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William “Bill” Terry: 2 December 1933 – 11 August 2023
Known universally as Bill, William John Terry was born in Croydon the son of a police officer. During the war the family home was bombed and he was evacuated to Somerset, but returned to the South-East to live in Sevenoaks, Kent.
A neighbour was a member of the West Kent Archery Society, which he joined, and she gave the teenager lessons in archery on the front lawn of her house. Declining membership led to the closure of the WKAS in 1947 but he was hooked and also began to spend all his available pocket money on archery relics; his first was a metal quiver.
In 1951, aged 17, Bill helped form the Sennocke Archers in Sevenoaks and was a founder member of the British Long Bow Society (BLBS). His encouragement and enthusiasm helped those institutions in their formative years and the BLBS thrives to this day. National Service, during which he achieved the rank of lieutenant, was an interruption but he later became a devoted member of both the Societ y of Archer-Antiquaries and the Archery Collectors Guild.
Sennocke Archers shot at the Wildernesse School in Sevenoaks but unfor tunately the ground was lost when the school was enlarged in 2011. The committee opted to close the club, but Bill managed to find a shooting field in the nearby RNIB residential school. He moved all the club buildings and equipment on to the grounds and reformed the club as Sevenoaks Archery Club.
This was not to last as the premises were sold for redevelopment shortly after and Bill obtained permission to use a corner of the playing field of the nearby Knowle Academy. Once again, he moved the club’s building and equipment to the new venue. Again, the club was forced to move from the Knowle Academy after only a year and Bill found another school playing field at the Sackville School in Hildenborough, where the club is now.
When his wife died early in this century, Bill sold up his house and bought an apple orchard farm, the farmhouse being redesigned and enlarged to accommodate his now enormous collection. Neil Dimmock, friend and fellow archer, observed the project in all its stages, seeing the transformation from a muddy field and a house that was a shell. The apple trees were removed and replaced with a woodland planting. Within this is sited a 100 yard twoway range with eight targets. He gathered together a group of long bow archers which became the new, reformed West Kent Archery Society. The Society thrives and hosts long bow events at club, county, and national level.
In 2019, Neil Dimmock was approached by the President of the local Historical Society in Sutton, Surrey. She was researching archery in Beddington Park. She had bought photographs of the Southern Counties Archery Meeting (“the Southern”) in Beddington Park in 1907 and wondered whether this still existed. She explained that she had bid, online, for several more pictures but without success. Neil introduced her to Bill Terry who had managed to acquire them. She became extremely excited on visiting the collection and wondered if the first Meeting named as “The Southern” of 1903 could be re-enacted. Her influence in the locality and her contacts resulted in just that. Bill Terry was instrumental in arranging for equipment to be transported to the venue and his presence contributed to the success of the day. The archers who attended were old established shooters of “the Southern” and were pleased to be able to shoot at the first venue under that name.
Bill took a special interest in “the Southern” and took great pride in updating and refurbishing the Honours Board which is stored, in pride of place, at Beechin Wood. His ever-increasing collection was now well known nationally and internationally. His encyclopaedic knowledge was a wonder to all those who visited. He had built up probably the largest archery library, certainly in Britain, if not Europe. He was host to so many. The Worshipful Company of Bowyers and the Worshipful Company of Fletchers made visits available for their liverymen. His door was always open for guests to visit and be shown round, describing everything in the collection and there were not many questions that stumped him.
Until very recently, he still attended tournaments and was the first to congratulate the winners. Encouragement to all the competitors was his well-known modus operandi and there are established archers all over the country who are aware of Bill Terry and his influence in their formative years.
Everyone has dates in their lives that they do not forget. One of Neil Dimmock’s was 11th August 1974. The day he first met, and shot with, Bill Terry. Neil had taken up archery only a year before and club mates had persuaded him to shoot at tournaments. Neil, also, had been bitten by the bug and shot wherever he could. Bill restricted himself to Kent (his home county) Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and London, plus the Grand National Archery Meetings and the Southern Counties.
At Alan Zenthon’s first tournament, Bill was his target companion and greeted him with a huge smile and a shake of the hand. Throughout the shoot Bill was a source of positive encouragement, “Six hits! Jolly well done, old man.” The perfect target companion who was always more concerned about your performance than his own. They met frequently throughout the years at tournaments and would always seek each other out. Throughout his archery career Bill picked up winner’s medals, but just not that often. He admitted to Roger Spellane that he shot his best in his early 70s. A time when he really felt all the elements of his shooting really came together: technique, equipment and mind set. So, he felt he peaked after fifty years of shooting, which is a fitting testament to his dedication at archery.
This appreciation of Bill Terry is put together from contributions from Neil Dimmock, Jill and Bruno Bonora and other Archer-Antiquarians who were all saddened by the loss of this devoted archer and collector. He had an almost 18th century style of speaking and with a gentle delivery which all added to his old world charm, truly a man of another age.
Arthur G. Credland (first printed in the Journal of Archer Antiquaries, 2023)
EASTERN ARMS AND ARMOUR
THE BILL TERRY COLLECTION, PART II: NON WESTERN ARCHERY
1
TWO ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOWS, PROBABLY MIDDLE KINGDOM CIRCA 2000 B.C., AND THREE STONE ARROWHEADS
the bows slender, circular in profile, with thin nocks and substantial set in the limbs,one made of two pieces of wood joined at the centre, the other thinner and made from a single piece of wood, in a glazed display case with the inscription ‘ Egyptian bows of Middle Kingdom (about 2000B.C.), the wood of Carob Bean (Ceratonia silliqua) native of Mediterranean region, the case of English Yew, presented to the Royal Company of Archers, ‘F.R.S. Balfour & A.N. Balfour, of Dawyck. 1936’, the arrowheads with a note: ‘Flint Implement from Gibelun about. 2500BC’ (4), each made of chert knapped from a blade core, with visible bulb of percussion on the tangs and pressure-flaked sawtooth edges, 111.0 cm in length
Provenance
The Royal Company of Archers, Edinburgh Frederick Balfour was initially employed in his family firm in London. He travelled extensively on business and made several expeditions to the Pacific coast of North America, on one occasion staying there for 4 years, acquiring a deep knowledge of forest trees. He introduced the cultivation of several pines including Picea brewiana and developed the Arboretum at the family estate at Dawyck near Peebles, which he had inherited from his father in 1886. In 1916 Balfour was sent to France to liaise with the French Army over supplies of timber, being appointed Lieut. Colonel for the purpose. His interest in forestry continued after the war and he travelled extensively to supplement the Dawyck collection. With many business interests and directorships, Balfour was a member of the King’s Bodyguard for Scotland, Royal Company of Archers and a local Justice of the Peace and Vice Lieutenant of the county in Peeblesshire (see Desmond 1945). His son, Alastair Norman Balfour (1909-96) was a member of Royal Company of Archers from 1930 onwards.
During the Old and Middle Kingdom, the most commonly encountered bow was of simple stave-like form, sometimes with a single or double curve. This was replaced by the composite bow from the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards, probably introduced by the Hyksos, along with the use of the horse and chariot and copper alloy for use in armour. See McLeod 1960 and Grayson 2004.
£600-800
2
TWO DISPLAYS OF STONE ARROWHEADS
one display of arrowheads stated to be from Dagenham, Essex, with twenty-three probably Neolithic arrowheads (display in poor condition), with some arrowheads with dated 9/5/37 on the rear for date of excavation, the second display of arrowheads from Arkansas, stated to be from the Cahokia Mounds Period, twenty-four arrowheads in total, longest display 51.0 cm (2)
£50-100
FIVE JAPANESE BOWS, THREE SHOOTING GLOVES (YUGAKE), TWO BOW BAGS AND A QUANTITY OF BOW STRINGS (TSURU), EDO PERIOD AND LATER
the first possibly early Showa Period (1926-1989) signed ‘Akita Hakuho’, with a cloth covered grip (nigiri) and light rattan bindings, with a red soft bow bag (some repairs to the back of the bow); the second signed by an unknown maker with three rattan bindings and dark leather grip; the third with crossed Japanese and British flag decorations and red-black patterning on the sides and signed by an unknown maker; the fourth a Japanese style training bow with contemporary leather grip and brown bow bag; the fifth a Japanese style training bow painted black with a red cloth covered grip; the bowstrings 20th century or later; the three gloves with three fingers each (mitsugake) made of deer hide with reinforcements on the thumb of cow hide, one brown and one blue bow bag, and a banner for a Hong Kong archers association, each bow 221. 0cm long (namisun)
£450-500
4
FIVE JAPANESE BOWS AND A BOW BAG, EDO PERIOD AND LATER
the first Edo Period, of nisun-nobi length (227.0 cm), with a rounded belly, red lacquered limbs and numerous rattan bindings above and below the handle (some bindings missing); the second late 19th/early 20th century, lacquered red with three plain rattan bindings and a contemporary leather grip (nigiri); the third likely 20th century lacquered dark brown with plain rattan bindings; the fourth in Japanese style with the inscription ‘47# @37’ (denoting the draw weight and draw length); the fifth a training bow in Japanese style made of laminated wood with a purple grip, length 200.0 cm; the bow bag of blue cloth, each bow 221. 0cm long (namisun) unless otherwise stated
£350-450
5
FIVE JAPANESE BOWS AND A BOW BAG, EDO
PERIOD
AND LATER
the first and second a pair of possibly Edo Period bows, each lacquered black with brown rattan bindings (both missing some bindings on the upper limb), possibly of bishu nari style, without signature; the third Edo Period, with black lacquered limbs and red rattan bindings above and below (some contemporary paint applied to some bindings) and a contemporary grip cover; the fourth Edo period with thick limbs and seven rattan bindings (restored, painted red and black); the fifth a 20th century bow with three plain rattan bindings; the bow bag of purple cloth, each bow 221.0 cm long (namisun)
£450-550
6
A JAPANESE BOW AND A QUIVER (SHIKO) OF ELEVEN ARROWS
the bow painted black with red rattan bindings, a leather grip and a hemp bowstring (tsuru) ten arrows with pointed arrowheads (togari ya) and three flights (hane), one arrow with leaf shaped decorated head (yanagi ba) featuring a Sakura and heart design and four flights, all arrows painted black and red with gold paint near the flights in a painted red quiver (shiko) with brass and rattan fittings (one bow grip on the quiver unattached and some restorations), the bow 221.0 cm (namisun size) and the quiver 58.0 cm, the ten arrows 89.0 cm, the decorated arrow 96.5 cm (2)
£200-300
7
FOUR UNSIGNED JAPANESE BOWS, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first 19th century, with a substantial body and dark brown rattan bindings (visible delamination at the nocks); the second early 20th century, with aged bamboo limbs of slight construction with a contemporary grip (nigiri); the third lacquered black, with thirteen rattan bindings (some damage to the lacquer on the lower handle) the fourth lacquered black with five sets of three rattan bindings across its length, and a leather grip, 221.0 cm long (4)
£300-400
8
THREE JAPANESE BOWS OF MIYAKONOJO STYLE, 20TH CENTURY
the first signed ‘Mitsuhide Kubota’, with plain rattan bindings and a leather-covered grip; the second similar, signed, with dark leather grip (nigiri), the third similar, signed, with aged leather grip, 221.0 cm long (Namisun) (3)
£300-400
9
THREE SIGNED JAPANESE BOWS, 20TH CENTURY
the first bow signed ‘Katsumi Matsunaga’ with a blue label ‘Miyata’ beneath the grip and with accompanying string; the second with faint signature and black lacquer wrapping and accompanying string; the third with faint signature and purple grip, all without lacquer, 221.0 cm long (3)
£250-350
10
THREE CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE BOWS
the first made by the Sagara Bow and Arrow Company in Chikugo City, Fukuoka Prefecture, constructed of fibreglass and rattan with a blue leather grip; the second manufactured by Seiga, of moulded carbon fibre made to resemble traditional bamboo, with blue leather grip; the third of possibly fibreglass with inscription referencing English archery, with accompanying string and red bow bag, 221.0 cm long (3)
£150-200
A JAPANESE BOW AND ARROW STAND, AND THIRTEEN ARROWS
with a large rectangular box quiver, lacquered black with dark brown bands and a ferrous band near the top, the stem with two cutouts for holding bows, a fold-out ferrous handle for carrying the stand on the shoulder, a further handle, a leather pouch for storing the end of the quiver, and a fork-shaped ferrous spike for setting the stand in the ground (a contemporary wire repair attaching the quiver to the stand); the arrows of various materials including wood and bamboo, the arrowheads including target points and contemporary bodkins, the flights (hane) in various styles, the quiver 90.5 cm long (2)
£200-300
12
A
JAPANESE PALANQUIN BOW (RIMANKYUU) AND TWO RACKS OF SMALL ARROWS, EDO PERIOD
the bow with reflexed design made of whalebone, the back and belly painted with golden mon and the grip (nigiri) covered in deer hide with rattan bindings, the nocks curved with wide notch (some damage); the arrows (ya) comprising six small arrows of varying lengths and styles, the stand with space for eleven arrows and one bow; the racks lacquered black with eighteen matched arrows of narrow bamboo, some with iron tips, the bow: 60.5 cm (3)
An example of a palanquin bow, dating from the 18th Century, is preserved in the Royal Armouries collection (object number XXVIB.175).
