A Superb Pocket Sized 'Pepperbox' Derringer Revolver Six Shot Pistol Circa 1840, With Most Rare Sliding Hammer Safety Mechanism

Good condition for age, all over blue-black finish, all barrels are numbered 1 through 6 and all individually proofed. Chequered original wooden grips, frame scroll hand engraved, hammer leaf engraved, trigger guard scroll engraved

The 'pepperbox' 6 shot revolver was an amazing progression from the single shot percussion pistol, that worked on the rotating multi barrelled principle before the concept of a revolving cylinder and a single barrel system was invented. the style of the pistol created its nickname of the pepperbox as it looked somewhat like a peppermill, but they most often were large belt or holster pistol sized, whereas the pocket Derringer sized type, being the scarcest of all, is most rarely seen to survive today.

The pepperbox revolver was still being used in the American Civil War, especially by Southern soldiers due to the lack of arms, a photo in the gallery shows a Confederate corporal holding his larger holster or belt size pepperbox revolver, and he looks barely 13 years of age.

In the 1850s, the extreme popularity of antique derringer pistols swept the nation like wildfire. Henry Deringer, the man who made the first Philadelphia Deringer, created a small and concealable pistol for people to carry for protection. When searching for an antique derringer pistol for sale, one will notice that derringers are made by a number of different brands and manufacturers. Many people wanted to make their design number one and stick out among the rigorous competition. One man that took the idea into his own hands and became a favorite in the Old West for pocket sized guns was Christian Sharps

Sharp had been in the business of rifle making before he endeavored into pocket pistol designs. He started his career in Harpers Ferry, Virginia with John Halls Rifle Works. He patented his own Sharps rifle in 1848 and, interestingly enough, a year later in December 1849, he patented his first design for the antique derringer pistol he desired to create. Unfortunately, it was a poorly constructed and fragile design in need of some work before it could be sold commercially.

The antique derringer sized pistols became known as the ‘hideout pistol’ to westerners. The prominence of these small multi shot pocket pistols as a gambler’s gun arose in the the Old Wild West. The gun was very commonly used by gamblers and tavern frequenters since they could slide it up their sleeve or in their pocket without the people around the being any the wiser. Western outlaws loved the conceal ability and carried the gun as an extra side arm. The gun is sometimes referred to as the perfect concealable pistol.

Tight and crisp spring, action rotates with occassional missfires, and one nipple is lacking.

No licence is required to own and collect this antique pistol

Six inches long overall with six two inch long barrells  read more

Code: 24967

A Fine & Exceedingly Handsome US Civil War Moore 7 Shot Belt Revolver With Original New York Factory Engraving. Later Cased With Tools

A Daniel Moore Seven-shot .32 calibre rimfire revolver, serial number 1074, manufactured by Daniel Moore of Brooklyn, and patented by him on September 18th, 1860. In overall, superbly nice external condition with much original nickel plating and blue finish. The nickel plating shows of beautifully the original, fine, ‘New York’ factory engraving.

It is extremely keenly priced when it is considered next to it far better known Civil War revolver competitors, such as Smith and Wesson, Colt, Remington and Starr etc. plus it’s rarity, in that it’s production was barely 3% that of Colt alone, plus, it was a breech loading cartridge gun, that made its firing advantage far greater than that of its cap and ball percussion revolver rivals. No wonder Cole Younger continually used his until it was captured from him in 1876.

This gun is the very first revolver with swing-out cylinder ever produced. With the hammer in halfcock position, a pressure on the catch located right from the hammer on the recoil shield allows the barrel and cylinder to be swung out to the right for loading.

Engraved Moore’s Patent Firearms Co. Single Action Belt Revolver. These revolvers were made in Brooklyn, New York from 1861-1863 and number less than 7,000 in total, possibly as low as 5,000. The primary significance of this pistol is that many of these are known to have been purchased by Union officers and enlisted men for use during the American Civil War, Including, Cole Younger of Quantrill's Raiders.

Sturdy and very well made, this revolver was in its days a lot more advanced that all its competitors. Unfortunately for Mr Moore, its bored-through cylinder made it also an infringment on the Rollin White patent, that was then owned by Smith & Wesson. As they usually did, S&W filed a claim, which resulted in the surrender to S&W of 18,072 unsold revolvers by 4 companies in settlement of the damage claims. The mention "Manufd. for Smith & Wesson by Moore's Pat. Fire Arms Co" was stamped on the barrels of all turned over revolvers prior to sale, but ours was made prior to this change.

