Bulldog, who was the Lt Commander Chief Engineer of HMS Bulldog, who had to inspect U110 to enable towing after all the ships booty, including the enigma machine and code books, officer's dagger, had been stored aboard HMS Bulldog.

The Captain of Bulldog realised how important the items recovered from U-110 were, so decided not to send an informative radio message about the capture which avoided the Germans learning of the loss, instead sailing to Iceland and then Scotland with the German prisoners kept isolated. Acquiring an Enigma machine was of some help, but the capture of the code books was of immense help to the Government Code and Cypher School in that the codes were still valid until 30 June 1941 enabling six weeks of unfettered and immediate access to the German naval code, their insight making the breaking of future German naval codes much easier.

Kptlt. Lemp’s U-boot’s dirk, and the Lt Commander's RN sword, was sold by the family by a special auction in Bonhams about 20 years ago. Including the letters of provenance, scanned admiralty photos of the RN officer holding his sword, and catalogue etc. that we now have. Some of the paperwork and copies of the photographs we will offering with Lt Commander Dodds Royal Naval officer's sword that is to be offered for sale seperately.

The Lanes Armoury partner's both agree these pieces are probably two of the most historically important service items from the entire WW2, of the Royal Navy’s and Kriegsmarine’s combat history. The sword of Lt Commander Dodds and the U110 dirk are likely only comparable to the dirk of Kapt. Hans Langsdorff, of the Kriegsmarine Pocket Battleship, Graf Spee, if it was to appear one day. Before the secret of U110 was revealed, The Graf Spee and the Battle of the River Plate was likely the most famous engagement of the Royal Navy vs the Kriegsmarine in WW2.

Photographed together with the dagger, and with letters of provenance, scanned admiralty photos from original film taken aboard U110, photo of the sword worn by Lt Commander Dodds and all the full relevent history. All the above were initially sold by the family who owned them, all together, around 20 years ago.

Both sword and dagger with provenance were offered by us for sale separately, but have been acquired by a collector together in order to the keep the integrity of their history together since 1941

Film by a 1941 Pathe News War photographer { link below} of the tragic sinking of British capital ship, the Battleship HMS Barham.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrISbwy_zI

Copy and paste}

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 years of our family’s trading, as Britain’s oldest established, and favourite, armoury and gallery  read more

Code: 25743

NOW SOLD!! The Most Historical German Officer’s Dagger War Trophy of WW2. Recovered From The Map Room Aboard U-110. The Most Important Capture of WW2. U110 Commanded by Kptlt Fritz Julius Lemp, Hero Of Germany, For His Attack on Battleship HMS Barham

Every single day we try our upmost to acquire, and thus offer to our collectors, interesting and fascinating souvenirs of history going back thousands of years. Today is no exception. We are showing the ‘Operation Primrose’ WW2 Kriegsmarine Dirk from Kptlt. Fritz Julius Lemp’s U-boot Top Secret Code Room Cabin. It was from U110 that the boarding party men from HMS Bulldog, after six hours, recovered an Enigma Machine, and the Kapitan's all too vital super top secret Kriegsmarine code books, the service dagger, the crew’s film of U110 at sea {filmed from the conning tower} and several other vital pieces of secret intelligence. His U-boot dagger was 'retreived' by the Royal Naval engineering officer Lt. Commander who boarded to U110 to ensure it was safe to tow safe haven after its capture {it was however ordered to be scuttled}. U-110 was at sea for approximately two months before its capture on May 9, 1941. Its second patrol, which ended with its capture, lasted from April 15 to May 9.

When the British officer who recovered this trophy was personally decorated with his Distinguished Service Cross by His Majesty King George VIth, the king confirmed to LT Commander Dodds, that his involvement in the ultra top secret action was probably the most important maritime combat success of the entire war. The dagger is in superb condition with a near mint blade with superb full naval etching and all its original frost finish, and small scabbard dent at its base, with more photos of the blade to add tomorrow.

"The Secret Capture"

U-110 was captured by the Royal Navy on May 9 1941. This was perhaps the most important capture of the entire war and was so secret that even the crew of U-110 did not know of it! U-110, under the command of Kptlt. Fritz Julius Lemp, had been attacking a convoy in the Atlantic south of Iceland together with U-201 (Oblt. Adalbert Schnee), when Lemp left his periscope up too long (probably to confirm a kill: he sank two ships totalling 7500 GRT that day) and the escort corvette HMS Aubretia sighted it and rushed to the scene and began depth charging.

U-110 survived the first attacks, but then HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway joined the hunt. U-110 was forced to surface, and HMS Bulldog immediately set course to ram (its commander realised it might be possible to capture U-110, and veered aside at the last moment) which caused Lemp to order "Abandon Ship". Lemp assumed the boat would be sunk, and its confidential material would go down with it. When he was in the water he realised the boat was not sinking, and attempted to swim back to prevent capture. That was the last seen of him. Members of U-110s crew later claimed he was shot in the water by the British boarding party, but that was never confirmed.

