Antique Arms & Militaria

Victorian Silver Very Scarce Canadian Officer's Badge of the 38th Dunfferin Rifles

In superb crisp order. A mighty rare badge. Originated 28 September 1866 in Brantford, Ontario as the 38th "Brant Battalion of Infantry"
Redesignated 30 November 1866 as the 38th "Brant" Battalion of Infantry
Redesignated 24 March 1871 as the 38th "Brant" Battalion of Rifles
Redesignated 3 July 1874 as the 38th "Brant" Battalion or "Dufferin Rifles"
Redesignated 28 September 1883 as the 38th Battalion "Dufferin Rifles of Canada"
Redesignated 8 May 1900 as the 38th Regiment "Dufferin Rifles of Canada"
Redesignated 1 May 1920 as The Dufferin Rifles of Canada
Amalgamated 15 December 1936 with The Haldimand Rifles and C Company of the 3rd Machine Gun Battalion, CMGC
The 125th Battalion (1st Overseas Battalion of 38th Regiment Dufferin Rifles), CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Brantford, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in late 1915 throughout Brant County. 43mm x 70mm  read more

Code: 18826

A Really Most Rare Original Zulu War Veteran's Souvenir, A Victorian Army Hospital Corps Pill Box Helmet Badge. The Surgeon Major, and 1 Officer and 10 Army Hospital Corps Other Ranks Were Slaughtered at Isandhwana 1879

Surgeon Major Peter Shepherd, a first-aid pioneer, was killed in the battle at Isandhlwana alongside his lieutenant and his ten Army Hospital Corps orderlies see the list in the photo gallery. A fabulous and scarce artefact of the early years of the British military medical and hospital service, formed just after the days of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War. One of the smallest Army Corps of the Victorian era. It provided the medical nursing services for the expeditionary forces for both the Zulu War and Egypt War field hospitals The Army Hospital Corps was raised by Royal Warrant on 1 August 1857 to provide orderlies for military hospitals, except those in India. It replaced the Medical Staff Corps, which had been embodied on 22 June 1855. In December 1859, the name Medical Staff Corps ceased to appear in the returns of the distribution of the army and was substituted with the name Army Hospital Corps.

The first transfers from the Medical Staff Corps to the Army Hospital Corps took place on 31 October 1859, when No 4 MSC William Stawtree and No 461 MSC Benjamin Rawlins became No 1 AHC and No 2 AHC respectively with the rank of Sergeant Major. On 30 November 1859, No 2 MSC Blake John became No 275 in the AHC with the rank of Sergeant Major. Captain and Brevet Major Stonehouse George Bunbury MSC, who on 22 June 1855 had been placed in charge of the Medical Staff Corps, became a Captain in the new Army Hospital Corps on 3 February 1860.

In 1858, the organisation of military hospitals, the treatment of the sick and the provision for their transport from the battle field during the Crimean War came under the scrutiny of the Select Committee on the Medical Department of the Army, chaired by Lord Sidney Herbert. Men generally joined the Army Hospital Corps after two to three years' military service and had to undergo a probationary period of six months before being accepted into the corps. They enlisted for twelve years under the Army Enlistment Act of 1870, of which six years were with the Colours and six years with the Reserve. However, while soldiers in India served for the full six years with the Colours, those in Britain could pass into the reserves after three years. From 1878, the AHC fell under the Cardwell Short Service System, and recruits now served for 3 years with the Colours and 9 years with the Reserve. After 1877, the number of soldiers transferring from the infantry declined, as from 1875 the AHC enlisted men directly from civil life and trained them in both military and hospital duties. The AHC had been so undermanned that it found it difficult to fill the home hospitals, those in the colonies, as well as provide the nursing manpower for expeditionary forces, as was borne out by the Zulu and Egyptian campaigns. In consequence of the great pressure placed upon the department during the 1882 Egyptian Campaign, and the complaints made about the nursing of the sick, the new Medical Staff Corps was augmented by an additional 200 men.
On 23 June 1898, the warrant officers, non commissioned officers and men of the Medical Staff Corps merged with the commissioned officers of the Army Medical Staff to form the Royal Army Medical Corps. The Battle of Isandlwana (alternative spelling: Isandhlwana) on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British commenced their invasion of Zululand in Southern Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of about 1,800 British, colonial and native troops and perhaps 400 civilians. The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields,but also had a number of muskets and antiquated rifles.

