A Singularly Fabulous Ancient Koto Period 15th Century Katana Circa 1480, With Stunning Heianjo School Tsuba

A very fine and beautiful 600 year old Koto katana that looks absolutely spectacular, with an o-suriage blade, with full length hi groove, and with a notare hamon that undulates with extraordinary depth into the blade. The blade has no combat damage of any kind, just natural surface minuscule age pin prick marks, and it has been untouched since it came to England in the 1870's.

All original Edo mounts and saya, with Higo mounts inlaid with gold leaves and tendrils, and original Edo period turquoise blue tsuka-ito (柄糸) over gold and shakudo menuki (目貫):of flowers, on traditional giant rayskin.

The saya is finely ribbed with silk cord ribbing under black lacquer, with carved buffalo horn kurigata (栗形) and kaeshizuno (返し角) and It has a fine and large four lobed mokko gata tsuba (鍔 or 鐔) form, with punch marks, sekigane inserted in the nakago ana, a look of a great strength, and a lightly hammered ground to effect a stone like surface, on the both sides, from the natural folding of the plate. It is pierced in delicate manner on top and bottom with stylised warabite, bracken shoots, and on either side of the central opening with large irregular ryohitsu shaped apertures of two hisago. The iron plate is finely inlaid on both sides and on the rounded rim with a thin roped band made in brass, and decorated all around the edge in brass hirazogan in a design of bellflower blossoms, clementis leaves and tendrils, flushing to the surface, and known as Chinese grass or karasuka. The formal design in negative silhouette is straightforward, the lowering of the level of the surface between the rim and the seppadai contributes to a sense of stability, the metal has a deep purplish patina, and the entire guard has a rustic appearance. This very pleasing masterpiece exhibits a nice feel due to the simplicity of the design.
This ko sukashi work is the ultimate in simplification. this severe, unemotional work is a deep humanity that speaks to us today. This strict style marks the dividing line between youthful severity and older warm humanity. All of these traits make this an exceptoional work of Heianjo school, in a style influenced by workers of Yoshiro school of the Koike family in Kyoto and as a gift from one Daimyo to another. The size, quality of inlay, and condition all confirm the excellent craftsmanship characteristic of this school. This is probably a transition piece between the onin and the Heianjo school. This style of tsuba often given the designation of Heianjo school, could also be from the last period of onin brass inlay style of the Muromachi period. Yoshiro tsuba are originated from the Heianjo Zogan school, active in the second half of the 16th century. Naomasa was the most famous member of the large Koike family school, he took the technique and style to the highest level. Early Edo period tsuba. 17th Century. Overall condition of the tsuba is excellent. To place it in context as to just how old this sword is, in its British time-scale comparison, it was made, in Japan, in the era of the 'Wars of the Roses' between King Richard IIIrd and King Henry VIIth. 28 inches long blade tsuba to tip  read more

Code: 24866

A Good King George VIth Pattern Household Division Drum Major's, of The Welsh Guards Marching Mace

Household Division Drum Major's marching mace In Nice condition, A pre 1953 pattern, for a member of the Battalion Staff. this was acquired, with his bearskin, of a retired Welsh Guards Drum Major. Although once used in the Welsh Guards this is a universal pattern for use by all the guards and other drum major's etc. Traditional form white metal head surmounted with the King's Tudor Crown, now used by His Majesty King Charles IIIrd, before him, by his grandfather King George VIth. Black marching pole cross bound with plaited cord.

The Welsh Guards was raised on 26 February 1915 by order of King George V, in order to complete the national complement of regiments of Foot Guards identified with the countries of the United Kingdom.

On inception the Regiment took its place alongside the English Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards and the Irish Guards. Two days later, the Battalion mounted its first King's Guard at Buckingham Palace on 1 March 1915 - St David's Day.

