A Stunning British Regulation Pattern Light Dragoon Pistol by Barnett Dated 1802 A Contract Gunmaker Made For the EIC But Used By The British Light Dragoons In the Peninsular and Waterloo

One of the pistols likely turned over by the East India Co. army to the Board of Ordnance for the Napoleonic wars, due to the urgent need for arms to counter Napoleon's massive armament reserve. The light dragoon pistol was the standard weapon issued to the British trooper throughout the 18th and early-19th centuries. It bears the same British Board of Ordnance inspection lock stamp, numbered by inspector '2'. Crown Inspector '2' was Richard Duce, and he was the principle inspector for the crown from 1797, and the small arms turned over from the EIC, just as this turned-over pistol {and turned-over Brown Bess muskets} usually bore. We had,and sold within a few days of its arrival, just a couple of weeks ago, a very fine 1802 Brown Bess musket, also turned-over by the EIC at the verey same time, and also inspected and crown stamped '2' by Richard Duce.

Thomas Barnett was contractor to the Ordnance from 1794.

The world changed in 1793, a mere 10 years after the loss of the American colonies. Britain found itself once again at war, this time with Revolutionary France. An army now reduced in size to an authorised strength of only 44,432 men had to be expanded rapidly, along with the local militia and volunteer forces. The call for arms was huge. Indeed, in 1793 the total stock of muskets in armouries around Britain, including the central arsenal at the Tower of London, was around 60,000. The stocks held in French arsenals amounted to over 700,000.

The idea of introducing the East India Company's arms into British Army service was conceived. By the end of 1794. at that time the East India Company had delivered 29,920 muskets into government stores, all that they could spare.

However they agreed to sell almost all their current contracted guns, for the forseeable future. Indeed, transactions for East India Company small arms would continue throughout the duration of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

By 1815, the East India Company had sold the Board of Ordnance at least 142,970 small arms.

This fabulous example was one of those desperately required light dragoon flintlocks, sold to Britain in 1802.  read more

Code: 24801

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 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  read more

Code: 24799

A Singularly Fine Remington New Model Army .44 Cal. Civil War Revolver With Around 80% Original Mirror Blue Finish Remaining

It is very rare to find a Remington New Model army revolver from the Civil War with so much original finish remaining intact and present. One cannot over estimate the value of such a revolver that increases in value quite exceptionally when its original finish is beyond 50% remaining. For example a Colt US contract 1861 Navy revolver, with 95%+ original finish can now sell for almost a quarter of a million dollars. In 2020 one with 95%+ original blue condition, sold at auction in America for $212,000.

Closed frame with 6 shot cylinder, brass trigger guard, wood grips, C, D & S inspection stamps throughout, and B H, for Benjamin Hannis',his US Civil war inspector's grip cartouch stamp on the grip plate.

In the field, even though the Colt revolver had the name and the mystique, many cavalry troopers preferred the much sturdier solid frame design of the Remington revolver. Approximately 106,000 Remington Model New Model Army percussion revolvers were purchased by US government during the American Civil War, with a total of approximately 114,000 of all types of Remington percussion revolvers purchased during the course of the war. Approximately 80,000 of these were purchased during the last two years of the war, between 1863 and 1865. According to the research published in Remington Army & Navy Revolvers 1861-1868 by Donald L. Ware, Remington revolvers through serial 149,000 were accepted prior to the end of the Civil War. Guns below serial 123,000 were accepted prior to the end of 1864.the Remington New Model Army was the primary revolver issued to Union cavalry after the fire at the Colt's factory in 1863, and these revolvers remained in service with the regular cavalry regiments on the frontier until they were replaced with the Model 1873 Colt Cavalry Revolvers in 1875. Three years after the end of the Civil War, Remington started to offer conversions for metal cartridges to be used instead of the cap & ball style paper cases. Remington paid a small fee to the renowned Smith & Wesson company who owned the 1855 Rollin White patent 12,648 on the method and principles for re-boring out cylinders and thus Remington was the first company to offer big .44 calibre metal cartridges a couple of years before the main competitors of Colt and S & W . The Remington 1858 New Model Army in .44 caliber was quite a powerful gun in its day and the bullet or ball could be fired out at over 1,000 feet per second (f.p.s) which was quite fast in the 1860's as most bullet velocities were around 750 f.p.s

William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody used an ivory-handled New Model Army .44, serial number 73,293, from 1863 until 1906, when he gave it to his ranch foreman with a handwritten note which said that, "It never failed me." The Remington revolver permitted easy cylinder removal, allowing a quick reload with a spare pre-loaded cylinder; this being an advantage over other revolver designs of the time.  read more

Code: 24802

A Magnificent Ancient Greek Wreath of Victory, A Crown of Hammered Gold. From the Era of Alexander The Great. Circa 300 BC. Now Re-Assembled For Our Display

An original fine sheet gold Wreath of Victory, Around 2300 years old, reassembled in our workshop over the past two weeks.