The boarding party commanded by Lt David Balme, followed by Lt Commander Dodds, made several journeys between U-110 and HMS Bulldog to collect whatever they could get their hands on inside the boat. This proved to be very fruitful, as U-110 was abandoned in a hurry, and being a Type IXB U-boat, did not sink as rapidly as a Type VIIC would have. It is almost certain that many U-boats were sunk as a result of the material found inside U-110, including from the kapitan's code room an Enigma machine with rotors set, current code books & his kriegsmarine officer's dirk.

The day after the capture, the British Admiralty realised the importance of this, and that if the Germans knew the boat had been captured, they would assume the worst and change their codes and cipher system. The boat was accordingly ordered to be scuttled while being towed to Britain, the surviving crew were taken straight to Iceland to be interned, and everyone involved in the capture sworn to secrecy. 15 of U-110's crew died in the action and 32 were interned.
This amazing and supremely important action was portrayed in the Hollywood movie, U-571, but its name changed and the capture was made, not by the Royal Navy, but by American vessels.

This event was the subject of a British parliamentary motion in 1999 condemning the portrayal of the capture of U-110 and subsequent breaking of German codes as an American success in the film U-571.

KptLt. Lemp had previously achieved great success in his second U boat, U-30, sinking 17 ships and damaging two, including his part in damage and sinking of the British battleship HMS Barham. She was the first U-boat to make use of the French bases in July 1940, and on 14 August 1940 Lemp, aged 26, became the seventh U-boat commander to be awarded the Knights Cross.

The secret was the capture of the Enigma machine by the Royal Navy from U-110. We will have {arriving next week} the Kriegsmarine dagger, made by Carl Eikhorn in 1941, probably of Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp (Knights Cross) taken from the captain's map room of U110 by the RN officer of HMS Bulldog, who was the Lt Commander Chief Engineer of HMS Bulldog, who had to inspect U110 to enable towing after all the ships booty, including the enigma machine and code books, officer's dagger, had been stored aboard HMS Bulldog.

The Captain of Bulldog realised how important the items recovered from U-110 were, so decided not to send an informative radio message about the capture which avoided the Germans learning of the loss, instead sailing to Iceland and then Scotland with the German prisoners kept isolated. Acquiring an Enigma machine was of some help, but the capture of the code books was of immense help to the Government Code and Cypher School in that the codes were still valid until 30 June 1941 enabling six weeks of unfettered and immediate access to the German naval code, their insight making the breaking of future German naval codes much easier.

Kptlt. Lemp’s U-boot’s dirk, and the Lt Commander's RN sword, was sold by the family by a special auction in Bonhams about 20 years ago. Including the letters of provenance, scanned photos of the RN officer holding his sword, and catalogue etc. that we now have. Some of the paperwork and copies of the scanned Admiralty photographs. We will offering with both items.

Lt Commander Dodds Royal Naval officer's sword that is to be offered for sale seperately.

The Lanes Armoury partner's both agree this is probably the most important Kriegsmarine dirk from WW2. And possibly, only the dirk of Kapt. Hans Langsdorff of the Kriegsmarine Pocket Battleship, Graf Spee, could possibly be comparable if it was to appear one day. Before the secret of U110 was revealed, The Graf Spee and the Battle of the River Plate was the previously the most famous engagement of the Royal Navy vs the Kriegsmarine in WW2.

Photo in the gallery of Admiral Donitz and Kapitanlt. Lemp aboard his U-boot, before his last combat mission and the capture by the Royal Navy of his U-boot.

Both sword and dagger with provenance were offered by us for sale separately, but have been acquired by a collector together in order to the keep the integrity of their history together since 1941

Film by a 1941 Pathe News War photographer { link below} of the tragic sinking of British capital ship, the Battleship HMS Barham.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdrISbwy_zI

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 years of our family’s trading, as Britain’s oldest established, and favourite, armoury and gallery  read more

Code: 25732

A Magnificent 18th Century Silver Hilted Small Sword, Dated 1758, with Colichmarde Blade. This Is One Of The Most Beautiful To Be Seen

A combination of the finest 18th century artisan's skill of both a silversmith and bespoke swordsmith. Circa 1758 and IC , probably John Carman of London.

General George Washington, later the first President of the United States, had a very similar sword that he used during his service as commander of the new American Army in the American War of Independance from 1776 onwards

Ideal in its day for duelling or close quarter combat, as well as being a simply fabulous, finest quality sword of immense beauty. Fine cast and chased silver hilt in the elegant rococo style with double shell guard single knucklebow and pas dans. The grip is bound in its original twisted silver wire. The guard has enchanting and highest quality workmanship with a scrolling, pierced, rococo shell pattern with florid embellishments thoughout. Colishmarde blade with bright steel finish. The highly distinctive colishmarde blades appeared in 1680 and were popular during the next 40 years at the royal European courts. The colichemarde bladed swords had a special popularity with the officers of the French and Indian War period. Even George Washington had a very fine one just as this example.