The title "Drum Major" is an appointment, not an ordinary or regular military rank. The Drum Major is always referred to and addressed as "Drum Major" or "Sir" this is because as a Drum Major of the Household Division, a Royal Warrant is awarded as a “Drummer to the Household” and a member of Battalion Staff.
The insignia of the appointment is four inverted chevrons worn on a wrist-strap whilst in shirt-sleeve order, or four inverted large chevrons worn on the uniform sleeve, surmounted by a drum.
Military Drum Majors utilize a ceremonial mace for giving commands while marching.  read more

Code: 25432

A Fabulous, Circa 1804, Peninsular War & Waterloo British Light Dragoon Pistol From the Tower of London. GR Crown Tower Stamped Ordnance Issue, Superb Walnut Stock. Just Arrived Today & An Incredibly Inexpensive Light Dragoon Service Pistol

Traditional New Land pattern service issue brass mounts, trigger guard, side plate and skull crusher butt cap. Stunning piece with superb steel and amazing patination to the finest walnut stock. Converted and adapted in the 1830’s to the all new and improved percussion action system. A New Land pattern flintlock that was adapted and upgraded, for decades of future service, after around 20 years of prior service in the British Army front rank cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars, with a replacement self contained ram rod, and the new waterproof percussion action conversion.

There is an incredible saving of around £1000 to be made on this wonderful piece of original Tower of London issue British dragoon history.
This pistol was manufactured at the Tower armoury circa 1804, and its lock was inspected and stamped by Richard Duce, who was the official lock inspector from 1797 to 1818. His official ordnance stamp was the Crown over a broad arrow, alongside the regulation Crown GR mark and Tower. There are further ordnance stamps, such as a regulation GR stamped upon the finest walnut stock and its barrel tang. The barrel also has regulation proof stamps.

Introduced in the 1796 and in production by 1802, the New Land Cavalry Pistol provided one model of pistol for all of Britain's light cavalry and horse artillery.

The service of British Cavalry regiments, particularly the Light Dragoons, proved essential in the mastery of the Indian Subcontinent. The Duke of Wellington, then Arthur Wellesley, was primarily recognized for his military genius by his battles in India.

This fine pistol would have seen service in such as the 10th Light Dragoons aka 10th Hussars.
In 1806, the regiment was again re-designated, this time becoming a hussar regiment as the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars), and sailed for Corunna in Spain in November 1808. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Sahagún in December 1808 and the Battle of Benavente later in December 1808 during the Peninsular War. At Benavente the regiment captured General Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes, the French cavalry commander.The regiment then took part in the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 before returning to England.

In 1813, having landed once more in Spain, the regiment fought at the Battle of Morales in June 1813.15 During the battle the regiment destroyed the 16th French Dragoons between Toro and Zamora, taking around 260 prisoners. The regiment also fought at the Battle of Vitoria later in the month while still in Spain and then, having advanced into France, fought at the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. As part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, the regiment charged the French cavalry and infantry at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815

Cavalry was the 'shock' arm, with lances, pistols and sabres the principal hand weapons. The division between 'heavy' and light was very marked during Wellington's time: 'heavy' cavalry were huge men on big horses, 'light' cavalry were more agile troopers on smaller mounts who could harass as well as shock.
During the Napoleonic Wars, French cavalry was unexcelled. Later as casualties and the passage of years took their toll, Napoleon found it difficult to maintain the same high standards of cavalry performance. At the same time, the British and their allies steadily improved on their cavalry, mainly by devoting more attention to its organization and training as well as by copying many of the French tactics, organisation and methods. During the Peninsular War, Wellington paid little heed to the employment of cavalry in operations, using it mainly for covering retreats and chasing routed French forces. But by the time of Waterloo it was the English cavalry that smashed the final attack of Napoleon's Old Guard.
Small field service repair on the forward underside of the stock by the ramrod channel, with late replacement non swivel rammer, a nice strong main spring, and the action holds on one cocking action, likely due to slight age wear on the sear..

See picture 10 in the gallery; Another Reason To Visit Brighton-by-the-Sea This Summer. To Visit the Magnificent Pavilion Palace & View ‘The Encampment At Brighton’, a painting of British Light Dragoons on the hills at Brighton, by Francis Wheatley, RA, 1747-1801. Which We Were Most Proud To Assist & Enable Our Donation of the Painting to Brighton Museum 50 Years Ago

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

Code: 25428

Please View & Explore Probably The Largest Selection Of Original Antique & Historical Samurai Arms From The Past 800 Years For Sale in The World. Including, Swords, Spears, Armour, Helmets, Long Bows, Arrows, Daggers & Sword Fittings

Our amazing collection of recently acquired fine antique Edo samurai war arrows ‘ tagari ya’ and rare swallow tail 'ageha ya’, a dozen ‘kazuya’ ya target arrows, plus a superb collection of 20 fabulous Koto to Shinto tsubas, have still yet to be collated and listed on our site. Plus more swords, tanto, both antique and WW2 shingunto etc.