It is now been thus re-assembled, and framed flat under glass temporarily, it is a magnificent historic wonder to behold. Around 2300 years old in fabulous condition overall considering the passing two plus millennia. Likely 22ct gold.

The Ancient Greek Gold Wreath of Victory
was was derived from wreaths of real leaves worn in religious ceremonies and given as prizes in athletic and artistic contests, at the point of triumph. Gold wreaths were fragile ant not meant to be frequently worn, but were definitely meant for display. See the Getty Collection for their partial view of an example of a Gold Crown of Triumph.
In Ancient Rome, in later centuries it was similarly worn on the head as a symbol of triumph. There are numerous, surviving original Roman carved sculptures of Roman Caesars and Emperors adorned with their Wreath of Victory.
The symbol of the laurel wreath is from Greek mythology. The Romans adopted the symbol because they admired Greek culture. In Rome, they were symbols of military victory.
Military commanders or emperors often wore them after a battle. Laurel wreaths in ancient times are most often shown as a horseshoe shape.

Greek goldsmiths and artisans inherited their techniques from Egypt and Mesopotamia, however, they managed to create and develop a unique style. Gold became the primary decorative material, although silver, lead, bronze and electrum were also used. Skilled artisans worked the gold in thin leaves
In Classic and Hellenistic Greece it was the advent of the Golden Age of Greece, when Hellenic culture blossomed, that Greek jewellery reached its high water mark. The reign of Alexander the Great saw an enormous influx of gold and precious stones from the Orient, providing the core resources to produce items of incredible splendour. This era was brought to an end when the Roman Empire took control of Greece in the 2nd century BC, bringing many drastic and dramatic changes in jewellery style.

Photos in the gallery show ours as we have assembled it, see photos 1, 2, 3 and how ours would likely have appeared 2300 years ago, when it was worn at the triumph see photo 7, and in the gallery we show the Massachusetts collection gold crown see pgoto 6, fully assembled, and the last photo is the Getty Collection crown photo 4.
In the gallery we show the other museum examples, in exactly how they would have looked when worn and complete. We also show one partial crown in the Getty Collection, our crown is designed with laurel leaves and some oak leaves. The Massachusetts collection, fully re-assembled example, sold in Christies in 2019 for $325,000 USD

The Somerset crown was incredibly rare gold crown believed to be more than 2,000 years old was discovered under a bed in a Somerset cottage. That was the last completely assembled example that we saw and had the opportunity to acquire. It was in 2016. The delicate Greek gold myrtle wreath, which was thought to date to 300BC, was found in a cardboard box in the modest Taunton property. When appraised by a local auction in 2016 it was estimated to be worth approaching 200,000 GBP.

We re-assembled our gold crown for our photographic display, but it will need re-assembling for whatever form of permanent display its new owner feels suits it best. It comprises of up to 100 parts of hammered gold from up 4 inches to 1/8th inch long.

Our example was from a late esteemed private collection of a famous British ‘Barrister at the Temple’ and antiquities collector, acquired in the 1960’s  read more

Code: 24772

A Large & Superbly Impressive Circa 20 Million Year Old Megalodon Giant Shark Tooth

Miocene period and one of the largest we have seen in years.
Megalodon (Otodus megalodon), meaning "big tooth", is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a member of the family Lamnidae and a close relative of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). However, it is now classified into the extinct family Otodontidae, which diverged from the great white shark during the Early Cretaceous.

While regarded as one of the largest and most powerful predators to have ever lived, the megalodon is only known from fragmentary remains, and its appearance and maximum size are uncertain
Extrapolating from a vertebral column and reconstructing a 3D model with dimensions based on all extant lamnid sharks suggests that a 16-meter-long (52 ft) individual, but it may have been much larger than that compared to previous estimates, possibly reaching an excess 90 feet, and weighing 61.5 metric tons (67.8 short tons) or more, in body mass; and an individual megaladon of this size would have needed to consume at least 98,175 kcal per day.