This one bears the early serial 1074 and does not have this mention, which indicates it was sold before the trial.

Excellent weapon, featuring a factory New York hand-engraved brass frame. This fine Moore would undoubtedly have seen military use during the Civil War.

One of the most famous owners of a Moore 7 shot belt revolver just like this example, was 'Cole' Younger, during the Northfield Bank Robbery. He was part of the James -Younger gang with Jesse And Frank James and Cole’s brothers Jim, John and Bob. He supposedly used his Moore as a Captain in the notorious Quantrill's Raiders of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War.
After the war, as part of the Younger-James Gang after the Great Northfield Bank Raid, Cole Younger had his pistol taken from him on 21 September 1876, and it was his Daniel Moore 1860 patent revolver, which bore a serial number within 150 of this revolver. Also recovered with it was his Civil War Officer’s belt and holster.

Photos in the gallery of an original ambrotype photo of Cole Younger, {now in a museum} and his $5,000 reward 'wanted' poster for train robbery, also a photo of him with his brother Bob and Frank and Jesse James, and you can see Cole's revolver in his holster at his waist, and lastly, we show his marble tombstone.

One photo in the gallery is the same type of Moore revolver, with ivory grip, without case, that was sold by the Moore family in 2009 in the US that sold for $ 4,888.
Every item is accompanied with our unique, Certificate of Authenticity. Of course any certificate of authenticity, given by even the best specialist dealers, in any field, all around the world, is simply a piece of paper,…however, ours is backed up with the fact we are the largest dealers of our kind in the world, with over 100 years and four generation’s of professional trading experience behind us.
Slightly sticky rotation action.  read more

Code: 24799

A Most Beautiful & Exemplary Work of Art. A Very Fine Large Long Barrel Boxlock Flintlock Brass Cannon Barrel Blunderbuss Pistol Circa 1730 by Renown Maker John Freeman of London

Superb silver fittings and elaborate scroll inlays stunningly depicting trumpets, drums, spears and cannon to the butt, and the silver wire appears to be 100% intact. With brass cannon barrel and lock, and safety mechanism by sliding the trigger guard forward once the pistol is cocked. Known as a Queen Anne flintlock this is a stunning example in wonderful condition, by one of the best makers of the day. Demon face butt mask in silver. 13 inches long overall.

Without doubt, especially considering the most rare design of silver inlay this is one of the finest examples in the best condition, we have ever seen.

The ‘Queen Anne’ style pistol is distinctive in that it does not have a ramrod. The barrel of the pistol unscrews and allows it to be loaded from the rear and near the touch hole at the breech of the barrel. These pistols are made in either Dog Lock or Flintlock styles.

The Queen Anne pistols were very popular and were made in a variety of calibers, usually about 38 to 50 bore. Boot pistols, Holster pistols, pocket pistols and Sea Service pistols were all made in Queen Anne style. This type is known as a Queen Anne pistol because it was during her reign that it became popular (although it was actually introduced in the reign of King William III).

The fine examples were made with silver fittings and or inlays, but the finest, with brass barrels and frames as well as silver mountings and inlays

As with all our antique guns, no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 24860

19th Century 1850's English Tranter .36 calibre Double Trigger Revolver One of the Most Favoured Revolver's of The US Civil War Confederates

The Tranter revolver is a double-action cap and ball (percussion) revolver invented around 1856 by English firearms designer William Tranter (pictured below). The original Tranter’s operated with a special dual-trigger mechanism (one to rotate the cylinder and cock the gun, a second to fire it)
The revolvers in .36 and .44 calibre were popular with Confederate troops during the American Civil War and thousands of them were shipped from Birmingham, England to New Orleans under contract to the Griswold Company.

