Antique Arms & Militaria

A Superb, Really Rare, French, Napoleonic Short Sea Service Boarding Pistol. The Pistolet De Bord Maritime, Modele 1786, Manufacture Nationale De Tulle Circa 1792

Used in the French navy during the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. Very good, tight and crisp action. Likely a war trophy of Trafalgar. French sea service pistols are far more rare than their British equivalents, due to the fact there were fewer French ships, and that so many French ships-of-the-line being captured or sunk by the British Royal Navy, between the 1790's to 1805 Such as when the French Fleet was soundly thrashed in the Egypt campaign at the Nile in 1798, and a little later the French and Spanish fleet, in 1805, were once again soundly thrashed and captured by Admiral Nelson at Cape Trafalgar.

The Battle of the Nile, was a battle that was one of the greatest victories of the British admiral Horatio Nelson. It was fought on August 1, 1798, between the British and French fleets in Abū Qīr Bay, near Alexandria, Egypt.

The French Revolutionary general Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 made planned for an invasion of Egypt in order to constrict Britain’s trade routes and threaten its possession of India. The British government heard that a large French naval expedition was to sail from a French Mediterranean port under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte

Determined to find the French fleet, he sailed to Egypt once more, and on August 1 1798 he sighted the main French fleet of 13 ships of the line and 4 frigates under Admiral François-Paul Brueys d’Aigailliers at anchor in Abū Qīr Bay.

Although there were but a few hours left until nightfall and Brueys’s ships were in a strong defensive position, being securely ranged in a sandy bay that was flanked on one side by a shore battery on Abū Qīr Island, Nelson gave orders to attack at once. Several of the British warships were able to maneuver around the head of the French line of battle and thus got inside and behind their position. Fierce fighting ensued, during which Nelson himself was wounded in the head. The climax came at about 10:00 PM, when Brueys’s 120-gun flagship, L’Orient, which was by far the largest ship in the bay, blew up with most of the ship’s company, including the admiral. The fighting continued for the rest of the night; just two of Brueys’s ships of the line and a pair of French frigates escaped destruction or capture by the British. The British suffered about 900 casualties, the French about 9,000.

The Battle of the Nile had several important effects. It isolated Napoleon’s army in Egypt, thus ensuring its ultimate disintegration. It ensured that in due time Malta would be retaken from the French, and it both heightened British prestige and secured British control of the Mediterranean.

The Battle of Trafalgar, (October 21, 1805), was a naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, which established British naval supremacy for more than 100 years; it was fought west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain, between Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. A fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve fought a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British ships of the line to 33 allied ships including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish Santísima Trinidad. To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank, hoping to break the line into pieces. Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic but, for various reasons, had made no plans for this eventuality. The plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split the Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboard Bucentaure. The allied vanguard sailed off while it attempted to turn around, giving the British temporary superiority over the remainder of their fleet. In the ensuing fierce battle 20 allied ships were lost, while the British lost none.

Nelson's own HMS Victory led the front column and was almost knocked out of action. Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle, and died shortly before it ended. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagship Bucentaure. He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The senior Spanish fleet officer, Admiral Federico Gravina, escaped with the remnant of the Franco-Spanish fleet (a third of the original number of ships); he died five months later of wounds sustained during the battle.

The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century, and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy. The belt hook was removed in its working life. Belt hook screw mount still remains in place  read more

Code: 25204

A Most Fine King George IIIrd Boxlock Flintlock By Bolton of London, Named for its Owner William Seal of Amington

effectively with built-in provenance. Made by John H Bolton, London and inscribed to its owner on the barrel. The pistol has excellent original finish and has just returned from a 'no expense spared' gunsmith service and the action is now as crisp as you could wish. Concealed trigger and sliding safety, Tower of London proved barrel, turn off barrel for breech loading. Super walnut grip. Unlike most firearms which have the hammer located off to the side of the pistol, a boxlock pistol had the hammer located directly on top of the pistol. They were called a boxlocks because all of the working mechanisms for the hammer and the trigger was located in a box or receiver directly below the top mounted hammer. While the hammer obstructed the aim of the user, this system had the advantage of making the gun more compact and concealable than other pistols. The first boxlock pistols were flintlock and where later made in percussion lock. Unlike modern firearms, these pistols were not mass produced, but were hand made in gunsmith's workshops. As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables. Shown for illustration purposes only with a typical powder flask, as it would once have used  read more