The colichemarde descended from the so-called "transition rapier", which appeared because of a need for a lighter sword, better suited to parrying. It was not so heavy at its point; it was shorter and allowed a limited range of double time moves.The colichemarde in turn appeared as a thrusting blade too and also with a good parrying level, hence the strange, yet successful shape of the blade.

This sword appeared at about the same time as the foil. However the foil was created for practising fencing at court, while the colichemarde was created for dueling. With the appearance of pocket pistols as a self-defense weapon, the colichemardes found an even more extensive use in dueling.
This was achieved thanks to a wide forte (often with several fullers), which then stepped down in width after the fullers ended.The result of this strange shape was a higher maneuverability of the sword: with the weight of the blade concentrated in one's hand it became possible to maneuver the blade at a greater speed and with a higher degree of control, allowing the fencer to place a precise thrust at his/her adversary. This sword is a true work of art, in it's beauty form, quality and balance.

The small sword or smallsword is a light one-handed rapier type sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier (espada ropera) of the late Renaissance. The height of the small sword's popularity was during the 18th century, when any civilian or military, with pretensions to gentlemanly status would have worn a small sword on a daily basis.

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 1 metre (39 in). It usually tapers to a sharp point but may lack a cutting edge. It is typically triangular in cross-section, although some of the early examples still have the rhombic and spindle-shaped cross-sections inherited from older weapons, like the rapier. This triangular cross-section may be hollow ground for additional lightness. Many small swords of the period between the 17th and 18th centuries were found with colichemarde blades.

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. The small sword was mainly used as a duelling weapon.

Militarily, small swords continued to be used as a standard sidearm for infantry officers.Small swords were used both by the military (where they served more as a sign of a certain rank rather than a real weapon for close combat) and as a dueling weapon. The very height of the small sword's widespread popularity was in the 18th century, when it was considered fashionable by aristocrats ("no gentleman was dressed without his sword" – contemporary idiom of the middle of the 18th century), but it was still used as a duelling weapon

John Carman (II) was indentured to his father on 19 June 1736 at the age of fourteen. He was elected Master of the Cutlers' Company in 1761 and died in 1764 at the age of 41.  read more

Code: 24952

Historical 1796 pat. Heavy Dragoon Troopers Pistol, From The Tower of London, of Waterloo, Used by the Union & Household Brigade, Service Issue, .75 Upgraded Barrel Size Version of 1798. For Extra Penetrative Power Against French Cuirassiers Breast Armour

We were absolutely delighted to acquire both the Officer’s version and the 1798 upgraded .75 barrel version for troopers, {this pistol} made at the Tower of London armoury. Both as used by The Union or Household Brigade At Waterloo. They are absolute historical beauties. Prime examples of original, rare, Napoleonic War service used antiques. We are very privileged to be the UK’s premier original military antiques gallery and website, and to be able to consistently, continually, and regularly, offer the finest original collectors items in our shop for over 100 years

This stunning service flintlock is in very nice order indeed, with wonderful natural age patina, and good tight action, .75 inch bore barrel with 1801 issue steel service ramrod, and clear barrel proofs, brass furniture and finest walnut stock. Lock with service GR Crown stamp, traces of Tower mark upon the lock plate tail, behind the cock.

In 1796 a Board of General Officer's met to charge Henry Nock to design and develop a Heavy Dragoon pistol of Carbine bore. He came up with a heavy 9 inch barrel flintlock pistol, with no brass butt cap, and a separate steel rammer to be stored on the holster saddle bucket rather than creating a standard channel underneath it's barrel as in the light dragoon pistol. This was changed to accept a steel ramrod in 1801. Only one pistol was to be issued to each trooper, as opposed to the light cavalry trooper being issued with a brace a pair. Subsequent to 1801, the pistols made thereafter were to receive the all iron rammer under the barrel within a channel, on occasion to be retained by an internal spring. The bores initially were to be 16 bore, but they were changed to 14.5 bore and then 10 bore, the same as the Brown Bess musket. The bore size increase was due to the fact that the opposing French Heavy Cavalry were armoured unlike the British and carbine bore calibre pistols were simply not powerful enough within the mass inertia of the lead ball to penetrate plate armour. This is the pattern of pistol used by all the great Heavy Dragoon regiments, such as the Royal North British Dragoons, The Inniskillin Dragoons. The 1796 Heavy Dragoon pattern pistols as were all other patterns were supplied in large numbers to the British ordnance by makers Nock and Ketland, as manufacture by the Tower was relatively slow, for, during the Napoleonic Wars, need for arms was far greater than the Tower could supply. The two heavy cavalry brigades called the Household Brigade and the Union Brigade saw famous service at the peak of the Battle of Waterloo, and most famously just before 2.00pm. At this crucial juncture, Uxbridge ordered his two brigades of British heavy cavalry, formed unseen behind a ridge, to charge in support of the hard-pressed infantry. The 1st Brigade, known as the Household Brigade, commanded by Major-General Edward Somerset (Lord Somerset), consisted of guards regiments: the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues), and the 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards. The 2nd Brigade, also known as the Union Brigade, commanded by Major-General Sir William Ponsonby, was so called as it consisted of an English, the 1st (The Royals); a Scottish, 2nd ('Scots Greys'); and an Irish, 6th (Inniskilling); regiment of heavy dragoons. More than 20 years of warfare had eroded the numbers of suitable cavalry mounts available on the European continent; this resulted in the British heavy cavalry entering the 1815 campaign with the finest horses of any contemporary cavalry arm. They also received excellent mounted swordsmanship training. They were, however, inferior to the French in maneuvering in large formations, cavalier in attitude, and unlike the infantry had scant experience of warfare. According to Wellington, they had little tactical ability or common sense. The two brigades had a combined field strength of about 2,000 (2,651 official strength), and they charged with Uxbridge leading them and little reserve.