Tranter’s most successful series of arms were his “self-cocking” revolvers, which were initially introduced in 1853. The earliest revolvers utilized Robert Adams’ patent for a solid, one-piece frame and barrel that were machined from a single forging. Tranter’s initial production run of revolvers included both Adams 1851 Patent lock works, and Tranter's own patented lock works. The original “Tranter” type revolvers, known to collectors as 1st Model Tranter or sometimes “Adams-Tranter” revolvers due to the frame marking, had no provision for a fixed loading lever. The lever swiveled on a stud that projected from the left side of the frame, which had no provision to retain the lever when it was mounted on the revolver. The lever was intended to be stored in a case or carried in the pocket; hardly a practical solution if the user actually had to reload the revolver in the field. Most of these guns were manufactured on Adams Patent frames
Famous Tranter owners

Major Heros Von Borcke, CSA
The Pinkerton Detective Agency
General J.E.B. Stuart, CSA
Capt Charles Green, CSA
Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, Scotland Yard
Sherlock Holmes
Thomas Knowles
Murder of Peter Clark

The frame, under the grip bears a serial number 7 and another matching 7 partially under the spring , and another 7 on the wooden grip. The cylinder rotates sporadically and fires on the second trigger, the left side inverted Y safety spring has a thin arm crack, single nipple lacking. No maker engravings present, with regular view and proof stamps on every cylinder and barrel, both of which are standard features on all Confederate UK contract arms,  read more

Code: 24576

A Wonderful & Historical Pair of Mid 18th Century 'Royal' French Long Holster Pistols, Marked 'Cour Royal', 1754 American Anglo-French-Indian War & Revolutionary War of 1776 Period Flintlocks, Circa 1750. Made For An Officer Of the French Royal Court

The walnut has wonderful patina, the steel barrel and mounts are all in the rococco décor form, both hand chisseled and engraved, with overall surface age pitting. Very good tight actions to both. The locks were transform silex almost two hundred years ago, which is an upgrade system to convert the actions to percussion, in order to ensure their working life by an additional forty years or so. Locks engraved Cour Royal with feint makers name beneath. Barrels bear superb gun barrel makers proof stamps. Sadly we know not the name of the officer in Louis XVth’s court for whom they were made, but they were used in the Americas in the 1750’s, and 1770’s and were upgraded likely there too in the early 1800’s. However, being a Royal Court maker he must of been of substantial position, rank, and indeed power, within the King’s army. It is intriguing to wonder who it may have been, possibly one of the French general’s. Such as, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Marquis de Vaudreuil
Baron Dieskau
François-Marie de Lignery

The French and Indian War (1754–63) comprised the North American theatre of the worldwide Seven Years' War of 1756–63. It pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France. Both sides were supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, as well as by American Indian allies. At the start of the war, the French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British North American colonies. The outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians. The European nations declared war on one another in 1756 following months of localized conflict, escalating the war from a regional affair into an intercontinental conflict.

The name French and Indian War is used mainly in the United States. It refers to the two main enemies of the British colonists: the royal French forces and the various American Indian forces allied with them. The British colonists were supported at various times by the Iroquois, Catawba, and Cherokee, and the French colonists were supported by Wabanaki Confederacy members Abenaki and Mi'kmaq, and Algonquin, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot.

British and other European historians use the term the Seven Years' War, as do English-speaking Canadians. French Canadians call it La guerre de la Conquête (the War of the Conquest) or (rarely) the Fourth Intercolonial War.

Fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne within present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.

In 1755, six colonial governors in North America met with General Edward Braddock, the newly arrived British Army commander, and planned a four-way attack on the French. None succeeded, and the main effort by Braddock proved a disaster; he lost the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755 and died a few days later. British operations failed in the frontier areas of Pennsylvania and New York during 1755–57 due to a combination of poor management, internal divisions, effective Canadian scouts, French regular forces, and Indian warrior allies. In 1755, the British captured Fort Beauséjour on the border separating Nova Scotia from Acadia, and they ordered the expulsion of the Acadians (1755–64) soon afterwards. Orders for the deportation were given by William Shirley, Commander-in-Chief, North America, without direction from Great Britain. The Acadians were expelled, both those captured in arms and those who had sworn the loyalty oath to His Britannic Majesty. Indians likewise were driven off the land to make way for settlers from New England.

The British colonial government fell in the region of modern Nova Scotia after several disastrous campaigns in 1757, including a failed expedition against Louisbourg and the Siege of Fort William Henry; this last was followed by Indians torturing and massacring their British victims. William Pitt came to power and significantly increased British military resources in the colonies at a time when France was unwilling to risk large convoys to aid the limited forces that they had in New France, preferring to concentrate their forces against Prussia and its allies in the European theater of the war. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture the Colony of Canada (part of New France). They succeeded in capturing territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately the city of Quebec (1759). The British later lost the Battle of Sainte-Foy west of Quebec (1760), but the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris (1763).

The outcome was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict. France ceded to Great Britain its territory east of the Mississippi. It ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River (including New Orleans) to its ally Spain in compensation for Spain's loss to Britain of Florida. (Spain had ceded Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba.) France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Great Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in eastern North America.