“Weaponry both ancient and vintage, they all have style and a story to tell”

"Over the past 54 years I have personally supervised our company's determination to try provide the most historically interesting, educational, yet none too intimidating, gallery of original Japanese Samurai artefacts for sale in the collecting world. We were told a few years ago by Victor Harris { Japanese sword expert resident consultant at the British Museum, the UK's leading nihonto specialist} that we probably display the largest selection of original, fine samurai sword weaponry for sale, and of its kind, anywhere in the world.

Principally concentrating on a crucial combination of age, beauty, quality and history, & thanks to an extensive contact base, built up over the past 100 years or more, that stretches across the whole world, including collectors, curators, academics and consultants, we have been very fortunate, in that this effort has rewarded us with the ability to offer, what we believe to be, the most comprehensive selection of original ancient and antique samurai swords available for sale in one gallery or online in the world.

We have exported, over the past 100 years, likely tens of thousands of our original samurai weapons, helmets and armour to the four corners of the globe, with clients on all continents. Our swords grace the homes of collectors from literally all walks of life, from Presidents to Postmen, and we have traded with museums of all the major nations. We have always loved and been fascinated by the history of the Samurai, and their iconic weaponry, and we have long admired and envied their past near limitless skill at creating the unparalleled beauty and quality of samurai swords. Universally acknowledged to be likely the very best swords the world has ever seen.

Our Japanese weaponry vary tremendously in age, in fact up to, and sometimes over, an incredible 800 years old, and they are frequently some of the finest examples of specialist workmanship ever achieved by mankind.
We have tried to include, within the holistic description of most items, a brief generic history lesson, for those that have interest, and may wish to know, that will describe the eras, areas and circumstances that these items were used in ancient Japan. We have tried our utmost to be informative, holistic and as interesting as possible without being too academically technical, in order to keep the details vibrant, fascinating and comprehensible, thus not too complex.
We are always delighted to impart any knowledge that we have at our disposal to any curious new collectors when asked. In fact some of the most learned scholars in the world that we have met, and known, some studying the art of nihonto almost all of their adult lives, often admitted to us they were only scratching the surface of the knowledge to be learnt in this extraordinary field, so there is much to constantly uncover about the stories of the samurai and their legendary weaponry covering around 1000 years of Japanese history.

Please enjoy, with our compliments, our Japanese Gallery. It has been decades in the creation, and we intend it to remain as interesting and informative as possible, and, hopefully, for another century to come"..


Mark Hawkins
Partner
The Lanes Armoury

Did you know? the most valuable sword in the world today is a samurai sword, it belongs to an investment fund and has appeared illustrated in the Forbes 400 magazine. It is valued by them at $100 million, it is a tachi from the late Koto period 16th century and unsigned. Its blade is grey and now has no original polish remaining.  read more

Code: 22187

Aircrew Europe Six Medal Group, With Africa Star and 1942-43 Bar, 13th Squadron Observer, Operation Jubilee, 19/8/1942, the Dieppe Raids, One of the Top Five Most Secret Operations of WW2 with His Observer Wing {x 2} Dog Tags, Cap Badge & Silver O Wing

Of Sgt F.H. Westbrook -(Observer-13 Sqn)-

Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War.

For over 60 years it has been thought by many of the world's historians that it was a foolhardy raid, with extraordinarily optimistic intentions, that failed, costing thousands of lives, numerous aircraft and ships, possibly, pointlessly .

In truth, it was in fact, one of the most top, top, top secret operations of the entire war. The whole event was an operation to capture for Bletchley Park a new, ultra top secret 4 rota enigma machine, kept in a German HQ safe, containing the new upgraded German enigma machine, plus several months worth of future German codes and cyphers. Even the special forces commanders of the raid where kept completely in the dark, and barely a dozen highest level top intelligence officers had even the remotest clue as its intentions. It was meant to look like a rehearsal for an allied invasion, so the German High Command wouldn't have the remotest clue as to its main objective. Thousands of allied soldiers died, not in vain as has been thought, but in order to, potentially, save hundreds of thousands of lives.

Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment of tanks, were put ashore from a naval force operating under protection of Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters.

The port was to be captured and held for a short period, allegedly to test the feasibility of a landing, and to gather intelligence on German coastal defences, port structures, and important buildings were to be demolished. The raid was intended as a boost for Allied morale, and to demonstrate the commitment of the United Kingdom to re-open the Western Front and support the Soviet Union, fighting on the Eastern Front. Little did anyone know for the past 60 years, just how important this raid truly was, it was in fact an incredibly costly diversion to hide an 'ultra' top secret operation.

