A Most Charming Napoleonic Wars King George IIIrd Royal Scot's Greys Officer's Carved Horn, Campaign Drinking Cup

In carved horn used from the 1790's by a British Napoleonic Wars officer in the Royal Scot's Greys, then by his grandson in the Crimean war. A super Napoleonic Wars collectable.

Campaign furniture is an umbrella term for the portable items of furniture used by the military in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is comprised of a huge number of objects, from leatherwork, knives and forks, flasks, drinking vessels, chairs to chests, wardrobes to washstands and games tables to camp beds. from chairs to chests, wardrobes to washstands and games tables to camp beds. A number of celebrated British furniture makers created pieces of campaign furniture, elevating it beyond its roots in functional, army-based design to desirable, collectable decor that continues to add a beautiful, innovative touch to homes today.  read more

Code: 14799

A Most Scarce and Beautiful African Congo Tribal Warrior's Shield, of the Mongo Tribe.

Long ovoid form shield with stunning geometric pattern decoration. Carved wood with rattan bound edging.

The Mongo are one of the Bantu groups of Central Africa, forming the second largest ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are a diverse collection of peoples living in the equatorial forest, south of the main Congo River bend and north of the Kasai and Sankuru Rivers. This area is in the south of the province of Equateur and the north of Bandundu Province.

The Mongo speak either the Mongo language (also called Nkundo) or one of the related languages in the Bantu Mongo family. The Lingala language, however, often replaces Mongo in urban centers. Along with the Luba and the Kongo, they are the three largest ethnic groups in the country.

The Mongo ethnic group is divided into several tribes including Bolia, Bokote, Bongandu, Iyaelima, Konda, Mbole, Nkutu, Ntomba, Sengele, Songomeno, Dengese and Tetela-Kusu, Bakutu, Boyela.

Antique & Vintage original African tribal art is now some of the most desirable and sophisticated decor for national and international interior decorators.

Fine tribal artefacts have always been highly popular and in regards to interior decor, the height of sophistication, but recently it has become absolutely 'the' collectable art of the moment. As to be seen from far afield interiors such as in the 8th Arrondissement, in Paris particularly Avenue Montaigne, to Park Avenue New York, to Kensington Palace Gardens in London or the Piazza di Spagna, Via Condotti and Via del Babuino in Rome. All of the above we have had clients for such African tribal art and weaponry, as a statement focal point for their interior decor.

Super colour contrasts and design incorporating red ochre, cobalt blue, black and white. Red ochre is one of the very earliest pigments used by man, dating back to prehistoric times where it’s use is the basis of many Stone Age cave paintings

Overall in very good condition for age.

16 inches x 35 inches  read more

Code: 18653

A Beautiful Pair of Original & Extraordinarily Beautiful Antique American Wild West Frontier Riding Gauntlets. Made for The Settlers and Trade Market of The American Frontiersmen, Such As Army Scouts, Pony Express Riders & Buffalo Hunters.

A stunning pair of simply captivating gauntlets, of the 19th century, from the early 'Wild West Frontier' period.

Likely traditional North American Indian brain tanned and smoked leather to enable the surface to be more waterproof. To ensure a long-lasting resilience of the leather, it was traditionally stored in a special tent over wood smoke, which gave the skin a darker brown tone and also made it waterproof, thus achieving better protection. Without this process, the leather turns out to be whitish and water-sensitive

All the embroidery is incredibly technical micro stitching of amazing beauty and intricacy. These stunning and fringed gauntlets are beautifully embroidered with flowers, florid patterns and a western monogram. They were possibly traded in the 1840's from the Cree, or the Lakota Sioux tribes of North and South Dakota, but theirs is often decorated with beadwork as opposed to this very fine stitched embroidery, which may better indicate Huron or [according to a most kind lady from the region who knows tribal art very well] Metis craftsmanship.

The most famous members of the Lakota Sioux were Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. In yellow hide [likely deer buckskin] with typical long fringing. Excellent condition, with a small split in base of one finger. The style of Gauntlets worn by 'Kit Carson' and his contemporaries. Superbly beautiful, charming and highly collectable pieces from the old, American, Wild West Frontier.