£300-400
13
A JAPANESE PALANQUIN BOW (RIMANKYUU), A BOW STAND, AND TWO ARROWS, EDO PERIOD AND LATER
the bow with engraved floral designs on the whalebone limbs with a gilt back, a leather wrapped grip (nigiri), the stand with slots for two bows and twenty arrows (ya), copper alloy fittings, and a draw beneath the arrows with a removable cover, the arrows two bamboo practice arrows with three flights (arrows do not fit the stand), the stand 60.0 cm tall (4)
£250-350
14
A
SMALL
JAPANESE
BOW AND QUIVER (SHIKO) WITH ARROWS, EDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY
the bow styled after the traditional Japanese bow (wakyuu), asymmetrical and painted black with red rattan bindings along its length (some bindings missing); the quiver a full-size shiko with a set of six arrows (ya) (flights in poor condition), one arrow with ceremonial arrowhead with heart-shape cut into interior of head, with space for eleven arrows, the quiver with copper alloy fittings and a painted leather pouch for the arrowheads, with a green rope for securing the quiver, bow 106.0 cm long (2)
£300-400
EIGHT TUBULAR QUIVERS INCLUDING JAPANESE ARROWS (YA), 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first with six arrows with target point arrowheads, brown and white flights (hane), bamboo shafts, one with a brass arrowhead and the inscription ‘hazama’, the quiver made of woven plain rattan; the second with six arrows with narrow arrowheads (togari-ya), dark brown flights, and bamboo shafts in a lacquered black rattan quiver; the third with six arrows, in one group of four and one group of two, all with target arrowheads, brown flights, and bamboo shafts, the quiver of lacquered black rattan; the fourth with ten arrows with target points, the quiver covered in green leather embossed with foliage designs; the fifth with eight arrows with target points and bamboo shafts, the quiver made of rattan with brass fittings and an inner copper tube; the sixth with a fine set of four practice arrows with matched bamboo shafts and two other practice arrows, the quiver made of black lacquered rattan; the seventh with a set of twelve practice arrows, the quiver made of rattan; the eighth with two bamboo arrows with broken tips, the quiver made of rattan with a leather cap, the longest quiver 121.0 cm in length (8)
£400-500 16
THREE JAPANESE QUIVERS (UTSUBO) WITH ARROWS, EDO PERIOD
the first with eight arrows with various styles of narrow arrowheads (togari-ya), black flights (hane), and bamboo shafts, the quiver restored with black paint with a gold crest (mon) with visible restorations in the interior; the second with eight Japanese-style arrows with various small pointed arrowheads, white flights, and a mix of wooden and bamboo shafts, the quiver with leather belt loops and a dark gold mon (cover strap missing); the third with a total of twelve arrows with eight target points and one narrow Japanese arrowhead (togari-ya) and bamboo shafts (two missing arrowheads), the first quiver 108.0 cm long, the second and third 98.0 cm long (3)
£300-400
17
A JAPANESE CASED INDOOR ARCHERY SET IN A SMALL CHEST OF SIX DRAWERS, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
including a drawer with two boxes of eight fine indoor arrows, with white flights (hane) with gold bands on the shafts, complete with small horn nocks and blunted ends, the drawer also containing two small boxes with intricate sliding joints, five bow grips, two spare drawer knobs, and seven bags of indoor bow limbs, the limbs of fine quality and made of bamboo with carved japanese bow nocks and metal fittings, 33.5 cm long
£500-600
18
A JAPANESE CASED INDOOR ARCHERY SET AND FURTHER ARROWS
with six arrows (ya), the flights (hane) white with blue cock feather, the points blunt, in a small wooden quiver within the case; the bow with three sections and a handle, made from bamboo with silver joints; the further arrows in a black box with four additional practice arrows, one broken arrow, and another collapsible indoor bow with two handles, case 33.5 cm long (3)
£200-300
19
A DISPLAY OF CEREMONIAL JAPANESE ARROWHEADS (YANONE), TWO SHOOTING GLOVES (YUGAKE) AND TWO BOXES OF SPARE BOWSTRINGS (TSURU) AND OTHER SPARES
the first a stand of six ceremonial arrowheads (yanone) with saw-cut interior patterns on long tangs; the second a single-thumb glove and a three-finger glove; the third a woven rattan box containing numerous spare bowstrings, some pine glue (kusune) and a woven pad for applying it to the bowstrings, along with a tool for bending Japanese arrows and two other tools, two bow bags, and some spare nocks; the fourth a lacquered box with a Japanese archer on the lid containing more bowstrings, largest box 25.0 cm (6)
£100-200
20
A CHINESE FOLDING BOW AND A FURTHER CHINESE BOW, QING DYNASTY
the first with reflexed limbs, the belly with long strips of horn, the back painted with decorative borders, and fitted at its centre with an iron hinge on a shagreen decorated grip; the second with reflexed limbs, the back covered with birch bark, fitted with string bridges and a hide string, the grip with shagreen decoration, 62.0 cm (folded) and 154.0 cm respectively (2)
£300-400
21
THREE CHINESE COMPOSITE BOWS, QING DYNASTY, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first with reflexed limbs faced with horn on the belly, the back covered in snakeskin, fitted with string bridges, horn nocks and leather-covered grip; the second similar, with green and white floral decorations near the handle and tips (siyahs), the back covered in green snakeskin; the third with red bark covered back, horn nocks, and dark green shagreen near the handle, the longest bow 104.0 cm long (3)
£400-600
22
THREE CHINESE COMPOSITE BOWS, QING DYNASTY, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first with reflexed limbs faced with horn on the belly painted black, the back covered with bark, fitted with string bridges and horn-covered grip (small losses); the second similar with leather covered grip; the third with shorter ears (siyah) covered in snakeskin, with patterns on the belly and string bridges, the longest bow 121.0 cm long (3)
£400-600
THREE CHINESE COMPOSITE BOWS, QING DYNASTY, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first with reflexed limbs faced with horn on the belly painted black, the back covered with birch bark, fitted with string bridges and snakeskin-covered grip; the second similar with birch bark covered back and hide wrapped grip (contemporary gloss coat); the third with significant restorations throughout, with glossy coating, painted ears (siyah) and modern shagreen covered handle, the longest bow 91.0 cm long (3)
£400-600
24
A CHINESE STRENGTH-TESTING COMPOSITE BOW, QING DYNASTY, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
of robust construction, with reflexed limbs and a laminated horn belly over bamboo core, the back wrapped in sinew covered in birch bark, wooden ears (siyah) with reinforced nocks and string bridges, the grip wrapped with sinew and leather, 90.0 cm long
£300-400
THREE KOREAN BOWS (GAKGUNG), 20TH CENTURY
the first with highly reflexed limbs backed with sinew covered in birch bark, with a horn covered belly, fitted with string bridges, string reinforcements near the ears (siyah) and grip, with accompanying bowstring, the second similar without string reinforcements, the third in good condition, with stickers on the siyahs, prominent riser on the grip, and a bow bag, all with accompanying bowstrings, longest bow 41.0 cm (3)
£100-150
26
A THAI PELLET BOW AND FIVE FURTHER SOUTH EAST ASIAN BOWS, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
consisting of one fine Thai pellet bow with ornate decorated nocks and grip riser in the shape of an animal (one nock broken off with visible glue repairs); four bamboo bows from various cultures, three with grip risers bound with rattan and one with rattan bindings along its length, and a reflexed bamboo bow with red painted tips and a grip riser bound in rattan, longest bow 122.0 cm
£300-400
SEVEN THAI PELLET BOWS, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first constructed of bamboo, with Dshaped profile and symmetrical nodes located near the ears of the bow, with a decorative carved grip riser in the shape of a rodent, bound to the handle with rattan, complete with a rattan pellet bowstring; the second similar, of robust construction with rattan bindings along the bow and decorative black and yellow paint, the grip riser bound with thread and undecorated (missing bowstring); the third with elaborate paintings of peacocks on a red background, the nocks reinforced with ornamental silver tips, the grip riser with silver decorative swirls; the fourth painted with flower vase decorations, the nocks made from ivory, a visible repair to one of the ears of the bow; the fifth with delicate gold floral decorations on a green background, the nocks made of ivory (some contemporary restoration to the bow); the sixth made of wood, with elaborate carvings on the belly, the grip similarly decorated, one nock with two holes and the other notched; the seventh of bamboo, with black painted coating and complete with original string, longest pellet bow 145.0 cm (7)
For a similar example, see item 1902.88.64 in the Pitt Rivers Museum, which was collected by the celebrated anthropologist Nelson Annandale in May 1902 in the large Thai village of Ban Phra Muang, at the mouth of the Trang River, on the Andaman Sea.