Aerial and naval support was insufficient to enable the ground forces to achieve their objectives; the tanks were trapped on the beach and the infantry was largely prevented from entering the town by obstacles and German fire. After less than six hours, mounting casualties forced a retreat. The operation was a fiasco in which only one landing force achieved its objective and some intelligence was gathered (including electronic intelligence).

Within ten hours, 3,623 of the 6,086 men who landed had been killed, wounded or became prisoners of war. The Luftwaffe made a maximum effort against the landing as the RAF had expected, but the RAF lost 106 aircraft (at least 32 to anti-aircraft fire or accidents) against 48 German losses. The Royal Navy lost 33 landing craft and a destroyer.

Both sides learned important lessons regarding coastal assaults. The Allies learned lessons that influenced the success of the D-Day landings. Artificial harbours were declared crucial, tanks were adapted specifically for beaches, a new integrated tactical air force strengthened ground support, and capturing a major port at the outset was no longer seen as a priority. Churchill and Mountbatten both claimed that these lessons had outweighed the cost. The Germans also believed that Dieppe was a learning experience and made a considerable effort to improve the way they defended the occupied coastlines of Europe.

Fighter Command claimed to have inflicted many losses on the Luftwaffe for an RAF loss of 106 aircraft, 88 fighters (including 44 Spitfires), 10 reconnaissance aircraft and eight bombers; 14 other RAF aircraft were struck off charge from other causes such as accidents. Other sources suggest that up to 28 bombers were lost and that the figure for destroyed and damaged Spitfires was 70. The Luftwaffe suffered 48 aircraft losses, 28 bombers, half of them Dornier Do 217s from KG 2; JG 2 lost 14 Fw 190s and eight pilots killed, JG 26 lost six Fw 190s with their pilots. The RAF lost 91 aircraft shot down and 64 pilots; 47 killed and 17 taken prisoner, the RCAF lost 14 aircraft and nine pilots and 2 Group lost six bombers. Leigh-Mallory considered the losses "remarkably light in view of the number of Squadrons taking part and the intensity of the fighting" noting that the tactical reconnaissance suffered heaviest with about two casualties per squadron. The Luftwaffe in France was back to full strength within days of the raid. Copp wrote that Dieppe failed to inflict the knockout blow against the Luftwaffe that the RAF sought. Although the Allies continued to lose on average two aircraft for every one German aircraft destroyed for the rest of 1942, the output of fighters by the United States, Britain and Canada combined with better Allied pilot training, led to the Luftwaffe gradually losing the war of attrition in the skies above France. Copp concluded that: "The battle for air superiority was won on many fronts by continuous effort and August 19, 1942 was part of that achievement". The Forward Air Controller, Air Commodore Adrian Cole, was injured when Calpe was attacked and was awarded the DSO for gallantry. Of course Copp had no idea as to the real objective of the raid

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

Code: 24973

A Beautiful Shinto Katana By Kaga Kiyomitsu With NTHK Kanteisho Papers

With super original Edo period koshirae mounts and fittings. Higo fuchigashira with pure gold onlay with a war fan and kanji seal stamp. Shakudo menuki under the hilt wrap of samurai warriors fighting with swords and polearm. Iron plate o-sukashi tsuba, black lacquer saya with buffalo horn kurigata. Superb hamon and polish with just a few aged surface stains see photo 7

The Hamon is the pattern we see on the edge of the blade of any Nihonto (日本刀) and it is not merely aesthetic, but is due to the differential tempering with clay applied to weapons in the forging process. Japanese katanas are unique in the way of the forging process, where apart from the materials the system is tremendously laborious. In short, before temper, the steel has different clays applied that when submerged in water causing the characteristic blade curvature and the pattern of the hamon. This also causes the katanas to be flexible and can be very sharp, since the hardening of the steels at different temperatures causes a part of the sword to be softer and more flexible called Mune or loin and the other harder and brittle, thus having a High quality cutting edge capable of making precise and lethal cuts.
There are various types and variants, some simple and others very complex. Depending on how the clay is applied, it will form some patterns or others.