The Household Brigade charged down the hill in the centre of the battlefield. The cuirassiers guarding d'Erlon's left flank were still dispersed, and so were swept over the deeply sunken main road and then routed. The sunken lane acted as a trap which funneled the flight of the French cavalry to their own right, away from the British cavalry. Some of the cuirassiers then found themselves hemmed in by the steep sides of the sunken lane, with a confused mass of their own infantry in front of them, the 95th Rifles firing at them from the north side of the lane, and Somerset's heavy cavalry still pressing them from behind. The novelty of fighting armoured foes impressed the British cavalrymen, as was recorded by the commander of the Household Brigade.

“The blows of the sabres on the cuirasses sounded like braziers at work."
Lord Somerset,

Continuing their attack, the squadrons on the left of the Household Brigade then destroyed Aulard's brigade. Despite attempts to recall them, however, they continued past La Haye Sainte and found themselves at the bottom of the hill on blown horses facing Schmitz's brigade formed in squares.
To their left, the Union Brigade suddenly swept through the infantry lines (giving rise to the legend that some of the 92nd Gordon Highland Regiment clung onto their stirrups and accompanied them into the charge). From the centre leftwards, the Royal Dragoons destroyed Bourgeois' brigade, capturing the eagle of the 105th Ligne. The Inniskillings routed the other brigade of Quoit's division, and the Greys destroyed most of Nogue's brigade, capturing the eagle of the 45th Ligne. On Wellington's extreme left, Durutte's division had time to form squares and fend off groups of Greys.

As with the Household Cavalry, the officers of the Royals and Inniskillings found it very difficult to rein back their troops, who lost all cohesion. James Hamilton, commander of the Greys (who were supposed to form a reserve) ordered a continuation of the charge to the French grande batterie. Though the Greys had neither the time nor means to disable the cannon or carry them off, they put very many out of action as the gun crews fled the battlefield.

Napoleon promptly responded by ordering a counter-attack by the cuirassier brigades of Farine and Travers and Jaquinot's two lancer regiments in the I Corps light cavalry division. The result was very heavy losses for the British cavalry The Union Brigade lost heavily in both officers and men killed (including its commander, William Ponsonby, and Colonel Hamilton of the Scots Greys) and wounded. The 2nd Life Guards and the King's Dragoon Guards of the Household Brigade also lost heavily (with Colonel Fuller, commander of the King's DG, killed). However, the 1st Life Guards, on the extreme right of the charge, and the Blues, who formed a reserve, had kept their cohesion and consequently suffered significantly fewer casualties. A counter-charge, by British and Dutch light dragoons and hussars on the left wing and Dutch carabiniers in the centre, repelled the French cavalry. Wellington remarked; Our officers of cavalry have acquired a trick of galloping at everything. They never consider the situation, never think of maneuvering before an enemy, and never keep back or provide a reserve.

We have had the privilege to acquire several such fabulous and iconic flintlock service pistols that were part of the Cotton Collection at the Waterloo Museum that was sold in auction in 1909. Many pieces were bought at the auction by the descendant family of the 10th Duke of Hamilton.

Born on 3 October 1767 at St. James's Square, London, a son of Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton, he was educated at Harrow School and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 4 March 1786. He received his MA on 18 February 1789.

In 1806, he was appointed to the King George IIIrd's Privy Council, and he was Ambassador to the court of St. Petersburg until 1807; additionally, he was Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire from 1802 to 1852.
He received the numerous titles at his father's death in 1819. He was Lord High Steward at both King William IV's coronation in 1831 and Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838, and remains the last person to have undertaken this duty twice. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1836. He held the office of Grand Master Mason of the Freemasons of Scotland between 1820 and 1822. He held the office of Trustee of the British Museum between 1834 and 1852.

He married Susan Euphemia Beckford, daughter of William Thomas Beckford and Lady Margaret Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne, on 26 April 1810 in London, England.

Hamilton was a well-known dandy of his day. An obituary notice states that "timidity and variableness of temperament prevented his rendering much service to, or being much relied on by his party ... With a great predisposition to over-estimate the importance of ancient birth ... he well deserved to be considered the proudest man in England." He also supported Napoleon and commissioned the painting The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries by Jacques-Louis David.