£300-400
28
A RARE PAIR OF VIETNAMESE PELLET BOWS, POSSIBLY 17TH CENTURY
the first with reflexed limbs made of horn running the full length of the bow (some cracks near the handle), with reinforcing binding on the ears and pointed designs on the nocks, a large circular handle made of wood bound and wrapped with red cloth; the second similar, with silver bands around the handle and a dark limbs along with possible string-keeper holes in both nocks, the longest bow 139.0 cm overall (2)
For a similar example see two bows dated to 1679 on display in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (acc. nos. NG-NM-6093-A and NG-NM-6093-B). These bows were sent to the Dutch Naval commander Cornelis Tromp as part of an arms rack by Cornelis Wemans from Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. See Rijksmuseum 2024.
£1,000-1,200
AN INDIAN STEEL BOW, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
with lightly reflexed limbs, floral patterns along the belly, a large symmetrical steel handle, and pointed nocks, 159.0 cm
£400-600
31
SEVEN INDO-PERSIAN PAINTED SELF BOWS, 19TH CENTURY
each painted with intricate red, black and gold designs, of circular profile with narrowing nocks, all of various thicknesses, with one notably thinner with flatter, carved nocks, longest 181.0 cm (7)
£400-600
32
THREE INDO-PERSIAN BOWS, 19TH CENTURY
29
AN INDIAN STEEL BOW, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
the short bow with reflexed design and welded steel nocks and grip riser, highly ornate, with visible pattern welding on the back and belly and decorative floral borders on the back of the bow
£600-800
the first with C-shaped reflexed limbs faced with floral painted horn on the belly, the back also covered in floral paintings, fitted with wide string bridges, wooden nocks and floral-painted grip; the second similar, with dotted designs on the back and no string bridges; the third with shorter ears (siyah), visible horn belly, and gold decoration on the back, longest bow 87.5 cm (3)
£250-350
33
THREE INDO-PERSIAN BOWS, 19TH CENTURY
the first with extremely reflexed limbs faced with a decorated gold belly, the back also painted with gold dotted design, with painted floral designs on the ears (siyah) and grip; the second similar, with red painted limbs; the third similar, with green paint bands around the handle and the nocks; the fourth similar, with flame patterns surrounding the back and belly of the bow, longest bow 49.0 cm (3)
£250-350
34
FOUR INDO-PERSIAN CRAB BOWS, 19TH CENTURY
the first with extremely reflexed limbs faced with a decorated gold belly, the back also painted with gold dotted design, with painted floral designs on the ears (siyah) and grip; the second similar, with red painted limbs; the third similar, with green paint bands around the handle and the nocks; the fourth similar, with flame patterns surrounding the back and belly of the bow, longest bow 49.0 cm (4)
£250-350
35
FOUR INDO-PERSIAN BOWS, 19TH CENTURY
the first with extremely reflexed red limbs, with painted floral designs; the second larger, with original dark paint and remains of bowstring; the third smaller, with longer siyah and original delicate gold floral designs on the back and belly of the bow; the fourth with intricate gold and black floral designs on back and belly (later glossy coat), longest bow 63.0 cm (4)
£250-350
TWELVE RARE INDIAN STEEL ARROWS, 17TH/19TH CENTURY
Of varying lengths, five with leaf-shaped arrowheads, two arrowheads with flared base, two with cutout designs inside the arrowhead, one large leaf-shaped arrow, one omega-shaped arrowhead, and two crescent-shaped arrowheads, one very large, all with notched nocks save the large crescent arrow with a rounded nock, longest arrow 77.0 cm long (12)
£300-500
37
SIX INDIAN ARROWS WITH LARGE ARROWHEADS, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
consisting of two crescent-shaped arrowheads on bamboo shafts, two dagger-shaped arrowheads with decorative punched designs on painted arrowshafts, and two leaf-shaped arrowheads with symmetrical hooks, on bamboo shafts with faint painted decoration, longest arrows 79.0 cm (6)
£200-300
A RARE INUIT CABLE-BACKED BOW, 19TH CENTURY
with rectangular profile, reflexed limbs consisting of spliced whalebone joined at the grip and ears using ferrous pins, backed with sinew cables wrapped around each nock and secured with further cables, a leather band at the grip and leather between the cables and the limbs, reinforcements at the joint between the ears and the limbs using ferrous sheet metal, a string-keeping hole bored in one nock, 111.0 cm
Another example of a cable-backed bow is preserved in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter (room 13, number 47). Dated to before 1826, this bow however is made with wood instead of bone. For a discussion of the various types of Inuit bow and drawings of further examples, see Murdoch 1890.
£1,200-1,500
39
TWO GLAZED DISPLAYS OF INUIT ARROWS
the first frame with seven arrows, made from cane with bone points including one serrated arrowhead, bound onto the shafts with thin string (one with contemporary nylon binding), with two flights on each arrow made from black untwisted feathers, all arrows with simple reed nocks (some replaced); the second similar, with seven arrows with grey flights, decorated shafts with red banding, and a variety of arrowheads including triple-pointed serrated heads and a blunt arrowhead, all also of bone, 83.0 cm long (2)
£300-400
AN UNUSUALLY LARGE ASYMMETRICAL SELF BOW, POSSIBLY FROM THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
of robust construction, circular in profile and made of thick wood, with some set in the limbs indicating use, tapering gradually towards one tip and sharply towards the other, with a large grip with twisting ladder designs bordered by a red and orange paint band on each end, with wear marks roughly one third of the way up the bow possibly from use, with later horn longbow nocks added to the end of the bow (string missing) length 253.0 cm
£50-150
41
FOUR BOWS FROM PAPUA NEW GUINEA, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first reputedly from Arawa and likely first half of 20th century, made of black palmwood and of substantial construction, with two notched lines running across the belly of the bow (rattan nocks and string missing); the second likely first half of the 20th century, made of black palm wood with a rattan string and nock reinforcements; the third similar without string and nock reinforcements; the fourth also similar, with small notches at both ends and one carved nock (length 212.0 cm) (4)
£50-100
42
SIXTEEN
SELF BOWS, VARIOUS LOCATIONS 19TH/20TH CENTURY
comprised of two paddle bows, with wide limbs narrowing to long pointed nocks with shallow notches (some damage to the nock ends and a notch in the grip) (length 141.0 cm); a round sapling bow with cracks throughout the length and an accompanying bowstring (length 192.0 cm); a bamboo bow with well-shaped nocks and seven dimples gouged into each limb on the belly of the bow (length 135.0cm); a wooden bow with rattan cane string and long pointed nocks (length 180.0 cm); a sapling bow constructed unusually with visible heartwood on the back of the bow and sapling stubs on the belly; with long nocks and a flat back (length 180.0 cm); a bamboo bow with knotted rattan bindings and painted limbs (length 160.0 cm); a saplingbow with asymmetric limbs and a hide string (length 145.0 cm); and eight bows made of black palmwood of various lengths, with carved nocks and rattan bindings and some with strings, the longest bow 192.0 cm (16)
£700-1,000
A LARGE QUANTITY OF ARROWS AND HARPOONS, 19TH CENTURY
with a large number of arrows from various cultures, including several long harpoons with wooden barbed arrowheads and black paint decorations; a highly unusual large arrow with six spiraling flights and a very large flat-bladed arrowhead, and various other arrows with bamboo or cane shafts with arrowheads made from various materials including wood and metal, longest arrow 138.0 cm (qty)
£200-300
44
ELEVEN VARIOUS QUIVERS, 19TH/20TH CENTURY
the first a contemporary bow quiver in Mongolian style, with embossed floral designs on a dotted background; the second a red arrow quiver, with tubular base that widens into a crescent design with gold thread borders; the third with gold embroidered designs on a leather quiver with precious stones on a belt; the fourth with green leather, with copper alloy decorative designs of a lion and double eagle on the base and opening; the fifth tubular, painted red with gold designs and containing a quantity of arrows with painted shafts and narrow flights; the sixth possibly African, made of leather with a knife sheath attached; the seventh tubular, with intricate wings made of leather; the eighth a blowpipe quiver, complete with cotton and blowpipe needles; the ninth covered in green and gold cloth, with numerous bamboo arrows; the tenth made of a bamboo tube with carvings of nature scenes and birds, the eleventh made of leather, with an hourglass design with painted arrows, longest quiver 68.0 cm (11)
£300-400
45
FOUR CONTEMPORARY COMPOSITE BOWS BY CSABA GRÓZER AND A FURTHER CONTEMPORARY BOW
the first a fine composite bow with accompanying bowstring, the belly with long strips of horn, the back covered in birch bark painted with fleur-de-lys designs, with long ears (siyah) reinforced with horn and bearing the makers mark; the second with a draw-weight of 40 pounds, backed with sinew and with horn belly and short siyah (without bowstring); the third similarly backed with sinew and with horn belly, with long red painted siyah and string bridges; the fourth made of fibreglass and wood, with accompanying bowstring, wrapped in red snakeskin and leather with long siyah reinforced with horn; the fifth of unknown make and made entirely of wood, with reinforced nocks and leather wrappings and accompanying bowstring, the longest bow 145.0 cm (5)
Csaba Grózer is a contemporary bowyer from Hungary who has been making composite bows since 1985 and is today one of the foremost makers of composite bows, using both traditional and modern methods. £300-400
46
A RARE SOUTH INDIAN PATALLAH, THE HILT 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY FOR ROYAL USE
with broad double-edged blade swelling to a ‘Cobra’s head’ tip, chiselled russet iron hilt with beadwork borders, formed with a pair of shaped langets extending over almost a third of the blade’s length on each side, the portion at the forte widening and formed with a pair of pierced and chiselled blade-catching lugs formed as elephants, dish-guard of low V-section, with a pair of crouching lions en suite with the lugs in the centre, up-turned cup-shaped pommel and integral grip (small holes, pitted), 89.0 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C18
The use of Lions or Tigers on the hilt are strongly suggestive of royal ownership as written in the Sinhala Vaijayanta. See Elgood 2004 pp. 113-114. A related sword is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum (rn.no. 1425-1855), see Rawson 1968, ill. 40.
£800-1,200
AN INDIAN SWORD (TALWAR), 17TH CENTURY
with curved single-edged blade, finely formed iron hilt comprising a pair of langets with pierced flaring terminals, slender quillons with flat swollen terminals pierced with a symmetrical design of foliage, outer guard formed of a pair of addorsed birds, lobated disc-shaped pommel, button formed as an inverted flowerhead, and integral grip (small brazed repairs, area of pitting), 78.7 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C85
The owner’s catalogue attributes this sword to the Chowmahalla Palace Armoury, Hyderabad.
£800-1,200
48
A RARE SOUTH INDIAN SWORD, 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY TAMIL NADU
with broad double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section, iron hilt comprising a pair of very long shaped langets extending over the lower portion of the blade with shaped engraved terminals and widening to a pair of short blade-catching arms at the forte, low V-shaped oval guard (edge chipped), integral grip, moulded cup-shaped pommel and tall moulded button (areas of pitting), 91.3 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C59
£500-800
49
A SOUTH INDIAN SWORD, 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY BIJAPUR, KARNATAKA
with broad tapering fullered blade double-edged towards the point, engraved with a brief inscription on each face, pierced and chiselled iron hilt comprising a pair of shaped langets, short robust quillons, figured-of-eight shaped guard, knuckle-guard, disc-shaped pommel, pronounced button, decorated throughout with scrolling foliage enclosing flowers all within beadwork borders, integral grip chiselled en suite (areas of pitting, small chips), in associated leather-covered wooden scabbard with iron chape, 101.0 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C107
£700-900
A RARE
SOUTH
INDIAN SWORD,
17TH/18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY MADURAI, TAMIL NADU
with tapering blade of flattened-diamond section, iron hilt extending over the forte with a pair of shaped and engraved langets with chiselled edges and foliate terminals, arched guard, a pair of tapering side bars (one with an early repair at the base) with bud-shaped terminals, outer guard of a recurved plate of inverted V-section with monster head finial, two arched bars joining the guard to the side-bars and a further arched bar at the top, each with pronounced pointed rivet heads, a pair of bulbous moulded grip-bars, and decorated throughout with sparse engraved ornament (rubbed) and a lotus flower on the guard, 86.3 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C108
Another sword of this type, from the Roy Elvis collection, was sold in this room, 7th December 2022, lot 12.