The British and colonial troops were armed with the modern16 Martini–Henry breechloading rifle and two 7-pounder mountain guns deployed as field guns, as well as a Hale rocket battery. Despite a vast disadvantage in weapons technology, the Zulus ultimately overwhelmed the British force, killing over 1,300 troops, including all those out on the forward firing line, most of them Europeans, including field commanders Pulleine and Durnford. Only five Imperial officers survived (including Lieutenant Henry Curling and Lieutenant Horace Smith-Dorrien), and the 52 officers lost was the most lost by any British battalion up to that time. Amongst those killed was Surgeon Major Peter Shepherd, a first-aid pioneer. The Zulu army suffered anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 killed 67mm high  read more

Code: 23755

A Stunning Officers Sabre Used in The War of 1812 Blue & Gilt American Dragoon/Artillery Sabre, Pattern of 1796

Traditional brass p hilt, pattern carved bone grip, all brass combat scabbard and fine blue and gilt blade. Almost identical to two early 19th century swords, numbers 56 and 57 [illustrated on page 41] that appear photographed in "American Swords and Makers Marks" by Cleg Donald Furr. This federal period sword is as good as any of the best of its type we have seen before, in either private or museum collections. It has the form shape, style and blued blade near identical to sword number 57, and the blued blade and carved bone grip also near identcal to sword 56. With brass combat scabbard, brass hilt, carved bone grip with fan and ribbed lines, traditional American style late 18th century light dragoon form blade, and used in the War of 1812. With wide swollen tip. The blue and gilt is very good with some wear and fading due to to use. Overall in super condition for age. Officers both regular and volunteers carried fighting swords very similar in form to those of the trooper version, though officer's swords show much of higher levels of finish and workmanship with the option of expensive and stunning blued blades such as this one. The mounted swordsmanship training emphasised the cut, at the face for maiming or killing, or at the arms to disable. This left masses of mutilated or disabled troops; the French, in contrast, favoured the thrust, which gave cleaner kills. A cut with the LC sabre was, however, perfectly capable of killing outright, as was recorded by George Farmer of the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons, [all the British light dragoons carried the same form of blade as this sword] who was involved in a skirmish on the Guadiana River in 1811, during the Peninsular War against the French:
"Just then a French officer stooping over the body of one of his countrymen, who dropped the instant on his horse's neck, delivered a thrust at poor Harry Wilson's body; and delivered it effectually. I firmly believe that Wilson died on the instant yet, though he felt the sword in its progress, he, with characteristic self-command, kept his eye on the enemy in his front; and, raising himself in his stirrups, let fall upon the Frenchman's head such a blow, that brass and skull parted before it, and the man's head was cloven asunder to the chin. It was the most tremendous blow I ever beheld struck; and both he who gave, and his opponent who received it, dropped dead together. The brass helmet was afterwards examined by order of a French officer, who, as well as myself, was astonished at the exploit; and the cut was found to be as clean as if the sword had gone through a turnip, not so much as a dint being left on either side of it" The light dragoon blade is remembered today as one of the best of its time and has been described as the finest cutting sword ever manufactured in quantity. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and Great Britain and its colonies, Upper and Lower Canada and Nova Scotia, from 1812 to 1815 on land and sea. The Americans declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, for a combination of reasons? outrage at the impressment (seizure) of thousands of American sailors, frustration at British restraints on neutral trade while Britain warred with France, and anger at British support for native attacks along the frontier which conflicted with American expansion and settlement into the Old Northwest. The war started poorly for the Americans as their attempts to invade Canada were repeatedly repulsed; later in the war, American land forces proved more effective. The Royal Navy lost some early single-ship battles but eventually their numbers told and the naval blockade of the eastern seaboard ruined American commerce, and led to extreme dissatisfaction in New England. Following the American raid and burning of York (now Toronto), the British raided the Chesapeake Bay area and burned parts of Washington D.C. but were repulsed at Baltimore and withdrew. The Americans gained naval control of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, preventing the planned British invasion of New York. The Americans destroyed the power of the native people of the Northwest and Southeast. With the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, and the stalemate on the battlefields, both nations agreed to a peace that left the prewar boundaries intact.  read more