Lord Lamington, in The Days of the Dandies, wrote of him that 'never was such a magnifico as the 10th Duke, the Ambassador to the Empress Catherine; when I knew him he was very old, but held himself straight as any grenadier. He was always dressed in a military laced undress coat, tights and Hessian boots, &c'. Lady Stafford in letters to her son mentioned 'his great Coat, long Queue, and Fingers cover'd with gold Rings', and his foreign appearance. According to another obituary, this time in Gentleman's Magazine, he had 'an intense family pride'.
Hamilton had a strong interest in Ancient Egyptian mummies, and was so impressed with the work of mummy expert Thomas Pettigrew that he arranged for Pettigrew to mummify him after his death. He died on 18 August 1852 at age 84 at 12 Portman Square, London, England and was buried on 4 September 1852 at Hamilton Palace, Hamilton, Scotland. In accordance with his wishes, Hamilton's body was mummified after his death and placed in a sarcophagus of the Ptolemaic period that he had originally acquired in Paris in 1836 ostensibly for the British Museum. At the same time he had acquired the sarcophagus of Pabasa, an important nobleman which is now in the Kelvingrove Museum. In 1842 Hamilton had begun construction of the Hamilton Mausoleum as repository for the overcrowded family vault at the Palace. He was interred there with other Dukes of Hamilton, from the 1858 completion of the Mausoleum until 1921 when subsidence and the subsequent demolition of the Palace forced removal of the bodies to the Bent cemetery in Hamilton, where he still lies buried in his sarcophagus.

His collection of paintings, objects, books and manuscripts was sold for £397,562 in July 1882. The manuscripts were purchased by the German government for £80,000. Some were repurchased by the British government and are now in the British Museum.

We have been acquiring items from Duke's descendants from the family's 'Grand Tour' collection, and items purchased from such as the Cotton Collection sale in 1909, for the past 30 years or more

The last photo in the gallery shows a photograph of one section of the collection in the museum of Waterloo, taken in around 1900, showing all the weapons of Waterloo en situ, including all the protagonists {British, French, Prussian and Belgian muskets, swords, pistols, armour uniforms, etc}. The museum was founded and owned by a veteran of the 7th Hussars that fought at Waterloo  read more

Code: 25742

A Simply Beautiful, Historical, 1796 Heavy Dragoon Officer's Pistol by One Of The Greatest Gunsmiths of Britain, H.W. Mortimer of London. In Original .65 Inch Bore. Used By An Officer of The Union or Household Brigade At Waterloo.

Officially titled the 1796 pattern British Heavy Dragoon Flintlock pistol, but they were actually issued for troopers in 1797. This is the 1796 officer version, that were then officially later 'adapted', from 1798, to upgrade the barrel for troopers, to a slightly enlarged barrel bore to .75, for troopers and some officers, in order to be able to penetrate the French heavy cavalry cuirass breast plate armour.

We were absolutely delighted to acquire both the Officer’s version {this one} and the 1798 upgraded .75 barrel version for troopers, made at the Tower of London armoury. Both as used by the The Union or Household Brigade At Waterloo. We are very privileged to be the UK’s premier original military antiques gallery and website, and to be able to consistently, continually, and regularly, offer the finest original collectors items in our shop for over 100 years

This stunning service flintlock is in very nice order indeed, with wonderful natural age patina, and good tight action, .65 inch bore barrel with steel service ramrod, and clear barrel proofs, brass furniture and finest walnut stock. Lock with service GR Crown stamp, and maker, Mortimer, upon the lock plate tail, behind the cock.

The scarcest and most sought after British military flintlock pistol of the Napoleonic Wars. Made by one of England's most famous makers, for the Napoleonic Wars, in the reign of King George IIIrd, Harvey Walklake Mortimer, maker to King George IIrd, of Fleet St. London