According to legend, Amakuni Yasutsuna developed the process of differential hardening of the blades around the 8th century. The emperor was returning from battle with his soldiers when Yasutsuna noticed that half of the swords were broken:
Amakuni and his son, Amakura, picked up the broken blades and examined them. They were determined to create a sword that will not break in combat and they were locked up in seclusion for 30 days. When they reappeared, they took the curved blade with them. The following spring there was another war. Again the soldiers returned, only this time all the swords were intact and the emperor smiled at Amakuni.
Although it is impossible to determine who invented the technique, surviving blades from Yasutsuna around AD 749–811 suggest that, at the very least, Yasutsuna helped establish the tradition of differentially hardening blades.

By the time Ieyasu Tokugawa unified Japan under his rule at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, only samurai were permitted to wear the sword. A samurai was recognised by his carrying the feared daisho, the big sword daito, little sword shoto of the samurai warrior. These were the battle katana, the big sword, and the wakizashi, the little sword. The name katana derives from two old Japanese written characters or symbols: kata, meaning side, and na, or edge. Thus a katana is a single-edged sword that has had few rivals in the annals of war, either in the East or the West. Because the sword was the main battle weapon of Japan's knightly man-at-arms (although spears and bows were also carried), an entire martial art grew up around learning how to use it. This was kenjutsu, the art of sword fighting, or kendo in its modern, non-warlike incarnation. The importance of studying kenjutsu and the other martial arts such as kyujutsu, the art of the bow, was so critical to the samurai, a very real matter of life or death, that Miyamoto Musashi, most renowned of all swordsmen, warned in his classic The Book of Five Rings: The science of martial arts for warriors requires construction of various weapons and understanding the properties of the weapons. A member of a warrior family who does not learn to use weapons and understand the specific advantages of each weapon would seem to be somewhat uncultivated. We rarely have swords with papers for our swords mostly came to England in the 1870's long before 'papers' were invented, and they have never returned to Japan for inspection and papers to be issued. However, on occasion we acquire swords from latter day collectors that have had swords papered in the past 30 years or so., and this is one of those.  read more

Code: 23597

An Absolute Beauty of a Fine, Koto Period Katana, Signed Bishu Osafune Kiyomitsu & Dated 1573

A very good Koto period sword, with a beautiful polished blade. Two stage black lacquer saya with two tone counter striping at the top section and ishime stone matt lacquer at the bottom, it has an iron Higo style kojiri [bottom chape] inlaid with gold. The fuchigashira are shakudo copper with a nanako ground decorated with takebori carved ponies in pure gold, with bocage of a Japanese white pine tree above the pony on the kashira. The tsuba is a Kinai school sukashi round tsuba, in the form of an aoi, or hollyhock plant heightened with gold inlays, including Arabesque scrolls, and leaves. the tsuba came from likely a branch of the Miochin (Group IV), this family was founded by Ishikawa Kinai, who moved from Kyoto to Echizen province and died in 1680. The succeeding masters, however, bore the surname of Takahashi. All sign only Kinai [Japanese text], with differences in the characters used and in the manner of writing them.

The Kinai made guards only, of hard and well forged iron usually coated with the black magnetic oxide. They confined themselves to pierced relief showing extraordinary cleanness both of design and execution. Any considerable heightening of gold is found as a rule only in later work. Dragons in the round appear first in guards by the third master, fishes, birds, etc., in those of the fifth; while designs of autumn flowers and the like come still later. There are examples of Kinai tsuba in the Ashmolean and the British Museum. Made around to decades before but certainly used in the time of the greatest battle in samurai history "The Battle of Sekigahara" [Sekigahara no Tatakai] was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Initially, Tokugawa's eastern army had 75,000 men, while Ishida's western army numbered 120,000. Tokugawa had also sneaked in a supply of arquebuses. Knowing that Tokugawa was heading towards Osaka, Ishida decided to abandon his positions and marched to Sekigahara. Even though the Western forces had tremendous tactical advantages, Tokugawa had already been in contact with many daimyo in the Western Army for months, promising them land and leniency after the battle should they switch sides.

Tokugawa's forces started the battle when Fukushima Masanori, the leader of the advance guard, charged north from Tokugawa's left flank along the Fuji River against the Western Army's right centre. The ground was still muddy from the previous day's rain, so the conflict there devolved into something more primal. Tokugawa then ordered attacks from his right and his centre against the Western Army's left in order to support Fukushima's attack.