Code: 22448

A Rare & Beautiful Antique Burmese High Status Noble’s Silver Sword, With Silver Inlaid Blade

A 19th Century Burmese sword dha, curved, shallow fullered silver inlaid blade 26", slight swollen towards point, silver damascened for its full length on both sides, with a scene depicting seated warriors and sages, a dog chow, foliage and inscriptions, zig zag panel along the top edge, silver hilt, the central panels depicting figures of male and female deities, plain darkwood ball pommel, in its plain sheet copper- silver alloy panelled scabbard in eleven sections. Circa 1870. Callied a ‘story' dha, the whole sword is superbly decorated. A picture we show in the gallery of a Burmese prince with his similar sword dha on a stand before him. The blade decoration, with silver overlay on both sides, it is said, is sometimes believed to the horoscope of the Burmese nobleman for whom the dha was commissioned. This sword is a “story” dha, the silver onlay illustrate a popular folktale and Jataka legend, complete with vignette scenes of the highlights of the story, and accompanying captions in Burmese or Pali. The broad use and diffusion of the dha across Southeast Asia makes it difficult to attribute a definitive origin. The Burmese moved into Southeast Asia from the northwest (present day India), passing through Assam and Nagaland. The dha and its variants were possibly derived from the Naga dao, a broadsword used by the Naga people of northeast India for digging as well as killing. The Naga weapon was a thick, heavy, eighteen-inch long backsword with a bevel instead of a point, and this form of blade is found on some dha. Alternatively, the dha may have its origins with the Tai people who migrated to the area from present-day Yunnan Province in southern China. The Khmer and Mon peoples were well established before the arrival the Tai or the Burmese people; perhaps they invented the dha as 13th-century reliefs at Angkor depict the weapon. The history of the region includes many periods where one or the other of these groups dominated, bringing along their culture and weapons to conquered areas.

Similar terms exist in the surrounding area with slightly different meanings. The Chinese word dao (dou in Cantonese) means knife but can refer to any bladed weapon with only one edge. In Bengali, a dao is a six inch long knife. From the Himalayas, the dao spread to Southeast Asia where it came into its present shape. While it is pronounced dha in Burmese, among Khmer-speakers it is known as dao and it may be related to the Malay words pedang and sundang, meaning sword. A related term, dap, means a long-handled sword in Malay. In Thailand, the dha corresponds to the krabi but the equivalent Thai term is daab which is usually a stout double-edge sword. Other elaborate swords might have been made as presentation pieces perhaps to foreigners but the nature of the script on the blade suggests that this example may have been made for a very senior Burman or Shan aristocrat. Overall in scabbard 37.5 inches long, blade 26 inches long  read more

Code: 23315

Excellent Pre-Contact Example of a Stone Leilira Knife from Central or Northern Australia. A First Nations' Cultural Object

The handle made of Spinifex Resin (plant) and the quartz blade shaped by chipping and shaping with a harder stone. The term Leilira was first coined by Spencer and Gillen circa 1899, and is currently the archaeological term used to describe large blades produced in northern and central Australia."--------2006, Kevin Tibbett, "When East Is Northwest: Expanding The Archaeological Boundary For Leilira Blade Production," Australian Archaeology, p. 26.
"Spencer and Gillian (1899, 1904) coined the term lalira or leilira blades (from the Arrernte alyweke (indigenous Australians), or stone knife)
Ethnographically, these were men's fighting knives and were also mythologically and symbolically linked with subincision On occasions they were used for other purposes such as ritualised fighting, initiation ceremonies etc

The term 'Leilira blade' refers to very long flaked blades made in central and northern Australia that are triangular or trapezoidal in cross section. They are made by 'flaking' - removing a small piece of rock from a large piece, called a core, by striking it with a hammerstone. The core is usually held in the hand or rested in the person's lap or on the ground. Often one or both edges of the blade are retouched to create a dentated or notched edge or a rounded end.

Leilira blades are usually made from quartzite, a hard metamorphic rock that varies in colour from white to dark grey, but slate and other stones are also used. All of the blades shown are quartzite. The middle blade and the one on the far right were made from quartzite extracted from Ngillipidji stone quarry on Elcho Island, a major quarry in the region. Stone from Ngillipdiji quarry and finished blades made from the quarried stone were traded over long distances.