Their teeth were thick and robust, built for grabbing prey and breaking bone, and their large jaws could exert a bite force of up to 108,500 to 182,200 newtons (24,400 to 41,000 lbf) with the ability to bite a whale in half with one bite.

The tooth is length top to bottom
As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity  read more

Code: 24809

An Extraordinary, 1100 to 1200 year old, Original, Ancient Viking Draken Head Staff Mount. A Knob of a Staff or Wand of Magic, Used By A Völva, a Sorcerer or Sorceress of Seiđr. A Seiðstafr, The Staff of Power

A fabulous ancient bronze Draken head {Viking for dragon} with remains of its forged iron wand attached to its socket mount. Modelled on one of the greatest iconic symbols of the Viking Norsemen, the Draken head, the iconic symbol on the prow of a Viking longship, the Draken figurehead.

The iron staff or wand was an important accessory used by the Völva when carrying out Seiđr, Viking magic. The.magic staffs were around two to three foot long, forged of iron, often in the form of a distaff, with a knob pommel, that could take many forms, made of other metals, more usually brass or bronze, sometimes the knob might be inlaid with gems, and the staff was used by professional Viking sorcerers and sorceresses when performing Seiđr.

These staffs acquired a plenitude of meanings and functions, from symbolic to practical. As such the staff may be understood as the attribute of a völva, the rod keeping up the world, a distaff spinning the future

"From the beginning seiðr was the prerogative of the gods, and it is clear that its origins predate the Viking Age by several centuries (Hedeager 1997). The sources relate how Òðin became the supreme master of sorcery, having learnt of its powers from the goddess Freyja."
(Price, N. 2008 “Sorcery and Circumpolar Traditions in Old Norse Belief” p. 245 in “The Viking World” Brink, S. & Price, N. eds)

Ok hon hafði staf í hendi, ok var á knappr

Eiríks saga rauða describes a seiðkonur with her staff:

"(Thorbjorg the seiðkonur) was dressed in such wise that she had a blue mantle over her, with strings for the neck, and it was inlaid with gems quite down to the skirt. On her neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a black hood of lambskin, lined with ermine. A staff she had in her hand, with a knob thereon; it was ornamented with brass, and inlaid with gems round about the knob."

A völva buried in Fyrkat, Denmark was buried with a box containing talismans or taufr. These included an owl pellet, small bones from birds and animals as well as henbane seeds. When thrown on a fire, henbane seeds can produce a hallucinogenic smoke that gives those who inhale it a sense of flying which may have enhanced the völva’s trance. The völur who were buried in the Oseberg ship were similarly outfitted with a pouch of cannabis seeds for their journey beyond life.

Völur were also buried with a staff, not only a shamanic implement but also an insignia of their profession. The Old Norse term völva has been widely translated to mean a “wand carrier” or “magical staff bearer”. Many shamans use a ceremonial staff as an object of spiritual power. Held during the visionary ritual of seiðr these seiðstafr or völ, may have been representation of the World Tree as is common among shamans from the Arctic to Asia and down to the Peruvian Amazon. Since the spiritual principle uniting the spirit worlds for the Norse was the Great Tree, Yggdrassil it makes sense that völur would carry a staff. Being able to travel into the realms of the spirits is a critical requirement for any shamanic practitioner. The wand or staff would function as a connection to all the realms of spirit as well as another kind of tether to help a völva return to this world.

We show in the gallery one drawing of a museum exhibit, an iron staff of power recovered from a burial, in Klinta, Oland, Sweden, and held to the right is a recreated copy of the ancient Viking relic with its brass, formed, knob pommel.

Being a staff pommel, we believe it is the smallest surviving part of a Seiðstafr, {The Staff of Power} yet, of all the surviving examples we have seen in the past 50 years, and they are so few as to be near non-existent, this example is, in our opinion, the most iconic Viking image example existing, and likely now unique in the world {so far discovered}, and as such, may be the only surviving part of its type to appear on the open market, or ever likely to.

The closest example we have ever seen are the small, semi flat, cast draken head clothing pins that were cast, often in lead, in intaglio carved mould stones. Which show just how important the draken (dragon) head was to Viking symbolic culture. We show a really rare find, of one such small Draken head clothes pin moulds, in carved soapstone, now in the collection of Swedish History Museum.