Gauntlets are protective gloves that distinctively have a flared protective cuff. For centuries, these cuffs protected European and Asian bow hunters and military archers from being snapped on the wrist by their bowstrings. Medieval soldiers and knights began wearing chain-mail gauntlets during the 1300s, and armoured gauntlets appeared in Europe during the 1400s. Four hundred years later and halfway around the world, leather gauntlets appeared in the American West as military uniform accessories. They were soon appropriated by Indian artists, embellished with diverse ornaments, and incorporated into the civilian wardrobe. Here they became intrinsically linked with Western people, history, and landscape, and a symbol of the frontier. The original European form was reworked with a wild American veneer. Former mountain men -- Jim Bridger and Kit Carson among them -- occasionally worked guiding emigrant trains and military units through little-known country. They also helped track renegades of diverse stripes. These scouts were colourful characters, highly skilled, and not required to maintain a military dress code. Their attire was subsequently functional, comfortable, and drawn from a variety of media and cultural sources. By the 1870s, long and abundant fringe was in style and pinked edges provided decorative flair to leather clothing that was by nature quite showy. A similar pair of gauntlets [though later] of the Lakota Sioux can be seen in the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art in the Fenimore Art Museum NY.

The inner lining of our gauntlets is some kind of fine quilted cloth.

These stunning gauntlets would superbly compliment any Wild West collection of original American revolvers, and would look amazing case framed. We offer a highly recommended bespoke case framing service accomplished by one of our local expert artisans.

Such original and rare items of Native American art and artefacts are new very rare in Europe, and thus most valuable to collectors, as they are almost always not permitted to be exported from North America any longer

The last photo in the gallery is of the Teton Sioux Lakota gauntlets in the Fenimore Museum, however, the embroidery on our gauntlets is very much like earlier Huron work  read more

Code: 20890

The Lanes Armoury & Bookshop. Military Based Books, Historical, Biographical, Reference, & Fictional. From Ancient to Modern 1st Editions & Autographed. We Are Now The Last, Original, Antique Bookshop in Brighton.

Since the very sad closure, after too many decades to recall, of our friend and colleague’s antique and secondhand bookshop Colin Page, just around the corner in Duke St. we are one of last of our kind, selling antique and modern books locally.
Although, fortunately, there are still just a few new, vintage and as new bookshops [and one comic shop] still remaining. We specialise in Ist Editions by such as Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin, John Le Carre, Ian Fleming, and Rudyard Kipling.
With or without dust jackets, autographed copies especially desired. We have £25,000 awaiting for another Signed Ist Edition Charles Dickens Christmas Carol. We regularly stock thousands of books, but as they are our largest individual selling item, many under just £10 to £50, they come and go so fast that individual listing is too impractical. But we do list on this website a good selection of our 1st Editions and specialist books.

If you require a military, or historical book, either antique or modern, please email a request, stating; title, author, and publisher [if known].

Large quantity book purchases [over 30 volumes] can attract discounts wherever possible. We specialise in hardbacks, both for reference or the study of history, and 'coffee table' books. We also specialise in rare medieval books, leaves from the versions of illustrated Book of Hours, signed Ist Editions, autographed books and manuscripts, and Incunabula [ volumes printed before 1501]

During lockdown we offered a unique drop off and sell and drop in and collect no contact service at our farm. It was incredibly popular many driving from as far north as Birmingham. It was easily our most popular trade during those months, showing just how eager those isolated could reward themselves with an ample supply of well needed reading material. Some buying or selling up to 50 books at a time.  read more

Code: 22457

Original Ancient Imperial Roman ‘Cross-bow” Fibula Bronze Toga Pin Military Issue, Fine Piece For Higher Ranking Figures in the Legion, Such As a Centurion or Tribune

Bow Fibula with a folded or rolled sleeve hinge, c. Early Imperial - Beginning of 2nd Century. We acquired a very small collection of roman toga pins, from super, small collection of original, historical, Imperial Roman and Crusader's artefacts
Shaped in the form of a roman military crossbow fibula, in bronze.
It became the most popular form of closure for Roman fibulae, and is characteristic of the bow brooches from the early imperial times to the beginning of the 2nd century. Outside the Roman Empire and after that time, this type of hinge was seldom used. The sleeve hinge consists of a small sleeve at the top of the head which is forged from a square sheet metal plate and then rolled up. In a center-cut slot, the spiked needle is inserted and held by a shaft (usually iron) passing through the whole sleeve. At the ends of each of the Aucissa fibulae and their early successors were buttons holding the hinge axis; later, the hinge axis was clamped in the sleeve and needed no buttons. The needle always carries a thorn-like projection on its perforated oval plate, which beats against the head of the fibula and, by virtue of this resistance, causes the suspension to spring forth. The sleeve hinge is used exclusively in bow fibulae. The needle is primarily rectilinear, but bends hand in hand with the flattening of the bow to the outside to continue to leave enough space between the bracket and needle. The sleeve hinge is considered a typical Roman construction. The paludamentum was usually worn over one shoulder and fastened with a fibula (ancient version of a safety pin). Arguments abound over what shoulder was exposed, but it seems fairly clear that the garment was fastened loosely enough to move around, The paludamentum was a cloak that was specifically associated with warfare. A general donned one for the ceremonial procession leading an army out of the sacred precinct of the city of Rome and was required to remove it before returning to the city…a sign that he was no longer a general, but a common citizen. The paludamentum or sagum purpura (purple cloak) was the iconic red cloak worn by a Roman general (Legatus) and his staff officers. Originally, it’s distinctive red/purple color clearly delineated between these officers and the rest of the army, which sported the sagum gregale (cloak of the flock). Although the sagum gregale, worn by the rank and file, started out the color of the flock (i.e. undyed wool), it seems likely to have transitioned to a coarser version of the sagum purpura by the imperial period (27BCE – 476CE). Outfitting the entire army in red garments would have been a mark of the great wealth of Rome – well, that and the fact that the Romans controlled the source of purple dye by then.The pin is now frozen through two millennia in a fixed position. Fibula 58mm x 28mm not including pin , pin is now rigid in position.  read more