In 1796 a Board of General Officer's met to charge Henry Nock to design and develop a Heavy Dragoon pistol of Carbine bore. He came up with a heavy 9 inch barrel flintlock pistol, with no brass butt cap, and a separate steel rammer to be stored on the holster saddle bucket rather than creating a standard channel underneath it's barrel as in the light dragoon pistol. This was changed to accept a steel ramrod in 1801. Only one pistol was to be issued to each trooper, as opposed to the light cavalry trooper being issued with a brace a pair. Subsequent to 1801, the pistols made thereafter were to receive the all iron rammer under the barrel within a channel, on occasion to be retained by an internal spring. The bores initially were to be 16 bore, but they were changed to 14.5 bore and then 10 bore, the same as the Brown Bess musket. The bore size increase was due to the fact that the opposing French Heavy Cavalry were armoured unlike the British and carbine bore calibre pistols were simply not powerful enough within the mass inertia of the lead ball to penetrate plate armour. This is the pattern of pistol used by all the great Heavy Dragoon regiments, such as the Royal North British Dragoons, The Inniskillin Dragoons. The 1796 Heavy Dragoon pattern pistols as were all other patterns were supplied in large numbers to the British ordnance by makers Nock and Ketland, as manufacture by the Tower was relatively slow, for, during the Napoleonic Wars, need for arms was far greater than the Tower could supply. The two heavy cavalry brigades called the Household Brigade and the Union Brigade saw famous service at the peak of the Battle of Waterloo, and most famously just before 2.00pm. At this crucial juncture, Uxbridge ordered his two brigades of British heavy cavalry, formed unseen behind a ridge, to charge in support of the hard-pressed infantry. The 1st Brigade, known as the Household Brigade, commanded by Major-General Edward Somerset (Lord Somerset), consisted of guards regiments: the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues), and the 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards. The 2nd Brigade, also known as the Union Brigade, commanded by Major-General Sir William Ponsonby, was so called as it consisted of an English, the 1st (The Royals); a Scottish, 2nd ('Scots Greys'); and an Irish, 6th (Inniskilling); regiment of heavy dragoons. More than 20 years of warfare had eroded the numbers of suitable cavalry mounts available on the European continent; this resulted in the British heavy cavalry entering the 1815 campaign with the finest horses of any contemporary cavalry arm. They also received excellent mounted swordsmanship training. They were, however, inferior to the French in maneuvering in large formations, cavalier in attitude, and unlike the infantry had scant experience of warfare. According to Wellington, they had little tactical ability or common sense. The two brigades had a combined field strength of about 2,000 (2,651 official strength), and they charged with Uxbridge leading them and little reserve.

The Household Brigade charged down the hill in the centre of the battlefield. The cuirassiers guarding d'Erlon's left flank were still dispersed, and so were swept over the deeply sunken main road and then routed. The sunken lane acted as a trap which funneled the flight of the French cavalry to their own right, away from the British cavalry. Some of the cuirassiers then found themselves hemmed in by the steep sides of the sunken lane, with a confused mass of their own infantry in front of them, the 95th Rifles firing at them from the north side of the lane, and Somerset's heavy cavalry still pressing them from behind. The novelty of fighting armoured foes impressed the British cavalrymen, as was recorded by the commander of the Household Brigade.

“The blows of the sabres on the cuirasses sounded like braziers at work."
Lord Somerset,

Continuing their attack, the squadrons on the left of the Household Brigade then destroyed Aulard's brigade. Despite attempts to recall them, however, they continued past La Haye Sainte and found themselves at the bottom of the hill on blown horses facing Schmitz's brigade formed in squares.
To their left, the Union Brigade suddenly swept through the infantry lines (giving rise to the legend that some of the 92nd Gordon Highland Regiment clung onto their stirrups and accompanied them into the charge). From the centre leftwards, the Royal Dragoons destroyed Bourgeois' brigade, capturing the eagle of the 105th Ligne. The Inniskillings routed the other brigade of Quoit's division, and the Greys destroyed most of Nogue's brigade, capturing the eagle of the 45th Ligne. On Wellington's extreme left, Durutte's division had time to form squares and fend off groups of Greys.

As with the Household Cavalry, the officers of the Royals and Inniskillings found it very difficult to rein back their troops, who lost all cohesion. James Hamilton, commander of the Greys (who were supposed to form a reserve) ordered a continuation of the charge to the French grande batterie. Though the Greys had neither the time nor means to disable the cannon or carry them off, they put very many out of action as the gun crews fled the battlefield.

Napoleon promptly responded by ordering a counter-attack by the cuirassier brigades of Farine and Travers and Jaquinot's two lancer regiments in the I Corps light cavalry division. The result was very heavy losses for the British cavalry The Union Brigade lost heavily in both officers and men killed (including its commander, William Ponsonby, and Colonel Hamilton of the Scots Greys) and wounded. The 2nd Life Guards and the King's Dragoon Guards of the Household Brigade also lost heavily (with Colonel Fuller, commander of the King's DG, killed). However, the 1st Life Guards, on the extreme right of the charge, and the Blues, who formed a reserve, had kept their cohesion and consequently suffered significantly fewer casualties. A counter-charge, by British and Dutch light dragoons and hussars on the left wing and Dutch carabiniers in the centre, repelled the French cavalry. Wellington remarked; Our officers of cavalry have acquired a trick of galloping at everything. They never consider the situation, never think of maneuvering before an enemy, and never keep back or provide a reserve.

We have had the privilege to acquire several such fabulous and iconic flintlock service pistols that were part of the Cotton Collection at the Waterloo Museum that was sold in auction in 1909. Many pieces were bought at the auction by the descendant family of the 10th Duke of Hamilton.

Born on 3 October 1767 at St. James's Square, London, a son of Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton, he was educated at Harrow School and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 4 March 1786. He received his MA on 18 February 1789.