Code: 23548

A Superb Ancient Greek Dagger Blade 13th to 11th Century B.C. From the Trojan War Era, Acquired With. Full Length Bronze Sword Blade From The Same Era

2nd millennium BC. A bronze dagger with tapering triangular blade and median thickening, curved shoulders, flat, sub-rectangular tang with two tang hilt mount piercings. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.

The ancient Greeks believed that Troy was located near the Dardanelles and that the Trojan War was a historical event of the 13th or 12th century BC, but by the mid-19th century AD, both the war and the city were widely seen as non-historical. In 1868, however, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann met Frank Calvert, who convinced Schliemann that Troy was a real city at what is now Hisarlik in Turkey. On the basis of excavations conducted by Schliemann and others, this claim is now accepted by most scholars.

Whether there is any historical reality behind the Trojan War remains an open question. Many scholars believe that there is a historical core to the tale, though this may simply mean that the Homeric stories are a fusion of various tales of sieges and expeditions by Mycenaean Greeks during the Bronze Age. Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War are derived from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the 12th or 11th century BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 1194–1184 BC, which roughly correspond to archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VII, and the Late Bronze Age collapse. Legend has it that the war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris of Troy, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus of Sparta, fall in love with Paris, who quit Sparta with her and returned to Troy. Menelaus's brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, Aphrodite's son and one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern-day Italy113 grams, 26cm (10 1/4"). From a Japanese collection, 1990s.  read more

Code: 23417

A Stunning Antique 18th Century Indonesian Silver Mounted Kris

Keris Melayu Semenanjong with a serpentine blade with 7 Luk [seven curves or waves]. A very good and rare example of a keris from the southern Malaysian peninsular region of Johor or Selangor. Handle in the jawa demam form. This form of hilt is common in central or southern Sumatra, as well as the Malay peninsular regions. The Minang variant is usually more upright with a more flaring top.
The top sheath in the typical Malay tebeng form, are made from very well selected kemuning woods with flashing grains. Bottom stem is likely made from well selected angsana woods with tiger?s stripe grains. It has a beautifully tooled silver sheath and a plain silver pendoko or ferrule completes the wonderful fittings.
Pamor patterns are arranged in the mlumah technique of the wos utah or scattered rice variations which is said to enhance the owner?s material well being. Traditionally the pamor material for the kris smiths connected with the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta originates from an iron meteorite that fell to earth at the end of 18th century in the neighborhood of the Prambanan temple complex. The meteorite was excavated and transported to the keraton of Surakarta; from that time on the smiths of Vorstenlanden (the Royal territories) used small pieces of meteoric iron to produce pamor patterns in their kris, pikes, and other status weapons. After etching the blade with acidic substances, it is the small percentage of nickel present in meteoric iron that creates the distinctive silvery patterns that faintly light up against the dark background of iron or steel that become darkened by the effect of the acids.  read more

Code: 22608

A Fabulous Javanese Kris With Pure Gold Snake God Symbol Onlaid on to The Fabulous Pamor Serpentine Blade