The has a handle or grip made from resin. The resin was heated and moulded around the unpointed end of the blade; when it cooled, it dried hard. paperbark, tied on with string. The plant-fibre scabbard may be pandanus paperleaf or bark.

Many First Nations' cultural objects were collected during the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land in 1948.

Indigenous Australian's were manufacturing stone tools for more than 40,000 years. The flaked stone tools they left behind are very simple. In fact, most of their hafted knives, spears and fighting picks were made from simple core struck blades that have little or no further modification. Bifacial flaking in Australia is rare compared to other regions of the world. The best examples are reported as large hand axe-like bifaces and small bifacially flaked points. Bifacial reduction is also reported in the manufacture of some ground stone axes. Australia's most famous bifacially flaked artifact is the more recent Kimberly point. The most famous blade knife is the resin hafted leilira knife.  read more

Code: 25140

Beautiful 17th to 18th Century Chinese Qing Dynasty Period Sword Of The Era Of Emperor Kangxi, With a Silver Wire Bound Hilt, and a Silver, Giant Rayskin, Coral & Turquoise Gem Set Panelled Scabbard, Typical of Eastern Tibet

Likely the sword of a Chinese or Tibetan noble or high ranking warrior. A functional combat sword yet with elements of extravagant decor, that clearly shows to high status of its owner, during the early Qing also called Ching dynasty, that followed the late Ming dynasty.
Steel hilt with silver wire bound grip, stylised traditional Chinese batwing engraved pommel and steel mounting bands of the scabbard, the scabbard is panelled in giant rayskin, and a bottom chape in repousse silver metal, with decor of swirling winds, mounted with cabouchons of torqoise and coral to one side. The scabbard also has some silver wire re-enforced binding. This a most rare, beautiful and original antique Chinese sword. Original surviving antique swords are extremely scarce due to the Cultural Revolution in the mid 20th century in China, when 99.99% of all existing antique swords were destroyed or ordered melted down for their metal content.

Of course the manufacture and sale of reproduction Chinese swords in China is a thriving market, many intimated and sold to be old or original, but very sadly, none are.

Old original Chinese antique arms very rarely survive, and now are generally only to be seen in the biggest and best museums. The fittings are very much in the form popular in the south to eastern region of the old Chinese empire in the Xizang province, and Eastern Tibet. This sword is a textbook representative example of the familiar Chinese form, well made and of good quality. The blade has traces still visible of the prominent ‘hairpin’ lamination pattern, the hallmark of traditional blades of the region, consisting of seven dark lines alternating with six light lines, caused by the different types of iron that were combined during the forging process. This was formed by combining harder and softer iron, referred to as "male iron" and "female iron" in traditional ancient texts from the region, which was folded, nested together, and forged into one piece in a blade-making technique called pattern welding. The hilts are often made of engraved silver set with coral or turquoise, or in some rare instances are intricately chiseled and pierced in iron that is damascened in gold and silver. The different styles of swords that were once found in greater China can be distinguished by several basic features, which include the type of blade, the form of hilt, the type of scabbard, and how the sword was designed to be worn. Traditional texts divide swords into five principal types, each of which has a main subtype, for a total of ten basic types. These are in turn subdivided into dozens of further subtypes, many of which may, however, reflect legends and literary conventions rather than actual sword forms.

A few excellent examples of arms and armour from the region can be found in museum collections today. Other types were preserved for ceremonial occasions, the most important of which was the Great Prayer Festival, a month-long event held annually in the local capitol. Historical armour and weapons were also very fortunately preserved due to the long-standing tradition of placing votive arms in monasteries and temples, where they are kept in special chapels, known as gonkhang (mgon khang), and dedicated to the service of guardian deities. Although there are representatives of the Manchus in Tibet, the region is largely left to function independently and does so for the next 200 years.

Currently in one of the worlds greatest museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, there is an exhibition of Chinese & Tibetan arms and armour. Item 36.25.1464., within the exhibition, is a near identical sword, dated as 17th century, used until the 19th century.

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing pronounced Ching, was the last imperial dynasty of China and Mongolia. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted for almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for modern China. It was the fifth largest empire in world history. The dynasty was founded by the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria. In the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming Jianzhou Guard vassal, began organizing "Banners", military-social units that included Manchu, Han, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Manchu clans into a unified entity. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of the Liaodong Peninsula and declared a new dynasty, the Qing.