Code: 24610

A Most Rare British Empire Raj Period XII Frontier Force Regt. Silver Cap or Turban Badge

Cast low grade silver, for NCO or officer, with needle pin fixing, which often indicates for wear on a puggaree or a turban. The King Emperor crown of King George, and a crossed pair of choora knives or Afghan Khyber knives. So far we can find no other example, and it is the first we have seen. The more commonly known 12th Frontier Force Regiment in the Indian Army was a Light Infantry regiment, with a bugle badge, so we don't know if this was their first and earliest badge, that was potentially replaced around 1922, or, another XIIth Frontier Force regiment altogether. Either way it is a most fine and intriguing authentic British Empire Raj period piece, but, surrounded by an element of mystery [to us at least]. The armies of the East India Company were recruited primarily from Muslims in the Bengal Presidency, which consisted of Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and high caste Hindus recruited primarily from the rural plains of Oudh. Many of these troops took part in the Indian Mutiny, with the aim of reinstating the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II at Delhi.

The meaning of the term "Indian Army" has changed over time, initially as an informal collective term for the armies of the three presidencies–the Bengal Army, Madras Army and Bombay Army–between 1858 and 1894. In 1805, the Indian Army began its formal existence and was the "army of the government of India", including British and Indian (sepoy) units; this arrangement lasted until 1902.

Then in 1903, Lord Kitchener became the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, his tenure continued until 1909. He instituted large-scale reforms, the greatest of which was the merger of the three armies of the Presidencies into a unified force. He formed higher level formations, eight army divisions, and brigaded Indian and British units. Following Kitchener's reforms, terminology used for military forces in India was altered, with the Indian Army referring to "the force recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers." Whereas the British Army in India referred to the British Army units posted to India for a tour of duty, and which would then be posted to other parts of the Empire or back to the UK. Comparatively, the term 'Army of India', meant the combined forces of both the Indian Army and the British Army in India. Militaria from the British Empire Indian Raj period over the past 30 years has become, extremely collectable, highly prized and most valuable. In many cases the rarer the better  read more

Code: 23703

A Magnificent & Fabulous Quality Antique French Rococo Silver Table Lamp

A wonderful example of the finest antique silver plate. Superlative quality of the highest grade, and of the most incredible beauty, from the Rococo Revival period that emerged from the King Louis Phillipe and Second Empire eras in France, and was then adapted in England. Revival of the rococo style was seen all throughout Europe during the 19th century within a variety of artistic modes and expression including decorative objects of art, paintings, art prints, furniture, and interior design. In much of Europe and particularly in France, the original rococo was regarded as a national style, and to many, its re-emergence recalled national tradition. Rococo revival epitomized grandeur and luxury in European style and was another expression of 19th century romanticism and the growing interest and fascination with natural landscape. Louis Philippe (1830-1848)

The rising bourgeoisie in France demanded rococo decorative-art objects as a reflection of status, wealth, and material possession. The bourgeois consumer purchased objects and furnishings from a variety of revival styles, including rococo, for its significance in historicizing opulence and grandeur.

Modern French Rococo furniture and decorative arts were characterized by their opulence elegance and grace. Its ornamentation consisted of delicate foliage and intricate details.13.5 inches x 8 inches. Excluding light fitting. Very heavy quality.  read more

Code: 21266

Himmler's Third Reich Police Service, An 18 Year Long Service Silver Polizei Medal

Adolf Hitler instituted 3 classes of Police Long Service Awards in 1938, in order to recognize police personnel for their loyal service to the Third Reich and the Fuhrer.
The medal featured here is the class, for 18 years of service, struck from an alloy and finished in a silver plate. The reverse reads "FUR TREUE DIENSTE IN DER POLIZEI" (For Loyal Service in the Police).