Probably 19th to early 20th century. In an esteemed London auction house, a most similar quality gold inlaid example, of the same age, sold three Decembers ago for just over £5,400 [inc commission]. This is simply one of the most beautiful we have seen on the market in over 20 years. A sarpa lumarka wavy blade with a gold naga [snake] in sangkelat [13 waves, or lok]. Ladrang form of wrangka hilt crosspiece [boat form] of a simply stunningly grained wood, which may well be Javan pelet, with a fine gilt metal sleeve covering the haft, with a most intricate and detailed pieced design on the obverse side. In Java, the metal sleeve is called pendokbunton, which is a full metal sleeve. The keris is considered a magical weapon, filled with great spiritual power. In Javanese there is a term "Tosan Aji" or "Magic Metal" used to describe the keris. The keris is replete with the totems of Malay-Indonesian culture of hindu and islam. The blade is a mixture of meteoric steel and nickel According to traditional Javanese kejawen, kris contain all the intrinsic elements of nature: tirta (water), bayu (wind), agni (fire), bantolo (earth, but also interpreted as metal or wood which both come from the earth), and aku (lit: "I" or "me", meaning that the kris has a spirit or soul). All these elements are present during the forging of kris. Earth is metal forged by fire being blown by pumped wind, and water to cool down the metal. In Bali, the kris is associated with the naga or dragon, which also symbolizes irrigation canals, rivers, springs, wells, spouts, waterfalls and rainbows; thus, the wavy blade symbolizes the movement of the serpent. Some kris have a naga or serpent head carved near the base with the body and tail following the curves of the blade to the tip. A wavy kris is thus a naga in motion, aggressive and alive; a straight blade is one at rest, its power dormant but ready to come into action.

In former times, kris blades were said to be infused with poison during their forging, ensuring that any injury was fatal. The process of doing so was kept secret among smiths. Different types of whetstones, acidic juice of citrus fruits and poisonous arsenic bring out the contrast between the dark black iron and the light coloured silvery nickel layers which together form pamor, damascene patterns on the blade. The distinctive pamor patterns have specific meanings and names which indicate the special magical properties they are believed to impart  read more

Code: 22745

A Quite Rare Danish M1889 Krag-Jorgensen Knife Bayonet, Early Model by Weyersberg

Single-fullered spear point blade, forged together with the entire hilt as one piece of steel. Chequered black leather grips secured by two steel rivets. Black leather scabbard with steel mounts at the throat and chape. Unique locking mechanism, consisting of an integral locking catch on the scabbard, and sprung release lever on the hilt.

The ricasso of the blade is stamped with a ‘king’s head’ and ‘knight’s helm’ marks, over ‘W. K & C’, which stands for the maker Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co. of Solingen, Germany. Below this on the rim of the grip is stamped a crown over ‘91’, which means this bayonet was produced in 1891.

The pommel is stamped on one side with a unit mark ‘. to the th Battalion, over a cancelled unit mark ‘B ’ to the th Battalion, and on the other side with the item number ‘’. The chape finial of the scabbard is stamped ‘B’ to the rd Battalion and on the other side with ‘’.

The leather grips mark this out as the early version of this bayonet, which was made in Germany. The later and more common version was introduced in 1892: made in Denmark, it had wooden grips, which held up better to heavy use and wet conditions. Those bayonets of the early model whose grips wore out also received wooden replacements. The Danes were the first nation to adopt the Norwegian-designed Krag-Jorgensen rifle, followed by the United States and Norway. The blade is superbly bright The hilt and pommel have light, even patination. The leather grips have some light handling wear to the chequering. overall in great condition for age.  read more

Code: 25180

19th Century, Antique, Mandingo Mandinka Chief's Slave and Gold Trader's Sword With Tattooed-Leather Covered Wooden Scabbard

A most scarce and original African slave and gold trader chieftain's sword

The Manding (Mandingo) are West African people. Their traditional slaver's sword comprises a sabre like blade, a guardless leather grip and wide expanded scabbard with exquisite tattooed leather work.
This example is a fine example of very nice quality and most finely tattooed.

It has a 16 inches long curved blade, leather grip and leather scabbard with leaf shaped widening tip, entirely tooled tattooed and decorated. Of special interest is the finely bound and decorated leather work. These weapons are well known for their rare leather-work and the tattooing applied to the leather of the scabbards. The iron work skills are of black-smith quality.