This left the Western Army's centre unscathed, so Ishida ordered this unit under the command of Shimazu Yoshihiro to reinforce his right flank. Shimazu refused as daimyos of the day only listened to respected commanders, which Ishida was not.

Recent scholarship by Professor Yoshiji Yamasaki of Toho University has indicated that the Mori faction had reached a secret agreement with the Tokugawa two weeks earlier, pledging neutrality at the decisive battle in exchange for a guarantee of territorial preservation, and was a strategic decision on Mori Terumoto's part that later backfired.

Fukushima's attack was slowly gaining ground, but this came at the cost of exposing their flank to attack from across the Fuji River by Otani Yoshitsugu, who took advantage of this opportunity. Just past Otani's forces were those of Kobayakawa Hideaki on Mount Matsuo.

Kobayakawa was one of the daimyos that had been courted by Tokugawa. Even though he had agreed to defect to Tokugawa's side, in the actual battle he was hesitant and remained neutral. As the battle grew more intense, Tokugawa finally ordered arquebuses to fire at Kobayakawa's position on Mount Matsuo to force Kobayakawa to make his choice. At that point Kobayakawa joined the battle as a member of the Eastern Army. His forces charged Otani's position, which did not end well for Kobayakawa. Otani's forces had dry gunpowder, so they opened fire on the turncoats, making the charge of 16,000 men mostly ineffective. However, he was already engaging forces under the command of Todo Takatora, Kyogoku Takatsugu, and Oda Yuraku when Kobayakawa charged. At this point, the buffer Otani established was outnumbered. Seeing this, Western Army generals Wakisaka Yasuharu, Ogawa Suketada, Akaza Naoyasu, and Kutsuki Mototsuna switched sides. The blade is showing a very small, combat, sword to sword, thrust from a blade tip, or, possibly a deflected arrow impact, this tiny wound so to speak should never be polished away, this is known as a most honourable battle scar, and certainly no detriment to the blade, and that likely saved the owner of the swords life in a hand to hand combat situation. See close up photo 9 in the gallery, tiny impact of around 1mm with slight bruising below over a maximum total length 5mm, max impact depth around 1mm]  read more

Code: 23305

18th Century Ching Dynasty Chinese Matchlock Musket Powder Flask. Qianlong {aka Chien-lung} Period

Leather covered wood with iron spout. Wooden slide at the base of the spout for opening and closing the flask to release. Very scarce to find, somewhat crude in its manufacture but typical of the time and the region within which it was used in the North West province of China and the mountains of Tibet. Somewhat similar to examples from the old Ottoman Empire, but their versions tended to have leather tooling decor. How or why the two regional types were so similar is unknown, although possibly via the *Silk Road route. Which had been the origin of trade between the East and the West for almost 2000 years

Qianlong {aka Chien lung period}, used until the Boxer Rebellion. Most likely brought back to England by a British soldier that either served in the Opium War, or defended the legations at the siege in Peking.

China pioneered the use of gunpowder for fireworks and artillery in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Sophisticated firearms technology, however, developed more rapidly in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and was then introduced into China by merchants, diplomats, and missionaries during the seventeenth century. Improved designs for cannons and practical types of hand-held guns were eagerly promoted and officially adopted as regulation military equipment under the Qing emperors Kangxi (reigned 1662–1722) and Qianlong (reigned 1736–1795). In addition to mastering the use of bow and arrow and other weapons, both Kangxi and Qianlong owned and used guns, particularly for hunting. This was in keeping with their overall belief in the importance of martial training, which they encouraged by personal example.

Thomas Child spent from 1870 to 1889 in Beijing, and John Thompson traveled in northern China from circa 1869 to 1872. By this time period, observers noticed that soldiers were often equipped with older, antique guns. I tend to date this type to circa 1720 to the 1750’s.

The Qing dynasty (English pronunciation; Ching), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China (1636–1912) and the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history.
It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaking ethnic group who unified other Jurchen tribes to form a new "Manchu" ethnic identity. The dynasty was officially proclaimed in 1636 in Manchuria (modern-day Northeast China and Russian Manchuria). It seized control of Beijing in 1644, then later expanded its rule over the whole of China proper and Taiwan, and finally expanded into Inner Asia. The dynasty lasted until 1912 when it was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. In Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing dynasty lasted for almost three centuries and assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest imperial dynasty in the history of China and in 1790 the fourth-largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size. With 419,264,000 citizens in 1907, it was the most populous country in the world at the time.