£800-1,000
52
A SOUTH INDIAN RAPIER WITH AGATE HILT, 17TH/18TH CENTURY
with tapering slender European blade stamped ‘IHN Solingen’ within a short fuller on each face, a very small shaped iron guard with a coronet-shaped ferule, and tapering faceted smokey agate grip fitted at the pommel with a shaped iron washer, 104.0 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C69
£500-700
AN INDIAN SWORD (TALWAR), 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
with curved single-edged blade, russet iron hilt decorated with gold damascened flowers and fruit within a foliate border front and back (small restorations), comprising a pair of shaped langets with pierced terminals, short bulbous quillons, discshaped pommel, and integral grip, 65.7 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C09
£600-800
54
A FINE INDIAN SWORD WITH KHYBER STYLE
BLADE AND SILVER TALWAR HILT, 19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY SHAHPURA, RAJASTHAN
with single-edged blade formed with a reinforced back-edge of T-sections and a sharp point, silver hilt formed of a pair of shaped langets, moulded quillons, disc-shaped pommel with up-turned brim, a low rectangular bracket carrying a silk tassel, moulded button on a foliate washer, and integral grip
decorated with a chevron design, in its original leather-covered wooden scabbard with small shaped silver chape, complete with its velvet and silver embroidered brocade belt with gilt copper alloy buckle and mounts, 61.5 cm blade
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C01
£800-1,000
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER (CHILANUM), 15TH/16TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY MADRAS
with curved double-edged stout blade formed with a series of long deep fullers divided by a medial ridge, widening at the forte and pierced on each side to form a pair of stylised bird’s heads, iron hilt comprising curved guard, bifurcated pommel, bud-shaped button, integral grip formed with a globular central moulding and some early silver decoration (now russet, areas of pitting), in a later fabric-covered wooden scabbard, 40.4 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D128
£500-700
56
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER (CHILANUM), 16TH/17TH CENTURY
with curved double-edged blade formed with a reinforced tip and a low medial ridge on each face, iron hilt comprising angular guard of tapering-triangular section, slender recurved knuckle-guard with bud-shaped terminal, bifurcated pommel with Yali head terminals, chiselled bud-shaped button, and integral grip chiselled with foliage and a writhen collar at the base (areas of pitting), in a later scabbard, 32.0 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D113
£500-700
57
AN INDIAN DAGGER (KATAR), 17TH CENTURY
with sharply tapering blade formed with a reinforced point and a pair of sharply tapering fullers divided by a slender medial ridge on each face, finely pierced iron hilt comprising a pair of low domed langets with lotus leaf terminals, arched guard, a pair of side bars with cusped terminals, and a pair of moulded grip-bars, decorated throughout with delicate leafy panels, the side bars each with a slender central foliate moulding (pitted), in an early leather-covered wooden scabbard (worn), probably the original, 43.5 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D76
£400-600
58
AN INDIAN DAGGER (KATAR), LATE 18TH CENTURY with sharply tapering double-edged blade formed with a medial ridge and a reinforced point, H-shaped iron hilt formed of a pair of wavy side-bars, a central moulding incorporating a flowerhead, a pair of robust bud-shaped terminals on each side, and decorated throughout with pierced beadwork borders, in an early fabric-covered wooden scabbard, 35.7 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D123
£300-400
59
A SOUTH INDIAN HATCHET (KATHIR ARUVAL), 17TH CENTURY
with robust hatchet blade inlaid with an engraved copper alloy panel along the back edge framed by punched ornament, the base incorporating a chiselled monsterhead, and tapering iron grip engraved with lines (pitted), 51.0 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number E05
£120-180
60
AN INDIAN DOUBLE DAGGER (BIDCHIR), 18TH CENTURY
formed of a pair of robust spirally-moulded iron prongs, each issuant from a chiselled and engraved copper alloy Yali head and joined at the centre in a spirally-carved jade grip with foliate bands at each end, 38.5 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D02
£700-900
61
AN INDIAN AXE HEAD (BULLOVA), 17TH CENTURY
of slightly recurved form with reinforced bud-shaped terminals, engraved with scrolls along the back-edge on each face, moulded socket attached by a pierced shaped bracket, and lotus bud-shaped terminal at the rear (pitted), 42.5 cm
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number E31
£150-200
62
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER (BICHWA), 17TH/18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY BIJAPUR, KARNATAKA with recurved double-edged blade formed with a reinforced tip, copper alloy hilt incorporating a pierced looped guard decorated with foliage, the knuckle-guard with the mounted figure of the goddess Shiva upon a peacock with a Yali head, the inner-guard decorated with a demon mask, and elaborate bud-shaped pommel, 28.8 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D103
£600-800
63
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER (BICHWA), 17TH/18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY THANJAVUR, TAMIL NADU with recurved double-edged blade, iron hilt with pierced outer guard decorated with a pair of peacocks and Nandi Bull with the seated figure of Shiva between, chiselled foliate pommel, and slender inner guard interrupted by a moulding en suite (some pitting), 27.2 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D100
£250-350
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER (KHANJAR), 17TH/18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY THANJAVUR, TAMIL NADU with recurved double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section, copper alloy hilt comprising a small flower-shaped guard, knuckle-guard interrupted by a pair of addorsed birds, and integral grip rising to a yali head, 29.7 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D119
£250-350
65
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER (KHANJAR), 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY MADURAI, TAMIL NADU with recurved blade of flattened-diamond section towards the point, formed with a pair of fullers over three-quarters of its length on each face, copper alloy hilt including a pair of langets formed as addorsed parrots, short quillons formed as a further parrot head, knuckle-guard with upper terminal en suite and the lower bud-shaped, integral grip rising to a parrot-shaped pommel with moulded button, and the eyes on the quillon, knuckle-guard and pommel all highlighted with silver (small losses), 39.0 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D70
£500-700
66
A SOUTH INDIAN KNUCKLE PUNCH (VAJRA-MUSHTI), 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY of shaped outline, with straight leading edge, a pair of robust short prongs, fitted with four rivets with engraved silver washers, 10.7 cm
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number K14
£150-200
A
SOUTH INDIAN HATCHET (AYDA KATTI), WITH ASSOCIATED MOUNTS AND BELT, COORG, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
with slightly curved broad blade widening towards the point and engraved with an eyelash design along the back-edge, the forte applied with an engraved copper alloy panel decorated with foliage and incorporating a scrolling lug on one side, stepped copper alloy ferrule, marine ivory grip inset with engraved coper alloy plaques, flattened pear-shaped horn pommel applied with copper alloy on each side decorated en suite, and a small loop for suspension; the mount of a characteristic openwork copper alloy frame with robust faceted central spike, basal ring pierced on each side and fitted with tooled leather belt with chain (incomplete), the hatchet: 55.1 cm overall (2)
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D111
A related hatchet is preserved in the Mysore Palace Armoury, see Talwar 1994, p. 19. Another was sold in this room, 7th December 2022, lot 47. £600-800
A SOUTH INDIAN DAGGER, EARLY 19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY KERALA
with single-edged blade formed with a groove along the back-edge on each face and a copper alloy line along the top, silver-inlaid copper alloy hilt decorated with scrolling foliage and flowers, in its silver-mounted moulded wooden scabbard with large silver locket decorated with filigree, complete with its accompanying bodkin decorated en suite, 22.5 cm the knife, overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D48
£250-350
69
A COORG DAGGER (PICHANGATTI), 19TH CENTURY
with hatchet blade formed with a clipped-back point and decorated with scrolls along the back-edge, silver hilt of characteristic form retained by four rivets with rounded heads, decorated with a geometric flowerhead on the back-strap, the pommel applied with three flowerhead washers, in its silver-mounted wooden scabbard, complete with its suspension chain and tassels with coral terminals and accompanying pieces, 29.5 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D40
£500-700
70
AN INDIAN SILVER-MOUNTED DAGGER, 19TH CENTURY
with broad single-edged blade, short iron ferrule, silver grip with asymmetrical beaked pommel, in its silver-bound wooden scabbard with moulded silver chape with bud-shaped terminal and locket with carrying ring, 24.2 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number D127
£150-200
A FINE INDIAN SPEARHEAD (VEL), 17TH/18TH CENTURY
with very broad head of flattened-diamond section towards the point, formed with a pair of slender grooves tapering to a single point over the lower portion on each face and flaring to a pair of sharp basal terminals, inlaid in copper alloy on one face with a rampant, perhaps Royal, lion, a lotus flower and a brief inscription on one face and a further leaf on the other, tapering socket (associated) with raised mouldings and coronet-shaped terminal, 67.2 cm
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number F34
£400-600
A SOUTH INDIAN SPEAR (VEL), 17TH/18TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY MYSORE, KARNATAKA
with broad straight tapering head formed with a pronounced medial ridge and a reinforced sharp point, flaring at the base to a pair of sharp lugs, associated tubular brass socket with three raised plain mouldings and a pierced top moulding with pierced and engraved brim, on a later wooden haft with iron shoe, 265.0 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number F40
£300-400
73
A SOUTH INDIAN HALBERD, PROBABLY 18TH CENTURY, MYSORE
with tapering terminal spike formed with a reinforced point, curved axe-blade of European form and re-curved rear blade each with a moulded base, tapering socket engraved with brief inscriptions and interrupted by a raised chiselled moulding, on its wooden haft with iron shoe, the head painted with a further white inventory number ‘118’, 218.2 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number F14
£250-350
74
AN INDIAN LANCE, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
with sharply tapering head formed with a reinforced point, openwork base formed of a pair of stylised tigers, tapering faceted socket rising to a monsterhead terminal, on an early painted wooden haft with associated iron shoe chiselled with raised spirally fluted mouldings and tapering spike, 345.0 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number F12