Once the war was concluded just over a decade later these pistols saw service in the American Revolutionary War of the 1770’s, but most likely then by an American officer as they were almost certainly taken as war booty or surrendered during the French Indian War, in order for them to have remained in the Americas until the 18th century at least.  read more

Code: 21241

A Very Beautiful & Incredibly Elegant Koto Katana Art Sword Circa 1500, With Very Fine All Original Edo Koshirae, of Finely Decorated Shakudo, Combined With Exceptional Urushi Lacquer Work. Kashira Decorated with ‘The Monkey Reaching for the Moon’

Very fine original Edo period fittings, mokko gata tsuba and saya. Shakudo fuchi-kashira, decorated with a wonderfully defined little long armed monkey reaching for the moon's reflection in a stream. The long armed monkey is on the kashira, the stream is represented on the fuchi. ‘The Monkey Reaching for the Moon’, fuchi-kashira, depicts a delightful little monkey hanging from a tree branch over the surface of water, reaching down to touch the reflection of the moon. This imagery is undoubtedly derived from a popular Buddhist story that warns how the spiritually unenlightened cannot distinguish between reality and illusion. We very rarely get swords with fittings decorated with the fable of 'the monkey reaching for the moon', but by most unusual good fortune, we have had two this month.

Shakudo and gold menuki of artistically bound reeds, with a fine mokko-shaped Higo school iron tsuba with a raised mimi {edge}, and a black beautiful ishime urushi lacquered saya with matching copper ishime koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri, {scabbard mountings}.

It has a very beautiful 25.25 inch blade, measured tsuba to tip, Typical Koto style and period, an extremely elegant blade with fine graduation, beautiful curvature and iconic Koto form small kissaki It has a superb complex hamon of a choji and crab-claw pattern.

Some provinces of Japan were famous for their contribution to the ishime style of urushi lacquer art: the province of Edo (later Tokyo), for example, produced the most beautiful lacquered pieces from the 17th to the 18th centuries. Lords and shoguns privately employed lacquerers to produce ceremonial and decorative objects for their homes and palaces.
The varnish used in Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the urushi tree, also known as the lacquer tree or the Japanese varnish tree (Rhus vernacifera), which mainly grows in Japan and China, as well as Southeast Asia. Japanese lacquer, 漆 urushi, is made from the sap of the lacquer tree. The tree must be tapped carefully, as in its raw form the liquid is poisonous to the touch, and even breathing in the fumes can be dangerous. But people in Japan have been working with this material for many millennia, so there has been time to refine the technique!
Flowing from incisions made in the bark, the sap, or raw lacquer is a viscous greyish-white juice. The harvesting of the resin can only be done in very small quantities.
Three to five years after being harvested, the resin is treated to make an extremely resistant, honey-textured lacquer. After filtering, homogenization and dehydration, the sap becomes transparent and can be tinted in black, red, yellow, green or brown.
Once applied on an object, lacquer is dried under very precise conditions: a temperature between 25 and 30°C and a humidity level between 75 and 80%. Its harvesting and highly technical processing make urushi an expensive raw material applied in exceptionally fine successive layers, on objects such as bowls or boxes, or as you see, samurai sword saya {scabbards}. After heating and filtering, urushi can be applied directly to a solid, usually wooden, base. Pure urushi dries into a transparent film, while the more familiar black and red colours are created by adding minerals to the material. Each layer is left to dry and polished before the next layer is added. This process can be very time-consuming and labour-intensive, which contributes to the desirability, and high costs, of traditionally made lacquer goods. The skills and techniques of Japanese lacquer have been passed down through the generations for many centuries. For four hundred years, the master artisans of Zohiko’s Kyoto workshop have provided refined lacquer articles for the imperial household. It is extraordinary that a finest urushi lacquer saya would have taken up to, and over, a year to hand produce, by some of the most finely skilled artisans in the world.

Shakudo {that can be used to make samurai sword mounts and fittings} is a billon of gold and copper (typically 4-10% gold, 96-90% copper) which can be treated to form an indigo/black patina resembling lacquer. Unpatinated shakudo Visually resembles bronze; the dark colour is induced by applying and heating rokusho, a special patination formula.