*Silk Road, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from India) via the Silk Road. See image 6 in the gallery. The road inspired cellist Yo-Yo Ma to found the Silk Road Project in 1999, which explored cultural traditions along its route and beyond as a means for connecting arts worldwide across cultures.  read more

Code: 21273

French Very Fine & Most Rare 18th Century Lanthorn Powder-Flask Attributed To Nicolas Noel Boutet

A rare 18th century French flask with a most unusual fold-down nozzle system. With a large, rounded lanthorn body, flattened on the back, with shaped top mount and folding swelling nozzle, reeded brass medial mount, and rings for suspension. For an almost identical example, mounted in silver, see Herbert G. Houze, The Sumptuous Flaske, 1989, pp. 116-117 (illustrated). We also show in the gallery a cased set of the worlds finest flintlock pistols and fowling piece complete with tools and an identical lanthorn flask made by Nicolas Noel Boutet, possibly for Napoleon. This fabulous set is in the Met in New York. We acquired a most similar set, also by Nicolas Noel Boutet, around 50 years ago, that cased set came from a castle in Czechoslovakia, and was commissioned from Boutet for a Prince, that set also had an identical lanthorn flask. Today Iit would likely be approaching a value of a million dollars. Nicolas Noel Boutet was one of the world's greatest gunsmiths, if not The worlds greatest gunsmith, and he made guns for most of the crowned heads of Europe, including Napoleon Bonaparte. He was based at the Imperial Armoury at Versailles. Lanthorn is a transluscent form of ox horn used in the earliest days to make window panes or lanterns. It was the earliest known material for the ingress of light into a room from daylight. In fact the word lantern is a derivative form of lanthorn itself. With lanthorn panes a lantern could be created with a candle to create a portable light and protect the flame from wind. Here are some early instructions as to how it was made; Take the lightest, translucent, hollow portion of an ox or steer horn (these being the thinnest)
Soak this in water for a month
Saw it, split it and press it into plates
Take a short, edge bladed round nosed knive called a "lift" and use it to delaminate the layers (Purportedly up to 12 layers can be gotten from a thick horn).
The Horn may be clarified by coating both sides with tallow, and pressing it between hot irons, thinning it further.
The finished leaves are scraped with steel scrapers, buffed on a polishing wheel, then slightly moistened with vinager and a buffing compound, finally being polished by a buffing compound applied by the palm of the hand (historically the horns were buffed with charcoal and water applied with part of an old beaver hat - the final polish being given by wood ashes applied with the hand). Boutet made several forms of lanthorn flask as its translucent property enable the owner to determine how much powder the flask contained at a glance if held to the light and its resistance to denting was an advantage over copper. A most similar attributed to Boutet flask sold in Butterfield and Butterfield Auction House in San Francisco in 1994 estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 dollars. Minor early crack to the lanthorn body  read more

Code: 22557

A Beautiful Edo Period, 18th century Hanbo, A Samurai’s Face Armour Mask

Black lacquer decor throughout, with vermillion lacquer interior. The expression is fierce/noble with protruding chin, the shape is elegant and very well refined. three lame yodarekake, with hooked standing cord pegs. Face armour, of this type is called hanbo. They were worn with the Samurai's armours to serve as a protection for the head and the face from sword cuts. There are 4 types of face armour mask designs that came into general use in Japan: happuri (which covers the forehead and cheeks), hanbō (covers the lower face, from below the nose all the way to the chin), sōmen (covers the entire face) and the me-no-shita-men (covers the face from nose to chin). We can also classify those mask depending on their facial expressions, most of which derive from the theatre masks. It has an asenagashino ana [a hole under the chin to drain off perspiration] and orikugi [two projecting studs above the chin to provide a secure fastening to the wearer]. 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 a relatively peaceful Edo period. However, the Shoguns of the Tokugawa period were most adept at encouraging clan rivalries and conflicts and battles were engaged throughout the empire. This of course suited the Shogun very well, while all his subordinate daimyo fought each other they were unlikely to conspire against him. Samurai use continued to use both plate and lamellar armour as a symbol of their status but traditional armours were no longer necessary for war, but still for battle. The face armour was not designed to have any nose protection fitted, the lacquer is original Edo period throughout with vermilion red lacquer in the interior face portion, the exterior lacquer has a fair amount of age flaking over around 6-8% of the neck defence lames.
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Code: 23686