£250-350
A COMPOSITE INDIAN FULL ARMOUR, 17TH CENTURY
comprising helmet (coif), of heavy rings of D-section wire alternating with solid rings of near square-section wire, fitted at the top with a small iron rondel, a flap covering the faceopening, extending over the upper chest and the upper back, mail and lamellar shirt, open at the front, of dense mesh over the chest, extending to the thigh and with a pair of full length arms, fitted with two pairs of large plates each with four hasps for closure, and a pair of additional plates on each side, one plate with an inscription, back with three columns of downward-lapping scalloped and additional side plates, mail and lamellar arm-defence formed of seven rectangular plates, a moulded curved wrist-plate with an additional plate either side, extending over the hand, and full length trousers (small losses), complete with a rare pair of iron shoes, each drawn-out to a point at the tip: on a mannequin with glass base (the mail with small losses and restorations), 175.0 cm high
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number A34
£1,200-1,800
A RARE INDIAN MAIL AND PLATE HELMET (TOP), 17TH/18TH CENTURY
of small rivetted rings of near round section wire (small losses), fitted at the top with a later moulded finial, low domed base, two rows of overlapping scalloped plates beneath, a further row of rectangular plates, a pair of ear-defences each with scalloped edge and a central embossed D-shaped panel, long nasal bar with horn-shaped finial recurved at each terminal and with bud-shaped tip (probably associated), a triangular panel of downward lapping scalloped plates to cover the face, and short mail neck-defence, 48.5 cm high
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number A14
£700-1,000
77
AN INDIAN MAIL COIF, 18TH CENTURY
formed of small rings of riveted circular-section wire, fitted in the centre at the top with a low domed gilt-brass roundel chiselled with flowers and with bud-shaped terminal, extending over the neck, open at the face with a flap extending over the nose and pierced for the eyes (extensive rust, small holes), 41.5 cm
Provenance
David Jeffcoat (1945-2020), sold in this room 30th June 2021, lot 19
Roy Elvis Catalogue number A62
£250-350
A NORTH INDIAN LAQUERED SHIELD (DHAL), 19TH CENTURY, PERHAPS SIND of concave form curved outwards at the brim, lacquered over its entire surface, fitted with four large chiselled and engraved silver bosses each formed as a cluster of leaves rising to a flower head, a further crescentic plaque decorated en suite, the bosses corresponding with four robust rings for enarmes, and pierced with a pair of holes for display, 66.0 cm diameter
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number B03
£700-1,000
79
A NORTH INDIAN COPPER ALLOY SHIELD (DHAL), 19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY RAJASTHAN of shallow concave form curved outwards at the brim and reinforced with a cusped border, decorated over its surface with four embossed oval panels involving differing scenes of hunters and animals in combat, the remaining surface decorated with elaborate designs of flowers and foliage in high relief on a punched ground, and fitted with four lion mask bosses corresponding to rings for enarmes, 43.8 cm diameter
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number B01
£700-900
80
A SOUTH INDIAN COPPER ALLOY BUCKLER, 18TH/19TH CENTURY of concave rectangular form, reinforced bulbous corners, the outer surface chiselled with two frames each filled with a running pattern of diamonds, the edges with loops for jingles and the inside with a handle (one bracket chipped, small losses), 35.0 cm
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number L12
£80-100
81
AN INDIAN COPPER ALLOY POWDERFLASK, 19TH CENTURY
of stylised fish form, with moulded terminals, engraved over its surface with scrolling foliage, fitted with spring cut-off and a loop, with an early leather strap for suspension, 25.5 cm
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number I04
£350-450
82
AN INDIAN STEEL ARCHER’S RING, 18TH CENTURY with pierced scalloped edge and moulded base, 4.7 cm
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number G22
£100-150
83
A NORTH INDIAN ARROW PULLER, 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY BIKANER, RAJASTHAN
formed entirely of steel, swelling faceted head divided into four parts and with a sliding collar incorporating a hook to clamp an arrowhead, integral steel shaft with raised mouldings, and the base with a low domed moulding, 85.7 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number G24
£200-300
84
TWO SOUTH INDIAN ARROWS (TIR), 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY KERALA
the first with forked head and the second with tapering head of flattened-diamond section, each on its painted shaft decorated with traditional designs, 94.2 cm, the longer (2)
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number G07 (bis)
£120-180
85
A GROUP OF NINETEEN INDIAN ARROWS, 18TH/19TH CENTURY
comprising a whistling arrow with faceted spherical iron head pierced with three holes, six with short conical iron heads; six with triangular heads and five further arrows, each on its wooden haft and further arrows, with tapering cylindrical head and long iron tang, the longest: 81.2 cm (19)
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number G11
£150-200
AN 18 BORE NORTH INDIAN MATCHLOCK GUN, LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY, JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN
with tapering sighted barrel swelling at the muzzle and chiselled with elaborate designs of foliage on a punched ground over its entire length, retained by later leather bands, the breech punched with a number, probably for an arsenal, fitted with integral shaped pan (cover missing), action enclosed by a pair of large panels chiselled en suite with the barrel, the rear incorporating a pierced design of a large flowerhead, associated chain and pricker, shaped trigger chiselled with foliage, hardwood full stock, a separate carved dark hardwood panel about the tang, inset with chiselled iron plaques around the butt, two sling mounts, and iron ramrod, probably the original, 106.0 cm barrel
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number H14
£700-900
87
A 28 BORE NORTH INDIAN (SIND) MATCHLOCK RIFLE, EARLY 19TH CENTURY
with tapering etched twist sighted barrel of ‘hog’s back’ form, moulded at the muzzle and encrusted with gilt flowerheads, chiselled with gold encrusted cartouches and a band over the breech, and retained by five shaped and engraved gilt barrel bands (two associated), standing back-sight, integral pan with no provision for a cover, gilt tang, enclosed action with shaped serpentine with engraved terminal, pierced and chiselled trigger decorated with scrolling foliage and a flowerhead, full stock with characteristic ‘hooked’ butt, gilt copper alloy butt-plate and two sling swivels, and associated iron ramrod, 106.7 cm barrel
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number H02
The owner’s catalogue attributes this gun to the Armoury of the Raja of Bolpur, West Bengal. A related example was sold Sotheby’s 3rd April 1978, lot 98.
£1,000-1,500
A RARE 60 BORE INDIAN MATCHLOCK TURN-OFF PISTOL, 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
with cannon barrel moulded at the muzzle and engraved with pairs of lines, octagonal breech fitted with integral pan (later cover), integral action with pierced serpentine, pierced triggerguard decorated with a leaf, rounded half-stock, bulbous butt, with a ring for suspension, and associated pricker (later chain, ramrod missing), 25.5 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis Catalogue Number H08
£600-800
89
A JAPANESE CEREMONIAL SWORD (TACHI), EDO PERIOD (1603-1868)
with a folded steel blade with tempering pattern (hamon), a tang with a rectangular opening in the hilt and repairs using copper alloy, a ceremonial copper alloy handguard (kara tsuba), a singular pin (mekugi) through the handle, a matching copper alloy pommel (kabuto-gane) and handle ferrule (fuchi) with cloud designs, a lacquered scabbard (saya) with leaf-shaped patterning and two heart-shaped copper alloy fittings (some damage to the lacquer at the end of the scabbard), 64.0 cm blade
£1,000-1,500
90
A JAPANESE NAVAL OFFICERS SWORD (KAI GUNTO), SHOWA PERIOD (1930-1945), SIGNED NOSHU PROVINCE ISHIHARA KANENAO
with a showato style blade with tempering pattern (hamon) (some corrosion at the tip of the blade), an ovoid hand guard (tsuba) with an anchor in a cherry blossom (sakura) stamped on one side and the letters, ‘TEC’ on the other side, two suspension mounts (ashi) on the scabbard (saya), gilded copper alloy fittings on the scabbard and hilt, 64.0 cm blade
£600-800
A CHINESE COMPOSITE BOW, QING DYNASTY, 19TH/20TH CENTURY, PROBABLY FOR A TIBETAN CLIENT
with reflexed limbs, the belly painted black with red and gold borders, the back covered in birch bark painted with floral designs with red decorative border, the limbs fitted with string bridges, the long ears (siyah) reinforced with horn and the grip bordered in shagreen above and below, 95.0 cm
Provenance
Stephen Selby, founder of the Asian Traditional Archery Research Network (ATARN)
£400-600
92
A RARE CHINESE QUIVER (JEBELE), QING DYNASY, 19TH CENTURY
with hinged body of cloth and purple velvetcovered hide, the borders reinforced with stitched black leather, the front applied with pierced and chased gilt copper-alloy mounts including three large stylised shòu symbols and traditional flowers, and the inner portion with three folded pockets (areas of wear, small losses), 26.5 cm high
A quiver of related type is preserved in the Brooklyn Museum (acc. no. 34. 1386).
£700-900
A BURMESE SWORD (DAO), 19TH CENTURY
with curved single-edged blade formed with a rounded tip, copper alloy hilt comprising small disc guard and tall pommel each cast and pierced with traditional foliage inhabited by a dragon, and segmental grip bound with copper alloy wire, in its copper alloy mounted wooden scabbard decorated en suite with the hilt, including locket and chape with further dragons and a central rondel decorated with a bird, 59.3 cm blade
Provenance
Montague Waldegrave, 5th Baron Radstock (1867-1953), by descent
£300-500
94
A RARE SIAMESE (THAI) NIELLO AND SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CEREMONIAL SPEAR (NARAI HOK), AYUTTHAYA, 18TH CENTURY
with long tapering leaf-shaped blade of hollow-ground diamond-section, long three-stage iron collar chiselled at the top and bottom with broad leafy bands divided by lotus collars, the greater part of the surface enriched with silver foliage (rubbed), and fitted at the top with a chiselled foliate diamond-shaped collar, on a portion of a later haft, 65.5 cm
£600-800
95
AN INDIAN SWORD WITH ENAMELLED SILVER MOUNTS (SHAMSHIR), MID19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY LUCKNOW
with curved single-edged watered steel blade, silver hilt cast in low relief, comprising a pair of langets with pierced terminals, quillons with monsterhead terminals, integral grip and pommel en suite with the quillon terminals, decorated throughout in polychrome enamels with an elaborate designs of foliage (small losses, restorations), in its red velvet-covered wooden scabbard (worn) with large silver chape (tip damaged) and two suspension bands each decorated in polychrome enamel en suite with the hilt, 77.0 cm blade
During the latter part of the 18th Century Lucknow was famous for its basse taille enamel, a tradition that was revived in the mid-19th century when a number of arms decorated in this manner were included in the Great Exhibition in London. See Missillier and Ricketts 1988, p. 132.