Shakudo was historically used in Japan to construct or decorate the finest katana fittings such as fuchi-kashira, tsuba, menuki, and kozuka; as well as other small ornaments. When it was introduced to the West in the mid-19th century, it was thought to be previously unknown outside Asia, but recent studies have suggested close similarities to certain decorative alloys used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

The above descriptions show just why the finest Japanese fully mounted swords can be referred to as ‘Art Swords’, not because they were made just to be items of incredible beauty, to admire and revere, but also, as usable, everyday use swords to be worn by highest status samurai and clan lords, that are also statements of the status of the wearer, as well as of the finest beauty and artistic merit. The blade is absolutely beautiful, with just small elements of natural age surface thinning at the top quarter on one side.

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

Blade 25 inches long tsuba to tip, overall in its saya, 33.6 inches long  read more

Code: 25351

A Most Handsome Shinto Katana That Would Grace Any Museum Grade Collection. Signed Mutsu Daijo Fujiwara Kaneyasu

Late 17th century sword, bearing signature that approximately translates to "of the Fujiwara Clan, the Daijo (a honourific lordship title) of Mutsu Province, Kaneyasu made this''. With all original Edo period koshirae sword mounts, including a superb antique original Edo 'lobster scale' cinnabar urushi lacquer saya.

A truly stunning combination of materials that has created a iconic Japanese Art Sword of ancient tradition.
Cherished for its infinite versatility, urushi is a distinctive art form that has spread across all facets of Japanese culture from the tea ceremony to the saya scabbards of samurai swords

Japanese artists created their own style and perfected the art of decorated lacquerware during the 8th century. Japanese lacquer skills reached its peak as early as the twelfth century, at the end of the Heian period (794-1185). This skill was passed on from father to son and from master to apprentice.

The varnish used in Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the urushi tree, also known as the lacquer tree or the Japanese varnish tree (Rhus vernacifera), which mainly grows in Japan and China, as well as Southeast Asia. Japanese lacquer, 漆 urushi, is made from the sap of the lacquer tree. The tree must be tapped carefully, as in its raw form the liquid is poisonous to the touch, and even breathing in the fumes can be dangerous. But people in Japan have been working with this material for many millennia, so there has been time to refine the technique!

Higo school silver inlaid tettsu fuchi kashira and iron plate tsuba. very interesting menuki of a panel separated and placed over two bows, decorated with relief kanji. Beautiful blade with a gradually undulating gunome hamon. An impressive sprauncy sword almost certainly made for a mounted samurai considering its power and dimensions.

Of all the weapons that man has developed since our earliest days, few evoke such fascination as the samurai sword of Japan. To many of us in the, the movie image of the samurai in his fantastic armour, galloping into battle on his horse, his colourful personal flag, or sashimono, whipping in the wind on his back, has become the very symbol of Japan, the Empire of the Rising Sun. And, truly, to the samurai of real life, nothing embodied his warrior's code of Bushido more than his sword, considered inseparable from his soul.

Indeed, a sword was considered such a crucial part of a samurai's life that when a young samurai was about to be born, a sword was brought into the bedchamber during the delivery. When the time came for an old samurai to die and cross over into the White Jade Pavilion of the Afterlife his honoured sword was placed by his side. Even after death, a daimyo, or nobleman, believed he could count on his samurai who had followed him into the next world to use their keen blades to guard him against any demons, just as they had wielded their trusty weapons to defend him against flesh-and-blood enemies in this life. In a samurai family the swords were so revered that they were passed down from generation to generation, from father to son. If the hilt or scabbard wore out or broke, new ones would be fashioned for the all-important blade. The hilt, the tsuba (hand guard), and the scabbard themselves were often great art objects, with fittings sometimes of gold or silver. The hilt and scabbard were created from the finest hand crafted materials by the greatest artisans that have ever lived. Often, too, they told a story from Japanese myths. Magnificent specimens of Japanese swords can be seen today in the Tokugawa Art Museum's collection in Nagoya, Japan. The saya has a few age seam lines, but at all detrimental to its beauty and entirely commensurate to its age

As once told to us by an esteemed regular visitor to us here in our gallery, and the same words that are repeated in his book;

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

Blade 29 inches tsuba to tip  read more

Code: 24040

A Beautiful Antique Suit of Original Edo Period Samurai Gosuku Armour. Fully Laced With Shinari Kabuto With Hanbo Face Armour & Crescent Moon Maedate