Slave raiding, capture and trading in the Mandinka regions existed in significant numbers long before the European colonial era, as is evidenced in the memoirs of the 14th century Moroccan traveller and Islamic historian Ibn Battuta. Slaves were part of the socially stratified Mandinka people, and several Mandinka language words, such as Jong or Jongo refer to slaves. There were fourteen Mandinke kingdoms along the Gambia River in the Senegambia region during the early 19th century, for example, where slaves were a part of the social strata in all these kingdoms.

Scholars have offered several theories on the source of the transatlantic slave trade of Mandinka people. According to Boubacar Barry, a professor of History and African Studies, chronic violence between ethnic groups such as Mandinka people and their neighbours, combined with weapons sold by slave traders and lucrative income from slave ships to the slave sellers, fed the practice of captives, raiding, manhunts, and slaves. The victimised ethnic group felt justified in retaliating. Slavery was already an accepted practice before the 15th century. As the demand grew, states Barry, Futa Jallon led by an Islamic military theocracy became one of the centres of this slavery-perpetuating violence, while Farim of Kaabu (the commander of Mandinka people in Kaabu) energetically hunted slaves on a large scale. Martin Klein (a professor of African Studies) states that Kaabu was one of the early suppliers of African slaves to European merchants

Many blades were taken by the Mandingo and fitted from European weapons, such as sabres and short cutlasses. .

In general, these remain primarily considered Mandingo weapons, and from regions in Mali. These were of course invariably mounted with European sabre blades. Mandingo Tribe (also known as the Mandinka, Mande, or the Malinke Tribes) were the traders of the African West Coast, trading primarily in gold and slaves.
In 1324, Mansa Musa who ruled Mali, went on Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca with a caravan carrying gold. Shihab al-Umari, the Arabic historian, described his visit and stated that Musa built mosques in his kingdom, established Islamic prayers and took back Maliki school of Sunni jurists with him. According to Richard Turner – a professor of African American Religious History, Musa was highly influential in attracting North African and Middle Eastern Muslims to West Africa

Picture in the gallery of a Mandingo Slave Trader Chieftain, standing next to his boy sword bearer, carrying his very same form of 'tattooed' sword. One, from an original collection of weapons we recently acquired.

Overall the leather on this sword in in exceptional condition and beautifully decorated.

Early medeavil painting in the gallery of Mansa Musa's visit to Mecca in 1324 CE with large amounts of gold, that not unsurprisingly attracted many Middle Eastern Muslims and Europeans to Mali.  read more

Code: 17969

A Stunning Antique, 19th Century, Colonial Walking Stick of Carved and Turned Horn, Inlaid With Circular Pattern Design

A heavy quality stick of most attractive form and fine quality. Every other portrait of a Georgian, Victorian, or Edwardian gentleman, shows some nattily dressed fellow with a walking stick pegged jauntily into the ground or a slim baton negligently tucked under the elbow. The dress cane was the quintessential mark of the dandy for three centuries, part fashion accessory, part aid to communication, part weapon, and of course, a walking aid. A dandy, historically, is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain.

Previous manifestations of the petit-maitre (French for "small master") and the Muscadin have been noted by John C. Prevost, but the modern practice of dandyism first appeared in the revolutionary 1790s, both in London and in Paris. The dandy cultivated cynical reserve, yet to such extremes that novelist George Meredith, himself no dandy, once defined cynicism as "intellectual dandyism". Some took a more benign view; Thomas Carlyle wrote in Sartor Resartus that a dandy was no more than "a clothes-wearing man". Honore De Balzac introduced the perfectly worldly and unmoved Henri de Marsay in La fille aux yeux d'or (1835), a part of La Comedie Humaine, who fulfils at first the model of a perfect dandy, until an obsessive love-pursuit unravels him in passionate and murderous jealousy.