£1,500-2,000
96
AN INDIAN DECORATED SWORD WITH BLADE BY WILKINSON, PALL MALL, LONDON, NO. 9240 FOR 1858
with Victorian etched blade of regulation type, decorated with the crowned imperial cypher ‘VRI’ and foliage on each face, white metal hilt cast and chased with foliage against a punched ground over the greater part of its surface, comprising a pair of quillons, integral grip and rounded pommel, in a velvet-covered wooden scabbard with large white metal mounts decorated with bold designs of scrolls and foliage, with two rings for suspension, 78.2 cm blade
£500-700
97
AN INDIAN SWORD (TALWAR), LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY
with associated curved broad kilig style blade formed with a reinforced back-edge and double-edged towards the tip, iron hilt of characteristic form, comprising shaped langets, a pair of quillons with lobated terminals, recurved knuckle-guard with terminal en suite, large disc pommel, near conical button (repaired), and integral grip, in an early leathercovered wooden scabbard, perhaps the original, with large steel chape (small losses and repairs), 69.8 cm blade
£500-700
A SOUTH INDIAN SPEARHEAD, 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY KARNATAKA
with robust tapering pyramidal spike chiselled with slender leaf-shaped recesses and foliage at the base, and tubular socket with raised mouldings chiselled with scrolling foliage and beadwork, and pronounced basal flange (pitted), 54.8 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis (1944-2022)
£600-800
99
A SOUTH INDIAN LANCE BUTT (BARSHA BALAM), 17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY
MYSORE, KARNATAKA
with tapering spike, two pronounced fluted onion-shaped basal mouldings, wide beaded flange, and some early silver-plated finish, on a portion of its wooden haft, 55.0 cm overall
Provenance
Roy Elvis (1944-2022)
£250-350
100
AN OTTOMAN SWORD (KILIG), TURKEY, MID-19TH CENTURY with broad curved blade double-edged towards the point and reinforced along the back-edge, decorated with silver scrollwork on each face, copper alloy hilt comprising quillons with faceted bud-shaped quillons, plain back-strap, and the grips fitted with a pair of horn grip-scales retained by two pairs of rivets, and pierced bulbous pommel, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with large copper alloy mounts comprising chape, locket and middle band with two rings for suspension, 66.8 cm blade
£700-900
101
AN OTTOMAN SWORD (KILIG), TURKEY, MID-19TH CENTURY with broad curved blade double-edged towards the point and reinforced along the back-edge, with traces of decoration including a six-point star and a panel of foliage, copper alloy hilt comprising quillons with faceted bud-shaped quillons, plain back-strap, and the grips fitted with a pair of horn grip-scales retained by two pairs of rivets, and pierced bulbous pommel (applied pommel washers missing), in associated leather-covered wooden scabbard with large copper alloy mounts comprising chape (split, leather restored), locket and middle band with two rings for suspension, 64.8 cm blade
£400-600
102
A PERSIAN SWORD (SHAMSHIR), 17TH/18TH CENTURY
with curved single-edged blade with a calligraphic cartouche, iron hilt comprising cross-guard decorated with silver koftgari scrollwork (rubbed), back-strap and cap pommel en suite, and horn grip inset with soft metal geometric shapes, in its leathercovered wooden scabbard with large iron mounts decorated with silver koftgari en suite with the hilt, 86.2 cm blade
£700-900
103
A PERSIAN SWORD (SHAMSHIR), 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
with curved single-edged blade (small chips, a portion of the edge at the tip ground), iron hilt comprising cross-guard with straight quillons with button-shaped terminals, cap pommel, and marine ivory grip-scales (repaired), in its tooled leathercovered wooden scabbard, probably the original, with iron mounts (chape missing), 75.0 cm blade
£400-600
104
AN
ARAB DAGGER (JAMBIYA), KUTCH, LATE 19TH CENTURY
with curved medially-ridged double-edged blade, copper alloy hilt of characteristic form, chased with panels of flowers and foliage against a punched ground, the grip interrupted with a pronounced moulding, in its wooden scabbard with red velvet covering and large gilt copper locket and chape en suite with the hilt, 28.0 cm overall
£400-500
105
A
NORTH AFRICAN DAGGER (BEDJA), SUDAN, LATE 19TH CENTURY, WITH INSCRIPTION TO TEL-EL-KEBIR
with broad double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section formed with a hooked point, strongly formed anthropomorphic hilt carved with decorative flutes and notches, in its stitched leather scabbard and complete with broad tooled leather belt, fitted with a silver shield-shaped escutcheon inscribed ‘Dagger, picked up after the Battle of Tel-El-Kebir’, 26.0 cm blade
Daggers of this form were carried by the nomadic Hadendoa people, a subdivision of the Beja people, who inhabit the deserts of southeastern Egypt to eastern Sudan and northwestern Eritrea.
£250-350
A RARE INDIAN PART HORSE ARMOUR OF HARDENED HIDE, 17TH/18TH CENTURY including flank pieces shaped for the saddle and extending over the rump and five further panels, all constructed of very narrow imbricated strips of hide with invected edges and retained by stitching, with soft leather borders and a portion of an early fabric lining (patches of wear, staining, small losses) For a complete horse armour of this type see Ricketts and Missillier, 1988 cat. no.141. £800-1,000
107
A RARE INDIAN SHAFFRON OF HARDENED HIDE, 17TH/18TH CENTURY
formed of a main plate and two large cheek-pieces, all constructed of very narrow imbricated strips of hide with invected edges and retained by stitching, with its fabric lining (holes) and soft leather borders (patches of wear, staining, small losses), 57.0 cm
For a complete horse armour of this type see Ricketts and Missillier, 1988 cat. no.141.
£350-450
108
A RARE INDIAN SHAFFRON OF HARDENED HIDE, 17TH/18TH CENTURY
formed of a main plate and two large cheek-pieces, all constructed of very narrow imbricated strips of hide with invected edges and retained by stitching, with a its fabric lining (holes) and soft leather borders (patches of wear, staining, one edge missing, small losses), 52.0 cm
For a complete horse armour of this type see Ricketts and Missillier, 1988 cat. no.141.
£300-400
109
AN INDIAN HIDE SHIELD (DHAL), 19TH CENTURY, SIGNED BHAGUAN KHOOSALOA, AHMEDABAD
of concave form curved outwards at the brim, the outer surface lacquered and decorated with a band of foliage, fitted with four large engraved copper alloy bosses with foliate brims around a central panel en suite with the brim, the interior painted red, with a small pad, three rings for enarmes (the fourth missing), inscribed ‘Bhaguan Khoosaloa, shield maker, Ahmedabad’ and applied with two labels including ‘Circle 3, Bombay and Sind no. 923’, 38.3 cm diameter
£1,200-1,800
110
AN INDIAN DECORATED SHIELD (DHAL), 19TH CENTURY
of low convex form, decorated over the its outer surface with a central rondel chiselled with triangular panels of flowers and foliage divided by a sixteen point gilt star centring on a gilt mask, enclosed by calligraphic panels retaining traces of silver, the interior with an early reed lining and four small rings mounts for enarmes, 46.0 cm diameter
The inscriptions are Persian verses.
£600-800
A FINE PERSIAN DECORATED HELMET (KULAH KHUD), QAJAR, 19TH CENTURY
with hemispherical crucible steel skull, decorated with delicate scrolling tendrils enclosing four calligraphic panels, the base encircled by a linear framework filled with four further calligraphic panels, two vacant panels and cartouches filled with exotic beasts, fit ted at the apex with a tall hollowpyramidal spike, at the front with a sliding nasal bar retained by a rectangular bracket and thumb -screw, and a pair of tubular plume-holders, fitted with patterned mail neck-defence of butted links of circular section iron and copper wire (small losses, areas of wear and light rust), with an early padded liner, 27.0 cm high (excluding mail)
The inscriptions read ‘The Sultan Shah ‘Abbas’’, ’The Sultan Fath-‘Ali Shah’, ‘amal-i haji 1112’ (The work of Haji 1700-1) and ‘sahib husayn kalb’ali’ (The owner is Husayn (son of?) Kalb-‘Ali). The cartouches around the base are Persian verses in praise of the helmet.
£1,200-1,800
A 20 BORE OTTOMAN LONG FLINTLOCK HOLSTER (KUBUR) PISTOL, BALKANS, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
with decorated russet iron barrel formed in two stages, the muzzle retained by a chased silver band, octagonal breech, the barrel decorated over its length with gold koftgari scrollwork involving a stylised Tughra over the forward section, tang with a gold trellis design, lock en suite with the barrel, full stock carved with foliage over the fore-end, applied with two silver plaques over the spine of the butt decorated en suite with the muzzle band, the grip bound with plaited wire, iron mounts comprising spurred pommel decorated with foliage, openwork foliate side-plate, trigger-guard with acanthus finial, and simulated ramrod, 47.8 cm overall
£800-1,000
EUROPEAN ARMS AND ARMOUR
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF CHARLES SOMERS COCKS, 3RD EARL SOMERS (1819-83), EASTNOR CASTLE, THENCE BY DESCENT
A RARE AUSTRIAN PAVISE, KLAUSEN, SECOND HALF OF THE 15TH CENTURY
of rectangular form, with wooden core and a tapering central gutter rising to a for ward-curved beak at the top, the inner surface faced with natural boar skin, fitted with a horizontal iron bar at the top, three rectangular iron staples and nails for attaching enarmes, the outer face applied with gessoed canvas painted with polychrome decorated with the Austrian Bindenschild superimposed with scrolling foliage, and the upper portion with a shield charged with a six-point mullet on a black ground on the left and the cross of the League of St George on the right (the paint with small losses and crackling , very small areas of light worm damage, an early repair on the left, some early repainting), 177.5 cm high Provenance
The Town Arsenal, Klausen, Tyrol Charles Somers Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (1819-83), Eastnor Castle, thence by descent Exhibited
Midland Art Treasures, Birmingham Art Gallery 1910 Literature
Lady Henry Somerset, Eastnor Castle, London 1889, p. 22: ‘The Archers Shield should be particularly noticed; a pole passed through the rings was fixed in the ground, and the archer shot from behind the shield….[dates] from the Wars of the Roses, and the heraldic bearings of [the owner is] painted on’ During the spring of 1871, fifty-two large and seven smaller pavises were reported, along with around six hundred arrows, in one of the four cit y towers of Klausen, then in the Austrian Tyrol. The tower in which they were found is first recorded in 1406 and as an armoury around 1485. The sale of this group was organised by Johann Haupt, a city councillor, through the Bozen (Bolzano) art dealer Alois Überbacher (1832-1897) to the Munich antiquarian Josef Ferdinand Spengel (died 1904).
An inventory of the town of Klausen from the end of the 15th century, which is no longer extant, records a number (either fifteen or fifty) large shields and eighteen small shields. The shields are decorated with three variations of the arms shown on the present shield, which have been variously attributed, without basis, to Klausen, Waldeck, the Lordship of Sternberg, the Swabian Society of St. George, and the Knights of the Golden Spur. Their use has been attributed to the mercenaries Duke Sigismund brought to Klausen during the third quar ter of the 15th Century, the Swabian League and also a contingent equipped by Emperor Maximilian I. See Profanter 2019 pp. 275 - 302 and Kaiser, Emmerich and Profanter 2019, pp. 303-325.
£25,000-30,000
(reverse)
114
A FINE AND VERY RARE ITALIAN SHORTSWORD (CINQUEDEA), CIRCA 1500 with broad tapering blade formed in three sections, the uppermost with two tapering fullers, the median with an additional slender central fuller and the base with four, struck with a mark on each face, etched and gilt with a central panel of foliage in the middle on each face, two differing scenes involving figures in classical dress, perhaps from the life of Mercury, and with much early gilding, iron hilt, comprising strongly arched quillons engraved with foliage and mythical beasts (rubbed), a pair of écusson, shaped tang enclosed by gilt copper alloy panels cast and chased with the inscriptions ‘Avdaces fortunaivat’ (fortune favours the bold) and ‘Auxilium a Supera’ (help from on high) pommel enclosed by a gilt copper alloy horseshoe shaped plaque (slightly loose, the button now flush) decorated with putti on either side and foliage on each face, a pair of large ivory grip scales (small age cracks, perhaps an early replacement), four pierced gilt copper alloy gothic tracery rondels, in a later maroon velvet-covered wooden scabbard with engraved giltcopper mounts comprising locket and chape, 68.5 cm overall
Provenance
Charles Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (1819-83), Eastnor Castle, thence by descent
Literature
Lady Henry Somerset, Eastnor Castle, London 1889, p. 20: ‘An Italian dagger with broad fluted blade, chased with figures, and partly gilt, with ivory handle, in velvet sheath, mounted with engraved metal gilt’
Sir Guy Francis Laking Bart., C. B., M.V.O., F.S.A, A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries, London, 1922, volume III, page 73 (the cinquedea ‘among other well-known examples of the cinquedea in England we may mention one to be seen at Eastnor Castle…..still retaining its cuir bouilli sheath).