In 1806, he was appointed to the King George IIIrd's Privy Council, and he was Ambassador to the court of St. Petersburg until 1807; additionally, he was Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire from 1802 to 1852.
He received the numerous titles at his father's death in 1819. He was Lord High Steward at both King William IV's coronation in 1831 and Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838, and remains the last person to have undertaken this duty twice. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1836. He held the office of Grand Master Mason of the Freemasons of Scotland between 1820 and 1822. He held the office of Trustee of the British Museum between 1834 and 1852.

He married Susan Euphemia Beckford, daughter of William Thomas Beckford and Lady Margaret Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne, on 26 April 1810 in London, England.

Hamilton was a well-known dandy of his day. An obituary notice states that "timidity and variableness of temperament prevented his rendering much service to, or being much relied on by his party ... With a great predisposition to over-estimate the importance of ancient birth ... he well deserved to be considered the proudest man in England." He also supported Napoleon and commissioned the painting The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries by Jacques-Louis David.

Lord Lamington, in The Days of the Dandies, wrote of him that 'never was such a magnifico as the 10th Duke, the Ambassador to the Empress Catherine; when I knew him he was very old, but held himself straight as any grenadier. He was always dressed in a military laced undress coat, tights and Hessian boots, &c'. Lady Stafford in letters to her son mentioned 'his great Coat, long Queue, and Fingers cover'd with gold Rings', and his foreign appearance. According to another obituary, this time in Gentleman's Magazine, he had 'an intense family pride'.

Hamilton had a strong interest in Ancient Egyptian mummies, and was so impressed with the work of mummy expert Thomas Pettigrew that he arranged for Pettigrew to mummify him after his death. He died on 18 August 1852 at age 84 at 12 Portman Square, London, England and was buried on 4 September 1852 at Hamilton Palace, Hamilton, Scotland. In accordance with his wishes, Hamilton's body was mummified after his death and placed in a sarcophagus of the Ptolemaic period that he had originally acquired in Paris in 1836 ostensibly for the British Museum. At the same time he had acquired the sarcophagus of Pabasa, an important nobleman which is now in the Kelvingrove Museum. In 1842 Hamilton had begun construction of the Hamilton Mausoleum as repository for the overcrowded family vault at the Palace. He was interred there with other Dukes of Hamilton, from the 1858 completion of the Mausoleum until 1921 when subsidence and the subsequent demolition of the Palace forced removal of the bodies to the Bent cemetery in Hamilton, where he still lies buried in his sarcophagus.

His collection of paintings, objects, books and manuscripts was sold for £397,562 in July 1882. The manuscripts were purchased by the German government for £80,000. Some were repurchased by the British government and are now in the British Museum.

We have been acquiring items from Duke's descendants from the family's 'Grand Tour' collection, and items purchased from such as the Cotton Collection sale in 1909, for the past 30 years or more

The last photo in the gallery shows a photograph of one section of the collection in the museum of Waterloo, taken in around 1900, showing all the weapons of Waterloo en situ, including all the protagonists {British, French, Prussian and Belgian muskets, swords, pistols, armour uniforms, etc}. The museum was founded and owned by a veteran of the 7th Hussars that fought at Waterloo  read more

Code: 25741

An Original Arrowhead From the Time of Alexander the Great’s War Against Persia, The Battle of the Granicus River, in 334 BC. The Battle Site Was Near The Legendary Site of the City of Troy.. Acquired On a Grand Tour in 1820

A stunning conversation piece, that would make a unique gift for a friend or loved one. Original, small arrow head in delightful condition showing good and beautiful natural aged ancient patina. They were all small heads at that time, as the arrow haft and flight was long and naturally did the major part of the action, but that was the organic part of the complete arrow, that simply rot away within a century in the ground, just leaving the remarkable bronze age head remaining.
Acquired in the 1820's while on a Grand Tour of Northern France and the
Ottoman Empire.
Discovered over 200 years ago in the region of The Battle of the Granicus River during what was known at the time as 'The Grand Tour'. And acquired by us as part of a collection of original antiquities from the Hamilton family of Scotland.

We are very privileged to be the UK’s premier original military antiques gallery and website, and to be able to consistently, continually, and regularly, offer the finest original collectors items in our shop for over 100 years

Fought in May 334 BC it was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire. Fought in Northwestern Asia Minor, near the site of Troy, it was here that Alexander defeated the forces of the Persian satraps of Asia Minor, including a large force of Greek mercenaries led by Memnon of Rhodes.

The battle took place on the road from Abydos to Dascylium (near modern-day Ergili, Turkey), at the crossing of the Granicus River. Where the ancient Greeks best perceived the need for archers was
when an expeditionary force came to them: if an ancient city knew a siege was facing them, what preparations would they make As Mitylene prepares to secede from the Athenian Empire (428), we see the city taking three preparations to undergo a siege:
one was to buy grain,
second was to raise the height of the walls, and
the third was to bring in archers from Thrace.

In a siege, the defenders always have the height advantage. They are throwing or shooting from the city walls, the offense is shooting from the ground. Mathematically, the height advantage goes with the square root of two. If, for instance, you are shooting from twice as high, your arrow goes 1.414 times as far. If you are on a battlement 50 feet high, and your opponent is shooting from five feet high, your arrow goes seven times farther than his.
(This is purely mechanical, ignoring aerodynamics.)