Himmler and Heydrich wanted to extend the power of the SS; thus, they urged Hitler to form a national police force overseen by the SS, to guard Nazi Germany against its many enemies at the time real and imagined. Interior Minister Frick also wanted a national police force, but one controlled by him, with Kurt Daluege as his police chief. Hitler left it to Himmler and Heydrich to work out the arrangements with Frick. Himmler and Heydrich had greater bargaining power, as they were allied with Frick's old enemy, Goring. Heydrich drew up a set of proposals and Himmler sent him to meet with Frick. An angry Frick then consulted with Hitler, who told him to agree to the proposals. Frick acquiesced, and on 17 June 1936 Hitler decreed the unification of all police forces in the Reich, and named Himmler Chief of German Police. In this role, Himmler was still nominally subordinate to Frick. In practice, however, the police was now effectively a division of the SS, and hence independent of Frick's control. This move gave Himmler operational control over Germany's entire detective force. He also gained authority over all of Germany's uniformed law enforcement agencies, which were amalgamated into the new Ordnungspolizei (Orpo: "order police"), which became a branch of the SS under Daluege. The Ordnungspolizei was separate from the SS and maintained a system of insignia and Orpo ranks. It was possible for policemen to be members of the SS but without active duties. Police generals who were members of the SS were referred to simultaneously by both rank titles during the war. For instance, a Generalleutnant in the Police who was also an SS member would be referred to as SS Gruppenfuhrer und Generalleutnant der Polizei. In addition, those Orpo police generals that undertook the duties of both Senior SS and Police Leader (Huhere SS und Polizeifuhrer) gained equivalent Waffen-SS ranks in August 1944 when Himmler was appointed Chef der Ersatzheeres (Chief of Home Army), because they had authority over the prisoner-of-war camps in their area.

Heinrich Himmler's ultimate aim was to replace the regular police forces of Germany with a combined racial/state protection corps (Staatsschutzkorps) of pure SS units. Local law enforcement would be undertaken by the Allgemeine-SS with the Waffen-SS providing homeland-security and political-police functions. Historical analysis of the Third Reich has revealed that senior Orpo personnel knew of Himmler's plan and were opposed to it.

Overall good as worn condition, with very slight edge plate wear  read more

Code: 20063

A Scarce English Transitional Revolver Circa 1840 By Cook of London

The stepping stone between the 1830's pepperbox revolver, and the later first double action revolver patented by London's Robert Adams in 1851. Some of the most ground breaking work in the early design and manufacture of revolvers was undertaken in England long before the world famous American revolver makers, such as Colt and Remington, became famous for their fine pistols. This most interesting piece is fully, and most finely engraved, on the frame and grip, with a highly detailed micro chequered walnut butt. Good operating action, several areas of old surface pitting intersperced with areas of no pitting at all. Trapdoor percussion cap container in the butt. Made by one of England's 19th century makers and innovators of fine revolver pistols, of London. A classic example of one of the earliest English cylinder revolvers that was favoured by gentleman wishing to arm themselves with the latest technology and improvement ever designed by English master gunsmiths. They were most popular with officers [that could afford them] in the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. A picture in the gallery is of Robert Adams himself, loading his patent revolver for HRH Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Consort. He was also manager for the London Armoury and he made many of the 19,000 pistols that were bought by the Confederate States for the Civil War. The US government also bought Adams revolvers from the London Armoury, at $18 each, which was $4.00 more than it was paying Colt for his, and $6.00 more than Remington.The action on this beautiful gun is good very nice, and tight, but the surface has areas of old corrosion. As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 22364

A Very Fine 1920's to 30's Silver Gilt & Enamel Graf von Zeppelin Demi-Tasse Cabinet Spoon, With Enamel Portrait of Zeppelin & a Zeppelin Airship in the Spoon Bowl

Superb condition and a most charming and collectable object d'art. Ferdinand von Zeppelin served as an official observer with the Union Army during the American Civil War. During the Peninsular Campaign, he visited the balloon camp of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. Lowe sent the curious von Zeppelin to another balloon camp where the German-born aeronaut John Steiner could be of more help to the young man. His first ascent in a balloon, made at Saint Paul, Minnesota during this visit, is said to have been the inspiration of his later interest in aeronautics.

Zeppelin's ideas for large dirigibles was first expressed in a diary entry dated 25 March 1874. Inspired by a recent lecture given by Heinrich von Stephan on the subject of "World Postal Services and Air Travel", he outlined the basic principle of his later craft: a large rigidly-framed outer envelope continuing a number of separate gasbags. In 1887 the success of Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs' airship La France prompted him to send a letter to the King of Württemberg about the military necessity for dirigibles and the lack of German development in this field. He went on to start the Zeppelin Airship Co. and his name lived on in German legend as the great airship pioneer of international travel and airship warfare.  read more

Code: 24604