The reference to a cuir boulli sheath is probably erroneous as the earlier record states the scabbard is velvet, as offered here.
The form and decoration of the blade and hilt are closely comparable to the Cinquedea at tributed to the ownership of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Signore di Bologna, Bologna (MC334). See Boccia and Coelho 1975, p. 350, no. 201-202. A cinquedea struck with the same bladesmith’s mark is preserved in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, see Dufty 1974, p. 18, plates 19c and 20b.
£30,000-40,000
(reverse, with scabbard)
115
A FRENCH ‘MODEL 1679’ SWORD
with broad double-edged blade with running wolf mark, and stamped ‘Me Fecit Salingen’ between a series of decorative marks within a short fuller on each face, struck with a bladesmith’s mark, the letter ‘P’ crowned and with Amsterdam town mark at the forte, iron hilt of flattened rounded bars, comprising scrolling quillon struck with a mark on the reverse, symmetrical inner and outer guard each fitted with a sprung-in plate pierced with minute stars and circles, knuckle-guard, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and the grip with an early plaited wire binding between ‘Turk’s heads’, 92.2 cm blade
Provenance
Charles Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (1819-83), Eastnor Castle, thence by descent
See Aries VII, 1968.
£1,000-1,500
116
A FRENCH ‘MODEL 1679’ SWORD
with broad double-edged blade with running wolf mark, and stamped ‘Sahagum’ between a series of decorative marks within a short fuller on each face, struck with a bladesmith’s mark (partly concealed by the hilt) and with Amsterdam town mark at the forte, iron hilt of flattened rounded bars, comprising scrolling quillon, symmetrical inner and outer guard each fitted with a sprung-in plate pierced with minute stars and circles, knuckle-guard, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and the grip with a later plaited wire binding between ‘Turk’s heads’, 90.5 cm blade
Provenance
Charles Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (1819-83), Eastnor Castle, thence by descent
See Aries VII, 1968.
£700-1,000
A FINE AND IMPORTANT NORTH ITALIAN ENGRAVED THREE-QUARTER CUIRASSIER ARMOUR, CIRCA 1620-30, PROBABLY BRESCIA comprising Zischagge with one-piece skull rising to a low comb of inverted V-section, fitted at its nape with a plume-holder and at its apex with a bulbous finial on a large quatrefoil washer, projecting forward at the brow to an obtusely-pointed peak with a rectangular staple above it carrying a nasal with elaborately shaped finial and secured b thumb-screw, and fitted at its rear with a pronounced flared neck-guard of four lames, the lowest of pointed ogee profile (disarticulated at right end), and at each side with a twopiece pendant cheek-piece, fitted at its centre with a domed rivet enclosed by eight radiating rectangular slots within a frame of circular ventilation-holes and stepped at the front top to accommodate the peak; collar of a single plate front and rear, fastened at the right by a stud and key-hole slot; heavy breastplate formed in one piece with a low medial ridge, struck with the proof mark of a bullet at the right of the chest, fitted at each side with a stud to receive a shoulder-strap and a further stud at its centre, a pierced stud at each side to receive a swivel-hook from the back-plate, flanged outward at its base to receive a pair of tassets each of fifteen lames divisible at the eighth; poleyns of four lames the second in each case fitted with a large centrally-puckered wing; backplate matching the breastplate, struck with the proof mark of a bullet, fitted at each shoulder with a leather strap reinforced with four iron scales, at the base with a hook at each side to engage the breastplate, and at its base with a broad culet of seven lames; a pair of full arm-defences comprising a pair of symmetrical pauldrons each of seven lames overlapping outwards from the third, connected by a turner to a pair of vambraces each formed of a tubular upper and lower cannon linked by a couter of four lames with a centrally puckered oval wing at the front, and enclosed at the inside of the elbow by ten lames overlapping inwards from the sixth, the lower cannon fastened at the front by a sprung stud; a pair of gauntlets each with a flared cuff closed at the inside, ar ticulated by a wrist-plate to three metacarpal plates, a shaped knuckle-plate, a hinged thumb-defence and finger-lames (with small restorations); the principle borders of the armour formed with plain inward-turned edges, those of the base of the cullet roped, the whole decorated throughout with engraved trophies-of-arms within elaborate strapwork frames filled with pointié foliage, the turners and gauntlets each with trophies incorporating cannon and artillery tools, a running border of flowers at the principle edges, the secondary borders with a frieze-work of blind arcading, the breastplate with a Patriarchal Cross in the centre at the neck; the inside of the skull and the backplate painted with a white inventory number ‘45’, in clean, stable condition throughout (the bottom edge of the left poleyn with light pitting and small chips, the decoration of the culet with areas of wear, minor disarticulations, expertly releathered, some buckles restored): on a wooden stand with leather boots
Provenance
Perhaps one of the group of armours purchased by Lord Somers in 1853, stated (incorrectly) to be of Emperor Charles V’s bodyguard and preserved in Milan for many years.
Charles Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (1819-83), Eastnor Castle, thence by descent
Literature
Lady Henry Somerset, Eastnor Castle, London 1889, p. 22: ‘A three-quarter suit of Plate Armour, engraved with trophies of arms and fleur-de-lys’.
A helmet of very similar form, decorated in the same style, is preserved in the former collection of the Dukes of Este at Konopiště, Czech Republic (inv. no. I.c.D-114, and illustrated Šáda 1986, p. 37, no. 18.t.)
The specific inclusion of cannon and artillery tools such as ladles and sponges on the turners and gauntlets may suggest that this was intended for a senior officer of artillery.
The Patriarchal Cross, also called the Cross of Lorraine, is probably a reference to the venerated relic of the True Cross in the cathedral at Brescia that is housed within a cross of the same form. Two morions of circa 1570-80, decorated with a similar cross along with the rampant lion of Brescia and attributed to the that town’s guard are respectively preser ved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 14.25.532) and the Museo Civico L. Marzoli, Brescia (inv. no. 330). See Rossi and Di Carpegna 1969, p. 55 cat. no. 120. Another armour of this type, formerly in the collection of Tosio Martinengo, and now in the Museo Civico L. Marzoli, Brescia, is illustrated Rossi, p. 77, cat. No B67. The armour in Brescia has a close helmet in place of Zischagge, a matching stud in the centre of the chest, divisible tassets, enclosed elbows, and similar decoration throughout including the rampant lion of Brescia on the breastplate. A cuirass decorated in a similar manner and attributed to the ownership of one of the Counts Martinengo, is preserved in the Armeria Reale, Turin. See Boccia and Coelho, p. 526, nos. 445, 446 and 448. A slightly later cuirass in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. 57781859), is decorated in a related manner, with the conjoined initials ‘AM’, and a Count’s coronet above a Patriarchal Cross and Orb in the centre. The initials are similar to those on the ricasso of a left-hand dagger at tributed to Pietro Antonio Martinengo, Count of Brescia (recorded 1644-1671), now preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago (ref. no. 1982.2150).
£25,000-35,000
A FINE AND WELL MATCHED COMPOSITE NORTH ITALIAN THREE-QUARTER ARMOUR WITH ETCHED DECORATION, CIRCA 1590
comprising close helmet with rounded one-piece skull rising to a high roped medial comb (pierced at its apex for attachment of a plume, and showing a small patched repair) pierced with nine holes in rosette-formation at each side at the base, fitted at its nape with plume-holder, visor, upper bevor and lower bevor attached to it by common fluted pivots, the visor sloping forward to a centrally-divided vision-slit (lacking lifting-peg), the prow-shaped upper bevor pierced at its right with nine ventilation-holes and secured to the lower bevor at the same side by a pierced stud and swivel-hook (the latter replaced), and three gorget-plates front and rear (the lowest front lame cracked through and repaired); collar formed of a single deep plate front and rear, each struck with a small octopus-like mark and secured at the right by a stud and key-hole slot (small chips on the left); breastplate formed of a main plate of deep ‘peascod’ fashion, embossed with a pair of adorsed volutes beneath the neck-opening, fitted at its arm-openings with originally movable gussets, pierced with two holes at its right for a lance-rest, and flanged outwards at its lower edge to receive a fauld of one lame, fitted at each side with three straps supporting a pendent tasset of six lames (the fifth at the left with a small chip); one-piece backplate formed at its lower edge with a short biliobate flange, fitted at either side of the neck with a buckle (replaced) for a shoulder strap and at its waist with a belt (replaced); two pauldrons of asymmetrical design (not a pair), each embossed front and rear with a volute and formed of seven and eight lames respectively; vambraces of fully articulated tubular design, each fitted at its upper end with a turner of two lames, and at its elbow with a winged bracelet couter of three lames; t wo gauntlets (not a pair) each formed of a flared and pointed tubular cuff closed at the inside of the wrist by an overlapped join, four and five metacarpal-plates respectively, a knuckleplate, the left decorated with a roped transverse rib, (thumb-and finger-scales missing); upper leg-defences each formed of a cuisse with a short gutter-shaped main plate fitted at its lower edge with a poleyn of four lames of which the second is formed at its outside with a large medially-puckered oval side-wing; the main edges of the armour formed with file-roped inward turns and recessed borders accompanied by narrow bands of cabling, and its sur faces decorated with etched designs including classical portrait rondels on the volutes of the breastplate, backplate and pauldrons, the latter each accompanied by a large cartouche front and back enclosing scenes from the Labours of Hercules , bands and borders of ornament consisting of trophies of arms within ropework borders all on a blackened and stippled ground and enclosed between narrower bands of guilloche, a number of secondary borders with slender frames of beadwork, and the principle elements painted with the early inventory number ‘29’ (small areas of pitting, the cuisses attached by rivets to the tassets, releathered)
Stand not included
Provenance
One of the group of armours purchased by Lord Somers in 1853, stated (incorrectly) to be of Emperor Charles V’s bodyguard and preser ved in Milan for many years.
Charles Somers Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (1819-83), Eastnor Castle, thence by descent
Literature
Lady Henry Somerset, Eastnor Castle, London 1889, p. 21: ‘On stands round the Hall are ranged thir ty-three three-quarter suits of plate armour, each consisting of helmet, back and breast plates, lobster cuisses and knee-pieces, pauldrons, arm-pieces and gauntlets. This was the armour of the body-guard of the Emperor Charles V, and was preserved in Milan for many years, where it was purchased by Lord Somers in the year 1853.’