Edo period 1598-1863. Completely untouched for the past 200 years. With shinari kabuto acorn shaped helmet of built up lacquer over leather construction. With fully laced shikoro neck armour lames. Open hanbo face guard, with laced nodowa throat armour. Dark brown lacquer thin plates with full lacing to the do in maru-do type form breast plate without hinge, single side opening. Chain mail over silk kote arm armour with plate tekko hand armour. Fully laced and plate sode shoulder armour Fully laced four panels of haidate waist armour Fully laced kasazuri thigh armour, without lower suneate. The armour is trimmed in printed and decorated doe skin and all the connection fittings are in traditional carved horn. This armour is absolutely beautiful. It's condition is very good indeed apart from some areas of lacquer wear to the helmet but this we can attend to, some silk perishing on part of the thigh armour top section, and some colour fading to one hand armour lacquer. Japanese armour is thought to have evolved from the armour used in ancient China and Korea. Cuirasses and helmets were manufactured in Japan as early as the 4th century.Tanko, worn by foot soldiers and keiko, worn by horsemen were both pre-samurai types of early Japanese cuirass constructed from iron plates connected together by leather thongs.

During the Heian period 794 to 1185 the Japanese cuirass evolved into the more familiar style of armour worn by the samurai known as the dou or do. Japanese armour makers started to use leather (nerigawa) and lacquer was used to weather proof the armor parts. By the end of the Heian period the Japanese cuirass had arrived at the shape recognized as being distinctly samurai. Leather and or iron scales were used to construct samurai armours, with leather and eventually silk lace used to connect the individual scales (kozane) which these cuirasses were now being made from.

In the 16th century Japan began trading with Europe during what would become known as the Nanban trade. Samurai acquired European armour including the cuirass and comb morion which they modified and combined with domestic armour as it provided better protection from the newly introduced matchlock muskets known as Tanegashima. The introduction of the tanegashima by the Portuguese in 1543 changed the nature of warfare in Japan causing the Japanese armour makers to change the design of their armours from the centuries old lamellar armours to plate armour constructed from iron and steel plates which was called tosei gusoku (new armours).Bullet resistant armours were developed called tameshi gusoku or (bullet tested) allowing samurai to continue wearing their armour despite the use of firearms.

The era of warfare called the Sengoku period ended around 1600, Japan was united and entered the peaceful Edo period, samurai continued to use both plate and lamellar armour as a symbol of their status but traditional armours were no longer necessary for battles. During the Edo period light weight, portable and secret hidden armours became popular as there was still a need for personal protection. Civil strife, duels, assassinations, peasant revolts required the use of armours such as the kusari katabira (chain armour jacket) and armoured sleeves as well as other types of armour which could be worn under ordinary clothing.Edo period samurai were in charge of internal security and would wear various types of kusari gusoku (chain armour) and shin and arm protection as well as forehead protectors (hachi-gane).

Armour continued to be worn and used in Japan until the end of the samurai era (Meiji period) in the 1860s, with the last use of samurai armour happening in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion. This is one of the most attractive ones we have had since we supplied two full antique gosuko, with eight museum grade katana and tachi, to a world famous artist  read more

Code: 22649

A Superb Edo Period Samurai Jingasa War Hat Helmet

A Jingasa Ichimonji Gasa, circa 1800. The clan mon [family crest] is very distinctive indeed.
A lacquer over cloth and paper constructed helmet, as is traditional of the era. The most used and famous are the various round jingasa that are basically flat with just a small raised central part. Akemi Masaharu calls this type ichimonji gasa (straight-line hats), hira gasa (flat hats) or nuri gasa (lacquered hats). The vast majority of these are made in what Akemi Masaharu calls the dry lacquer technique. This would involve gluing layers of cloth and / or paper together into a wooden mould, perhaps with some thin wood or bamboo strips as reinforcement, until a sufficient thickness was obtained, then lacquering. An alternative was to make them from coiled twisted paper strings, with each turn sewn to the next with another string. When lacquered, the whole structure was stiffened sufficiently to hold its shape. In both cases the result is a lightweight basic shape that could be individualised with decorations in lacquer. Not all of these are made in this way.

Most ichimonji jingasa are black lacquered on top with the owner’s, or his lord’s, kamon in gold on the front. No liner. Areas of lacquer surface cracking as usual for antique lacquer helmets of this type  read more

Code: 21744

A Really Rare Original Victorian Crimean War Other Ranks Guardsman's Bearkin Cap. with Hardened Leather Interior Frame & Original, Victorian, Crown VR , Maker's Label

From our fabulous Crimean war collection.