In an unrelated development, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing, in 1644. Rather than serve them, Ming general Wu Sangui made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Banner Armies led by the regent Prince Dorgon. He defeated the rebels and seized the capital. Resistance from the Southern Ming and the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui delayed the Qing conquest of China proper by nearly four decades. The conquest was only completed in 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor reign (1661-1722). The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Inner Asia.

During the Qianlong Emperor reign (1735-1796) the dynasty reached its apogee, but then began its initial decline in prosperity and imperial control. The population rose to some 400 millions, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, virtually guaranteeing eventual fiscal crisis. Corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites failed to change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium Wars, European powers imposed "unequal treaties", free trade, extraterritoriality and treaty ports under foreign control. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and the Dungan Revolt (1862-1877) in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of these disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order and the Qing rulers. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea and the possession of Taiwan. New Armies were organised, but the ambitious Hundred Days' Reform of 1898 was turned back in a coup by the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi. When the Scramble for Concessions by foreign powers triggered the violently anti-foreign "Boxers", the foreign powers invaded China, Cixi declared war on them, leading to defeat and the flight of the Imperial Court to Xi'an.
Overall 23 3/4 inches long.  read more

Code: 22307

A Fabulous Original Knights Templar Cross Antiquity, 12th Century, Hammered Gold Covered Bronze, Between 800 to 900 Years Old,

This is an original gold and bronze Knights Templar cross patee within a circle. The original surface of thin hammered gold is very worn to expose the bronze and the engraving, but gold can still be seen in areas. It was obviously once an important piece of Templar symbolism, and may well have been a central mount for the lid of a Templar treasure casket, or a Knights Templar Holy Reliquary casket [see a similar casket, photo 8, in the gallery, of a 13th century reliquary casket now in Germany. Note the applied golden disc plaques, the same size as this one].

This is still very impressive and an absolute iconic example of the Knights Templar cross symbol, the same symbol as worn, for example, upon their tabards, shields and ship's sails, and chisseled on tombs or templar buildings. Photos in the gallery of two carved Templar Crosses, one Templar Cross, perhaps, is an indication of the church's connection with the Knights Templar in the 12th century. Photo of St Mary's Church, Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire. another an stone carving, at Borthwick Church, Midlothian, Scotland. Burial place of a Knight, and Lord Borthwick and his lady.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon also known as the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order founded in 1118, and were headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem through 1128 when they went to meet with Pope Honorius II. They were recognised in 1139 by the papal bull Omne datum optimum of Pope Innocent II. The order was active until 1312, when it was perpetually suppressed by Pope Clement V by the bull Vox in excelso.

The Templars became a favoured charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were amongst the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. They were prominent in Christian finance, non-combatant members of the order, who made up as much as 90% of their members,managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom.They developed innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building its own network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land,

The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades; With its clear mission and ample resources, the order grew rapidly. Templars were often the advance shock troops in key battles of the Crusades, as the heavily armoured knights on their warhorses would set out to charge at the enemy, ahead of the main army bodies, in an attempt to break opposition lines. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the Battle of Montgisard, where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat Saladin's army of more than 26,000 soldiers, When the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France, while being deeply in debt to the order, took advantage of this distrust to destroy them to erase his debt. On Friday the 13th of October 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned them at the stake.

Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip. The abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European society gave rise to speculation, legend, myth, and legacy through the ages.


Richard Lassels, an expatriate Roman Catholic priest, first used the phrase “Grand Tour” in his 1670 book Voyage to Italy, published posthumously in Paris in 1670. In its introduction, Lassels listed four areas in which travel furnished "an accomplished, consummate traveler" with opportunities to experience first hand the intellectual, the social, the ethical, and the political life of the Continent.

The English gentry of the 17th century believed that what a person knew came from the physical stimuli to which he or she has been exposed. Thus, being on-site and seeing famous works of art and history was an all important part of the Grand Tour. So most Grand Tourists spent the majority of their time visiting museums and historic sites.

Once young men began embarking on these journeys, additional guidebooks and tour guides began to appear to meet the needs of the 20-something male and female travelers and their tutors traveling a standard European itinerary. They carried letters of reference and introduction with them as they departed from southern England, enabling them to access money and invitations along the way.