Our Draken head is approx. 6cm long overall, including the remaining iron staff top.
As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity  read more

Code: 24789

An Original & Rare Flintlock 'Chief's Grade' Hudson’s Bay Co. Trade Musket. The Identical Form of Parker Field Trade Musket Used By Chief Sitting Bull of The Little Big Horn

In superb condition, In fact we would go as far to say you may never see a better condition untouched example like this beauty.

With maker marked flint lock, maker stamped with the tombstone inspectors mark and a seated fox, and a superb serpent sideplate. They were carried into the mountain ranges, open plains, and vast deserts by the native people who relied on the Northwest Gun’s dependability, simple – and importantly, easily repaired – mechanics, and readily available ammunition. In short, no other single firearm was carried through as much of American history, from the primeval forests of the east to the shores of the western coast, as were these Northwest Trade Guns.

This very nice specimen was manufactured by the firm of Parker, Field, & Co. of London and is so legibly stamped on the tail of the lock plate. In front of the cock, the lock plate bears the famous Hudson’s Bay Company viewer (inspector) stamp, the “Tombstone Fox” seated over the initial’s “EB”. The initials are believed to be those of Edward Bond, an early viewer employed by the HBC, and whose descendants served the company for many decades after Edward’s death, continuing to use their forbearer’s cartouche.

A very special feature of this Trade Gun is the relatively rare viewer’s acceptance stamp which was applied once the gun was fully assembled and delivered to the HBC. This stamp is partially legible on the right side of the butt stock – the outline of the ½” circle that when originally newly struck it would have been fully legible, it wasa an encircled a standing fox surrounded by the initials “H. H. B. C.” for the Honorable Hudson’s Bay Company. These acceptance stamps were characteristically lightly struck, and with any wear or handling, they were soon worn away. To my knowledge, only two guns exist on which this stamp is fully legible, and it is very rare that even the outline of the stamp survives as is present on this Trade Gun. The presence of this stamp is certainly an added value and interest.

This is a very good specimen of a Northwest Trade Gun which was traded from the Hudson’s Bay Company at a time before the Indians had access to the later metallic cartridge guns, and certainly present during the active conflicts of the Indian War engagements in the west immediately following the Civil War.

Some Parker Field trade muskets are known to have been used at the Battle of Little Bighorn, and other incidents at the end of the Indian Wars. Another Parker, Field & Sons Trade Gun sold in 2018, it is carved with Sitting Bull's name on the butt, and is directly attributed to him. {See the photos in the gallery}, It sold at auction for $162,500 in 2018. You will notice his had fared poorly under the Chief's ownership, with considerable fore-stock damage.

Another identical Parker Field, Hudson's Bay Co. trade musket belonged to the Apsáalooke (Crow) leader, Fighting Bear. That musket was formerly in the collection of Edwin W. Countryman (1872-1946, a Buffalo, New York, attorney); it was subsequently acquired by Reuben B. Oldfield a collector of Indian items from Bath, New York, at an unknown date; then it was purchased from Reuben Oldfield by Thomas J. Watson (Chairman and CEO of IBM) in 1947; transferred to the IBM Gallery of Arts and Sciences; then donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by the IBM Gallery of Arts and Sciences in 1960.

One other photo in the gallery is an old painting of Sitting Bull holding his musket.

By the early eighteen hundreds, the trading companies had established rigid requirements for the Northwest guns. The full-stocked, smoothbore trade guns varied little in shape and style, but under went changes in barrel lengths. By the late 1820’s, the shorter barrel had become popular. The overall length of a standard Northwest gun with a 30-inch barrel was 45.5 inches. A distinctive feature of these guns was the dragon or serpent shaped side plate. Most Indians would not trade for a gun that did not have the serpent plate. Hansen states that the earliest record of the Hudson’s Bay gun with its distinctive dragon ornament is dated 1805.
After 1800, almost all the Indian trade guns were supplied with blue barrels, brown-varnished stocks, and bright polished locks. These guns were stamped below the pan with a large sitting fox-like animal and enclosed in a viewers panel. These guns carried the brass serpent side plate and an over sized trigger guard for use with mittens.