It is fair to say less than one in ten thousand household Division Bearskin Caps to be seen today, on the collectors market, is an original, Victorian issue, 1850's, Crimean War service bearskin cap, the other 9,999 per ten thousand, will be the regular 20th century cane framed bearskin caps. With good condition, leather lined chinscales.

In overall very good condition, the interior bears its original mid 19th century Victorian makers label. It is heavy stitched leather, stitched to the skin, as would be usual for the Crimean bearskin, and it also has the regular other ranks leather headband intact, {the officer's version had a velvet headband} fully. It has no hackle mount externally, which is correct for the Scots Fusilier Guards bearskins, as they wore no hackle, unlike the Grenadiers, and Coldstream Guards. This is only the third 1850's example used in the Crimea we have seen outside of the Guards Museum
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This is the bearskin headdress of an 1850's other ranks of the Scots Fusilier Guards, one of the most famous regiments of infantry in the British Army. This celebrated item, still worn by the Guards Division on ceremonial duties, has its origins in the Battle of Waterloo, where the 1st Foot Guards of Wellington's army fought against the French Imperial Guard, who wore bearskin caps. It was during the reign of King George IV that the Guard uniforms were changed, along with the Guard Regiments themselves. The scarlet coatee was introduced, with gray or white trousers and in 1832 the bearskin cap became the official headdress of all three guards regiments, thus creating the ceremonial uniform that essentially remains in use today.

In the Crimean war the bearskin was reduced in height and the cap's pelt could be attached to a hardened leather cap, as is this one, and not mounted on a frame of willow or rattan as they are today, one such leather lined bearskin is in the Guards Museum in London

In the Crimean war they were still a combat helmet, classified as a bearskin cap. Sometime after the Crimea, the bearskin was only in use by the guards, and fusiliers regiments as a dress cap, just as it still is today.

The guards combat details follow below {in a brief resume} at the Battle of Alma, during the retreat and second attack.

By now, the 1st Division had finally crossed the river and the Russians in the greater redoubt saw approaching them the Guards' Brigade, with the Grenadier Guards on the right, the Scots Fusilier Guards in the centre, and the Coldstream Guards on the left. Out of sight on the far left was the Highland Brigade, commanded by Sir Colin Campbell. Campbell was irritated by the Guards' delay and ordered an immediate advance. A firm believer in the charge with bayonets, Campbell told his men not to fire their rifles until they were "within a yard of the Russians".

The Scots Fusiliers, by then ahead of the rest of the division, started to move uphill immediately, repeating the Light Division's mistake, which at that moment was running down from the redoubt, pursued by Russian infantry. The Light Division crashed into the advancing Scots Fusiliers with such force that the line was broken in many places. The Scots faltered, but emerged on the other side with only half their numbers and continued towards the great redoubt in a chaotic state. When they were 37 m (40 yd) from the redoubt, the Russians mounted a massive volley. The Scots Fusiliers were forced to retreat, stopping only when they reached the river.

The two other guards regiments filled the gap left by the Scots Fusiliers, but refused orders to charge with bayonets up the hill. Instead, the Grenadiers and the Coldstream formed into lines and started firing Minie volleys into the Russian advance parties. This stopped the Russians, and the Grenadiers and the Coldstream were soon able to close the gap between them; the Russians were again forced back into the redoubt. Vintage, replaced chinscales

Photos in the gallery of hand-coloured photograph of three soldiers of the Scots Fusiliers Guards who served in the Crimean War. From right to left are Corporal Judd, Edward Temple and William Reynolds. They are all seated with Judd resting his bearskin on his lap and Temple holding one of the three rifles joint together pointing upwards.

Alongside this Crimean piece we also acquired a fabulous Crimean War pistol and an 1853 relic sword blade from the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Throughout the war Queen Victoria had taken an active interest in the welfare of the troops and on their return from the Crimea she met a number of the veterans at Buckingham Palace, Chatham Military Hospital and Aldershot Garrison. Following these meetings she commissioned a series of photographs of the veterans from the photographers Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett.

The other coloured photograph is of Colour Sergeant William McGregor of the Scots Fusilier Guards.

The maker of this bearskin cap was established in 1776, as Sword Cutlers, Military Outfitters, and Hatters, W. Cater & Co. They were at 56 Pall Mall, and they moved from 56 Pall Mall, to 62 Pall Mall in around 1918.  read more

Code: 25401