With nearly unlimited funds, aristocratic connections and months or years to roam, these wealthy young tourists commissioned paintings, perfected their language skills and mingled with the upper crust of the Continent.

The wealthy believed the primary value of the Grand Tour lay in the exposure both to classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A Grand Tour could last from several months to several years. The youthful Grand Tourists usually traveled in the company of a Cicerone, a knowledgeable guide or tutor.

The ‘Grand Tour’ era of classical acquisitions from history existed up to around the 1850’s, and extended around the whole of Europe, Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy Land.  read more

Code: 23984

Beautiful, Inscribed, Elizabethan Tudor & Renaissance Nobleman’s Rapier 16th Century, Circa 1570

A stunning Renaissance rapier with tapered blade of flattened hexagonal section, fullers on both sides of the forte inscribed with Fio Nio, [abbreviated Latin] opposite armourer’s marks of crescents plus circle with cross on the blade, nicely defined long ricasso; with an elaborate, swept hilt with thumb ring, and three, hand guard bars, the quillon finials with shaped knobs very nicely embossed. It has a restored leather grip surface and a beautifully pronounced ovoid egg form pommel.

Often used in duels in conjunction with a maine gauche off-hand parrying dagger.

Exactly the same form of sword rapiers as worn by all of the great admirals and knights in Queen Elizabeth the 1st's court. See the three original portraits of such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, & Earl Dudley.

Sir Francis Drake while commanding the English fleet against the Spanish Armada, plus all his senior captains and command officers, carried and used the very same form of rapier, despite its length being somewhat impractical to hand to hand combat aboard ship. It wasn’t for some time that logic prevailed and swords for use aboard ships became much shorter, such as hunting swords, and thus far more practical when hampered by low slung rigging aboard the main deck of all ships.

It was also the very form of sword carried by the senior Spanish Conquistadors on their conquest of the South Americas in the 16th century.

From the early 16th century onward, the practice of wearing a sword or rapier with civilian dress, made duels between unarmoured opponents more common. Lacking the armour, shield or hand protections worn in battle, the fighters had to block or parry an attack by other means. Methods of defence included the use of a dagger or a buckler held in the left hand. Fundamental characteristics of the spada da lato, compared to the normal one-handed sword and the sword, are the long and pointed but still massive blade, sharpened on both sides, with a short ricasso protected above by a metal ring; and the hilt with one or two-handed sleeves, normally in relation to the length of the blade and therefore to the total weight of the weapon, cross-shaped guard with large, straight or folded arms, loaded with branches, bridges and rings, articulating on the ricasso, to ensure greater protection of the hand.

For further reference as to type;
C. Foulkes, Inventory and Survey of the Armouries of the Tower of London, published 1916; and A.R. Dufty, European Swords and Daggers in the Tower of London, published 1974, see letter D on plate 21
From the early 16th century onward, the practice of wearing a sword or rapier with civilian dress, made duels between unarmoured opponents more common. Lacking the armour, shield or hand protections worn in battle, the fighters had to block or parry an attack by other means. Methods of defence included the use of a dagger or a buckler held in the left hand. Fundamental characteristics of the spada da lato, compared to the normal one-handed sword and the sword, are the long and pointed but still massive blade, sharpened on both sides, with a short ricasso protected above by a metal ring; and the hilt with one or two-handed sleeves, normally in relation to the length of the blade and therefore to the total weight of the weapon, cross-shaped guard with large, straight or folded arms, loaded with branches, bridges and rings, articulating on the ricasso, to ensure greater protection of the hand. The maker's mark shows comparisons with a rapier in the Tower of London Armoury see Foulkes, no.107 p.274, 1916

41 1/3" overall length. Fine condition.  read more

Code: 24093

An Original English Civil War Period Portrait of General George Monk & General Monk's Early Leather Bound Biography

A fine portrait After Samuel Cooper of George Monk, 1st Duke of Albemarle. Oil on canvas laid on board, inscribed Gen: Monk, Duke of Albermale upper centre. And a fine volume of The Life of General Monk, Duke of Albemarle 2nd Edit. 1724. George Monk, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG (6 December 1608 - 3 January 1670) was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the Restoration of Charles II. During the operations on the Scottish border in the Bishops' Wars (1639-1640) he showed his skill and coolness in the dispositions by which he saved the English artillery at the Battle of Newburn (1640).