The bow, among the Greeks, was the principal weapon for the city besieged. The bow being so effective in this situation explains why the first advance in ancient siege machinery was the movable tower. This
is the invention of Dionysius of Syracuse. You build it out of range, as high as the city walls, or even higher, armour the front with hides, move it up and give your archers a fair chance to clear the city walls.
Here, for once, is a situation where archers are fighting archers as the main event in ancient Greece. Though siege-towers were constructed out of range, there could always be over-achievers: Philip II, king of Macedon (359-336) and father of Alexander the Great, was inspecting
siege-works when he got his most famous wound an arrow from the city walls knocked his eye out.
Archers on city walls turned many a tide, as victorious besiegers routed a city’s land forces, and, in the excitement of pursuit, got too close to the city walls!.

Size approx 33mm long. We have a very few similar all from the collection, this one in the gallery was sold but we have a very few very similar around the same size. However, some are slightly longer, and a larger size, that are up to £95, please enquire directly if required  read more

Code: 24503

A Most Fine 18th to Early 19th Century Ottoman Empire Jannisaries Yatağan Sword, Carved Horn 'Eared' Hilt & Original Hide Covered Wooden Combat Scabbard

Overall in superb condition, the patina on both the hilt and leather scabbard is exceptional. The carved horn eared hilt is composed of two carved horn grip plates attached by three iron rivets, and is very fine indeed. It has a naturally patinated brass, fully encompassing, reinforcing strap that forms into the ricasso and shaped blade plate. The yataghan form blade, in the traditional form, is beautifully geometrically engraved upon the back edge. The polished hide covered wooden scabbard has an iron belt loop fixing. The Yatağan sword is a Turkish sword that is believed to have originated sometime in the late middle ages, around the 14th century. The first authentic findings that there are for the Yatağan are from the 15th century belonging to Suleiman the Magnificent. That sword has an inscription written on it dating it to 1526.

The formation of the Janissaries has been dated to the reign of Murad I (r. 1362–1389), the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans instituted a tax of one-fifth on all slaves taken in war, and from this pool of manpower the sultans first constructed the Janissary corps as a personal army loyal only to the sultan. They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement and formed their own distinctive social class. As such, they became one of the ruling classes of the Ottoman Empire, rivalling the Turkish aristocracy. The brightest of the Janissaries were sent to the palace institution, Enderun. Through a system of meritocracy, the Janissaries held enormous power, stopping all efforts to reform the military

Yatağan was widely used in the Ottoman period from the 16th century to the 19th century; is a famous and effective sword. It is also known as the Turkish Sword among foreigners and Kulakli among the people. Yatagan was a weapon of janissaries and other infantry troops.

The centre of gravity of the sword, the angle known as the Turkish curve in making swords, and the ideal strokes are difficult to use because they differ from other swords. The reason for this difference in form is to swing the enemy’s sword strokes more easily. But the destruction and chiselling power of a good user is much higher than that of contemporary swords. Although the motives and writings in Yatağan are sometimes a poem and sometimes a concise word, mostly the verses, the name of the owner of the sword, the prayers and the seal of the master making the sword are seen.

The Yatagan was mostly used by soldiers known as the Janissaries. These soldiers often had to walk long distances to defend the empire or expand its borders. That is why the scabbard was mostly made out of leather so that it would be light. It was usually carried on the side or the back of the belt.

The scabbard of the Yatagan is curved just like the blade and made wider than needed so the broadened tip can easily fit inside. It was made out of wood, leather, and even silver. It was also usually heavily decorated, especially if it was owned by a nobleman.
The Yatagan is truly a one-of-a-kind sword. There simply doesn’t seem to be a sword that can compare to it during the time period it was used. The inwardly curved blade, the lack of a crossguard, and the “ears” all contribute to the item’s one-of-a-kind appearance.

It is possible that the Greek Kopis and, in particular, the Iberian Falcata or Sica had some sort of influence on the Yatagan. However, these swords hadn’t been used for almost a thousand years by the time the Yatagan began to see use in the 14th to 19th centuries.

This sword was used throughout many regions of the Ottoman Empire that it has several different legends connected to its origins. One of the legends is about Yatagan Baba. This was a Seljuk blacksmith as well as a military commander. He conquered a village in modern-day Denizli, Turkey, and made his new home there. Being a master blacksmith, Yatagan Baba developed the Yatagan sword, which was named after him and the village he conquered.

Another legend is that at one point during the Ottoman Period, the sultan had forbidden the use of long swords by the Janissaries in peacetime because of their insubordination. They were then forced to improvise, and ordered weapons made that didn’t technically constitute a long sword.

Last photo in the gallery of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wearing the traditional Janissary uniform Turkish yatagan swords that were the signature weapon of the Janissaries, almost a symbol of the corps.  read more

Code: 25041