The following excerpts from an article on The Guns of the Little Big Horn by Terry Shulman are interesting:
In the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and five companies of the 7th Cavalry were overwhelmed in southeastern Montana Territory by a combined force of Lakota and Cheyenne Indians on June 25, 1876.
The Seventh Cavalry troopers were armed with the Springfield carbine Model 1873 and the Colt Single Action Army revolver Model 1873. The best effective range for this carbine was less than 300 yards.
There is much speculation as to the guns carried by the Indians. Private Charles Windolph of Company H was probably closest to the truth when he estimated that half the warriors carried bows and arrows, one-quarter of them carried a variety of old muzzleloaders and single-shot rifles, and one-quarter carried modern repeaters.
At the Little Bighorn, about 42,000 rounds were either expended or lost. At that rate, the soldiers hit one Indian for about every 840 shots. Since much of the ammunition was probably lost–Indians commented on capturing ammunition in cartridge belts and saddlebags–the hit rate must have been higher.
In the Battle of the Rosebud, eight days before the Little Bighorn fight, General George Crook’s forces fired about 25,000 rounds and may have caused about 100 Indian casualties–about one hit for every 250 shots.

28 inch barrell 44 inches overall
If we knew the name of the Native American Chief that once owned this gun, in our opinion, it would add at least another nought to its price, but, needless to say, we sadly don't.

* Slight error in photos 1,2, & 3. In those photos the trigger guard looks proud to the wood, it isn't, it had not been screwed back in place correctly. See photos 8 and 9 to see how it correctly looks

As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity  read more

Code: 24795

A Most Handsome Shinto Katana 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.

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
Blade 29 inches tsuba to tip  read more

Code: 24040

A ‘Special Offer’ Pair, A Single Fired Musket Ball & Single Musket Flint From The Waterloo Battlefield Site During the Construction of the Waterloo Mound in the 1820’s

From the field of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, during a Grand Tour at the building of the Waterloo mound, a huge lion monument at the battle site of Waterloo, in honour of the Prince of Orange. A collection 20 assorted musket flints and pistol and musket balls recovered from Waterloo, offered by us as a matched pair of one ball and one flint at a time. Originally purchased by the nobility from the peasant excavators in Belgium, while building the Prince of Orange's Waterloo Mound at the battlefield in the 1820's, and acquired by us from their descendants as a collection of 20. From part of our antiquities and curiosities acquired from a circa 1820's Grand Tour classical collection from Europe and the Middle East. Such as Agincout, Poitiers, Crecy, Waterloo, Philippi, and following Alexander's campaign trail of his conquests then part of the Ottoman Empire. We have been purchasing piecemeal from the same family for around 20 years, military items and artefacts from the family's forebears Grand Tour in the early 19th century.

We are offering them as two fabulous souvenirs of the famous Duke of Wellington's victory over France and Napoleon, a matched pair, one flint and one ball.
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition, a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, referred to by many authors as the Anglo-allied army or Wellington's army, and a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher, referred to also as Blücher's army. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was contemporaneously known as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean or La Belle Alliance (the beautiful alliance).
Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". Napoleon abdicated four days later, and coalition forces entered Paris on 7 July. The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, often referred to as the Pax Britannica. The battlefield is located in the Belgian municipalities of Braine-l'Alleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Brussels, and about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by the monument of the Lion's Mound, a large artificial hill constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself; the topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved. Photo is of ten of our twelve pairs
As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity.  read more

Code: 23946

A Very Good WW1 Gloucester Regt. Sterling Silver & Blue and White Enamel Military Sweetheart Brooch

The Gloucestershire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Nicknamed "The Glorious Glosters", the regiment carried more battle honours on their regimental colours than any other British Army line regiment. During the course of the war, the regiment raised 25 battalions, seeing service on the Western Front, Gallipoli, Macedonia, Mesopotamia, Persia and Italy. Battle Honours gained in WW1; The Great War (25 battalions): Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914 '18, Ypres 1914 '15 '17, Langemarck 1914 '17, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Givenchy 1914, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916, '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozi?res, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917, Messines 1917 '18, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosi?res, Avre, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, B?thune, Drocourt-Qu?ant, Hindenburg Line, ?p?hy, Canal du Nord, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914?18, Piave, Vittorio Veneto, Italy 1917?18, Struma, Doiran 1917, Macedonia 1915?18, Suvla, Sari Bair, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915?16, Egypt 1916, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916?18, Persia 1918  read more

Code: 18819