At the outbreak of the Irish rebellion (1641) Monck became colonel of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester's regiment under the command of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. All the qualities for which he was noted through life his talent for making himself indispensable, his imperturbable temper and his impenetrable secrecy were fully displayed in this post. The governorship of Dublin stood vacant, and Leicester recommended Monck.

However, Charles I overruled the appointment in favour of Charles Lambart, 1st Earl of Cavan, and Monck surrendered the appointment without protest. James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde viewed him with suspicion as one of two officers who refused to take the oath to support the Royal cause in England and sent him under guard to Bristol.

Monck justified himself to Charles I in person, and his astute criticisms of the conduct of the Irish war impressed the king, who gave him a command in the army brought over from Ireland during the English Civil War. Taken prisoner by Parliament's Northern Association Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron at the Battle of Nantwich in January 1644, he spent the next two years in the Tower of London. He spent his imprisonment writing his Observations on Military and Political Affairs Monck's experience in Ireland led to his release. He was made major general in the army sent by Parliament against Irish rebels. Making a distinction (like other soldiers of the time) between fighting the Irish and taking arms against the king, he accepted the offer and swore loyalty to the Parliamentary cause. He made little headway against the Irish led by Owen Roe O'Neill and concluded an armistice (called then a "convention") with the rebel leaders upon terms which he knew the Parliament would not ratify. The convention was a military expedient to deal with a military necessity. When in February 1649 Scotland proclaimed Charles, Prince of Wales, as Charles II, King of Scotland, the Protestant Ulster Scots settlers did the same and following Charles's lead took the Solemn League and Covenant. Most of Monck's army went over to the Royalist cause, placing themselves under the command of Hugh Montgomery, 1st Earl of Mount Alexander. Monck himself remained faithful to Parliament and returned to England.

Although Parliament disavowed the terms of the truce, no blame was attached to Monck's recognition of military necessity. He next fought at Oliver Cromwell's side in Scotland at the 1650 Battle of Dunbar, a resounding Roundhead victory. Made commander-in-chief in Scotland by Cromwell, Monck completed the subjugation of the country.

In February 1652 Monck left Scotland to recover his broken health at Bath, and in November of the same year he became a General at Sea in the First Anglo-Dutch War, which ended in a decisive victory for the Commonwealth's fleet and marked the beginning of England's climb to supremacy over the Dutch at sea.

On his return to shore Monck married Anne Radford (n?e Clarges).In 1653 he was nominated one of the representatives for Devon in Barebone's Parliament. He returned to Scotland, methodically beating down a Royalist insurrection in the Highlands. At Cromwell's request, Monck remained in Scotland as governor During the confusion which followed Cromwell's death on 3 September 1658, Monck remained silent and watchful at Edinburgh, careful only to secure his hold on his troops. At first he contemplated armed support of Richard Cromwell, but on realising the young man's incapacity for government, he gave up this idea and renewed his waiting policy. In July 1659 direct and tempting proposals were again made to him by the future Charles II. Monck was elected Member of Parliament for both Devon and Cambridge University in the Convention Parliament of 1660. Though he protested his adherence to republican principles, it was a matter of common knowledge that the parliament would have a strong Royalist colour. Monck himself, in communication with Charles II, accepted the latter's Declaration of Breda of 4 April 1660, which was largely based on Monck's recommendations. On 1 May the newly convened Convention Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. The painting size is 27cm x 23.5 cm., and in its frame it is 16.75 inches x 15.5 inches  read more

Code: 22723

Very Early Production, Factory Engraved & Cased, Sharps 4 Shot Derringer Pistol with Tools in Its Superb Walnut Case, Serial Number 52

Early second model, superb presentation quality engraving to the copper-bronze frame, re-freshed blued barrels, ebony grips, forward sliding barrel action for loading. Sharps company maker marks to the frame, good tight action. .30 rimfire caiibre.

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

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

Sharps antique derringers became known as the

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

The first two Sharps Derringer models were made before 1862. In that year, William Hankins joined the firm and the company changed its name Sharps & Hankins. Sharps, forever with his money struggles, brought on Hankins for funding, and his new capital funded an additional factory to make both rifles and antique derringer pistols. The other remaining models also began manufacturing under this partnership.

No licence is required to own and collect this antique pistol  read more

Code: 24946