Charles Baudelaire defined the dandy, in the later "metaphysical" phase of dandyism, as one who elevates esthetics to a living religion, that the dandy's mere existence reproaches the responsible citizen of the middle class: "Dandyism in certain respects comes close to spirituality and to stoicism" and "These beings have no other status, but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons, of satisfying their passions, of feeling and thinking Dandyism is a form of Romanticism. Contrary to what many thoughtless people seem to believe, dandyism is not even an excessive delight in clothes and material elegance. For the perfect dandy, these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of mind."

The linkage of clothing with political protest had become a particularly English characteristic during the 18th century. Given these connotations, dandyism can be seen as a political protest against the levelling effect of egalitarian principles, often including nostalgic adherence to feudal or pre-industrial values, such as the ideals of "the perfect gentleman" or "the autonomous aristocrat". Paradoxically, the dandy required an audience, as Susann Schmid observed in examining the "successfully marketed lives" of Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron, who exemplify the dandy's roles in the public sphere, both as writers and as personae providing sources of gossip and scandal. Nigel Rodgers in The Dandy: Peacock or Enigma? Questions Wilde's status as a genuine dandy, seeing him as someone who only assumed a dandified stance in passing, not a man dedicated to the exacting ideals of dandyism.

36.5 inches  read more

Code: 15659

A Beautiful Antique African Tribal Carved Paddle-Spear Possibly of the Itsekiri People Or Even Benin

One of a matched pair we acquired but we are selling separately. In carved native wood with geometric carving covering one paddle side, the other side is different . This is a dance paddle of the kind used in ceremonies by the Itsekiri people of the Niger delta. The river was at the centre of tribal society and economy – it provided food and transport for the communities who lived in the area. Canoes were an extremely important part of traditional society and so the paddle was an important symbol for prosperity. Local people relied on the river for their quality of life and believed in water spirits. This paddle is decorated with intricate carving and may have been used in ceremonial dances. Alternatively, it may have been made for trading with Europeans as ethnic objects became fashionable possessions. Although African, like Oceanic art it is often infused with ancestral spirits, as well as spirits of water, air and land. These spirits are contacted in ceremonies to ensure fertility, or invoke protection from famine, disease or enemies.

Sometimes these invocations serve extremely practical purposes. There was a ceremony in Papua New Guinea where ancestral spirits were activated in a carved wooden crocodile. Men carrying the crocodile were then led, like people holding a divining rod are led, to the home of a local murderer.
African and Oceanic art is not only made for decoration. It is made to be used as a tool in the culture. Cubist painters, and especially Surrealists, were moved by the power of Oceanic abstractions, as they were by traditional African art . This wonderful piece would make a stunning additional display of object d’art in any setting, albeit traditional or contemporary  read more

Code: 17919

A Good 19th Century, Heavy Grade, Antique 'Berber's' Jambiya or Koummya

Two ring mounting with beautiful and finely scroll engraved panelled front decoration The koummya is the characteristic traditional dagger of the Berber and Arabic peoples of Morocco. Stone classifies these as being one localised variant of the Arabic jambiya, and the contoured handles, curved double-edged blades and exaggeratedly upturned scabbard tips are all features consistent with such an interpretation. In the context of the traditional regional manner of dress, the koummya is worn visibly at the left side, generally about at the level of the waist and is suspended vertically, with the scabbard tip forward, by a long woolen baldric, attached at either end to one of the two scabbard rings, and worn crossing in front and back of the torso and over the right shoulder. A much greater diversity in forms and decoration exists than is represented by the examples presented here and presumably such features could be used to place particular examples geographically and temporarily.
Koummya blades are curved and double edged with the portion nearer the hilt remaining relatively straight while the curvature becomes pronounced in the half towards the tip. The length of the blade which is bevelled and sharpened is longer along the concave side than along the opposite convex side. Blade thickness tapers from the base of the blade, where it is thickest, to the tip. While the edge bevels may give the blade a flattened diamond or lenticular cross-section towards the tip, the cross-section is rectangular at the forte. These blades are characteristically relatively thin and utilitarian and the presence of fullers or ridges is not typical.  read more

Code: 23296