This armour would have been intended for use without greaves. The decoration is very well matched throughout, perhaps assembled from two, or a small number of armours from a series.
A further pair of cuisses from this series are preserved in the Wallace Collection (inv. no. A293 & A294).
£20,000-30,000
119
A VERY FINE MEDIEVAL SWORD,
CIRCA 1420-60
with markedly tapering straight double-edged blade of flattened diamond-section with shallow concave faces and a sturdy acute point (Oakeshott type VIII), struck on each face with a maker’s mark (one filled edge nick towards the forte), iron hilt comprising a pair of quillons of flattened-diamond section, swelling at the centre to form an écusson and tapering towards their downturned terminals, large wheel-shaped pommel (Oakeshott type J), recessed on each face with a circular panel centring around a small dimple, low pyramidal button with squared off top, plain tapering tang, and in characteristic excavated black-patinated stable condition throughout, 73.0 cm blade, 90.4 cm overall
Provenance
Christie’s London, 8th July 1980, lot 37
An Important English Private Collection Literature
Oakeshott, Ewart, A River-Find of 15th Century Swords, in, Stuber, Karl and Wetter, Hans, Blankwaffen, 1982, pp. 17-32, sword no. 4. Oakeshott, Ewart, Further Notes on a River-Find of 15th Century Swords, in, The First Park Lane Arms Fair, 1984, pp. 7-12, illustrated pp. 7-8.
Oakeshott, Ewart, Records of the Medieval Sword, 1991, p. 134, sword no. XV8.
Oakeshott Ewart, The Swords of Castillon, in, The Tenth Park Lane Arms Fair, 1993, pp. 7-16, illustrated p. 10, no. B Thomas, Clive, Additional Notes on the Swords of Castillon, in, The Park Lane Arms Fair, 2012, pp. 40-63, illustrated p. 47.
This very well formed and remarkably well preserved sword has been described as ‘one of the finest and.....the most handsome’ (Oakeshott 1984, op.cit.) found near the site of the last battle of the 100 Years War. Fought near Castillon in Gascony in 1453, the battle was won decisively by the French, who used cannon for the first time with devastating effect against the English. The latter included a task force that had been specially raised and equipped in England by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who was at that point in his 70s. Some years earlier the Earl had been released, on condition that he never again don armour, which he did and was killed by a ball at that battle. In Monstrelet’s account written shortly afterwards he wrote that a number of English escaped across the River Dordogne, where the group to which this sword belongs was found later on: ‘those who could not enter the town fled by land or water, but in regard to the last, they were mostly all drowned…’
£12,000-18,000 (reverse)
A VERY FINE MEDIEVAL SWORD, CIRCA 1420-60 with markedly tapering straight double-edged blade of stout flattened diamond-section with a sturdy acute point (one filled edge nick), inlaid in latten with three marks including the “running wolf” of Passau and a Bishop’s crook, iron hilt comprising a pair of quillons of circular section, swelling at the centre to form an écusson and with bud-shaped terminals retaining some incised ornament, pommel of so-called ‘fishtail’ form decorated with a pronounced ‘V’ at the upper end of each face, expertly restored grip bound with cord, and in characteristic excavated black-patinated stable condition throughout, 92.3 cm blade, 110.9 cm overall
Provenance
Christie’s London, 29th October 1980, lot 50
An Important English Private Collection
Literature
Oakeshott, Ewart, A River-Find of 15th Century Swords, in, Stuber, Karl and Wetter, Hans, Blankwaffen, 1982, pp. 17-32, sword no. 10. Oakeshott, Ewart, Further Notes on a River-Find of 15th Century Swords, in, The First Park Lane Arms Fair, 1984, pp. 7-12, illustrated p. 9. Oakeshott, Ewart, Sword in Hand – A Brief Survey of the Knightly Sword, 2000, fig. 13.
Thomas, Clive, Additional Notes on the Swords of Castillon, in, The Park Lane Arms Fair, 2012, pp. 40-63, illustrated p. 51.
This well-formed sword is from the so-called ‘group B’ of swords found near the site of the last battle of the 100 Years War, fought near Castillon in Gascony in 1453. This group is characterised by so-called ‘fishtail’ or ‘scent stopper’ pommels of which the present sword is a notably good example surviving in good condition.
£8,000-12,000
A FINE SPANISH RAPIER, LATE 16TH CENTURY
with tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, formed with a short fuller on each face at the forte, rectangular ricasso formed with a continuation of the fuller and struck with the mark of Domingo Rodriguez of Toledo on each face, iron hilt of slender rounded bars, comprising a [pair of long straight quillons with moulded bud-shaped terminals, outer ring-guard interrupted in the centre by a long down-curled bar en suite with the quillons and an additional curling bar either side, each interrupted by a further baluster moulding and joining the lower ring-guard at the base, trifurcated inner guard, a pair of arms, tall near conical pommel, and moulded grip, probably early, of plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’ (areas of light pitting), 110.4 cm blade
Provenance
John Claypole, Gloucester
An Important English Private Collection
Literature
Eric Valentine, Rapiers: An Illustrated reference Guide to the Rapiers of the 16th and 17th Centuries and their Companions, 1968, p. 21, no. 9.
A sword with a hilt of related form is preserved in the Royal Armoury, Madrid (G54).
£4,000-6,000
A FINE GERMAN (SAXON) RAPIER, CIRCA 1580-1600 with slender tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, struck with the sacred trigram ‘IHS’ enclosed by a series of decorative marks within a short fuller on each face at the forte, border-engraved tapering ricasso enclosed by a blackened rain-cover with roped edge, blackened iron hilt (the colour refreshed in places), comprising a pair of slightly drooping quillons of hollow-triangular section broadening towards their pointed tips and each engraved with a pair of chevrons on the front, outer ring-guard en suite and fitted with a flat plate pierced with four heart-shaped apertures, diagonal inner-guard formed of a broad plate joined to the quillon-block by a heart-shaped thumb-loop, large faceted plummet-shaped pommel engraved with pairs of lines, and fishskin-covered grip, perhaps early, bound with slender iron bars between shaped collars, 105.38 cm blade
Provenance
An Important English Private Collection Literature
The Fourth Park Lane Arms Fair, 1987, p. 6.
This form of hilt is recorded from the second quarter of the 16th century and remained popular at the somewhat conservative Dresden court until the early 17th century. Other swords of this type are preserved in the former Electoral Armoury Dresden. Five further swords from this group are listed in the Princes Schwarzburg Armour inventory of 1708, and a near identical example in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.M.461947). See Hilbert 1998, p. 69; Norman 1980, pp. 75-76; Henkel and Kessler 2017, p. 160 and Hayward 1963, no.3c.
£8,000-10,000
A
FINE AND RARE SCOTTISH BROADSWORD WITH SIGNED BASKET-HILT BY JOHN SIMPSON, GLASGOW, CIRCA 1700-10
with broad tapering double-edged blade struck with three ‘King’s head’ marks between two short slender fullers framed by lines on each face (rubbed), boldly formed iron basket-hilt of strongly fluted bars, comprising scrolling quillon stamped on its underside ‘I.S’ and ‘G’, the latter over a saltire, a tall slender panel with delicately cusped border pierced with hearts and trefoils above an openwork ram’s horn moulding at the front, back and knuckle-guard, two square panels decorated en suite and each carried by a saltire, a pair of looped bars at the front, fluted bun-shaped moulding enriched with punched circles, the principle bars and panels with delicate filed lines and punched rondels (small cracks on two panels), early fish-skin-covered grip with a spiral binding of silver ribband between shaped silver collars, and an early leather liner 82.8 cm blade
Provenance
An Important English Private Collection Literature
Tony Willis, Notes on the dating of early Glasgow Style Scottish BasketHilted Swords, in The Park Lane Arms Fair 2015, pp. 103-117
See Willis, op. cit., for a discussion of this specific group of hilts, their dates and attributions to specific members of the Simpson family. For related hilts, sold in this room, see 7th December 2011, lot 157 and 7th December 2022, lot 218.
£8,000-10,000
A FINE AND RARE HIGHLAND BACKSWORD WITH SIGNED BASKET-HILT BY WALTER ALLAN, STIRLING, CIRCA 1735-40
with tapering blade double-edged towards the tip, struck Andria Farara between a series of decorative marks within a long slender fuller on each face (small areas of pitting), iron basket-hilt of rounded bars, comprising scrolling quillon stamped on its underside ‘W.A’ over ‘S’, a tall slender panel with delicately cusped borders and fluted surface emphasised by thin lines at the front, back and knuckle-guard, the former two each with a ram’s horn moulding at the base (one slightly bent), two square panels with borders en suite and each fluted with a saltire over its surface, a pair of looped bars at the front, bun-shaped pommel with vertical and diagonal flutes framed with lines, early fish-skin-covered grip (losses) with a spiral binding of silver ribband between shaped silver collars, and an early red fabric-covered doe-skin liner, 85.2 cm blade
Provenance
K. J. Westwood
An Important English Private Collection
For a discussion of Allan’s early work see Earlshall 2018, pp. 129-138. The striking form of this hilt, with its solid fluted panels, is apparently unique among the extant work of Walter Allan.
£7,000-9,000
125
A RARE MEDIEVAL DAGGER WITH COPPER ALLOY HILT, PROBABLY LATE 14TH CENTURY in excavated condition, with tapering double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section becoming flattened-hexagonal towards the forte, copper alloy hilt comprising slightly curved guard of tapering rectangular section (one terminal slightly chipped), lobated disc pommel chiselled on each face with a flowerhead between two scrolls, and with traces of gilding, 33.0 cm overall
Provenance
An Important English Private Collection
£2,000-3,000
126
A NORTH EUROPEAN BALLOCK DAGGER, CIRCA 1450-1500, PROBABLY FLEMISH with tapering blade of flattened-diamond section, iron hilt formed of a thick moulded guard extending over the forte, the upper portion formed of two alternating layers of copper alloy with iron between, and wooden grip, probably the original, carved with two characteristic pronounced basal nodules, rising and swelling towards the top, and iron cap pommel retained by a small button on a large foliate washer (the iron parts with areas of pitting), 33.2 cm overall
Provenance
An Important English Private Collection
£1,500-2,000
(in scabbard)
A FINE AND RARE LOWLAND SCOTS
BALLOCK DAGGER, EARLY 17TH CENTURY with sharply tapering robust blade of stiff-diamond section etched and gilt over the greater part of its surface with scrolling foliage, the inscription ‘My Hop[e] and Trest [sic]’ and ‘Is in ye Lord God‘, and with the initials ‘AD’ at the forte (light wear), recessed for the thumb at the ricasso, small arched and fluted gilt iron guard, figured hardwood hilt with a pair of basal nodules each fitted with a silver foliate washer, faceted grip rising to a fluted mushroom-shaped pommel, with silver foliate button en suite, in its original wooden scabbard with tooled leather covering decorated with raised mouldings (very small losses and light wear), flowerheads and saltires, complete with associated accompanying knife, with single-edged blade struck with two cutler’s marks, silver ferrule, ivory grip (cracked) and horn pommel, with provision for a steel (missing) and two loops for suspension, 35.3 cm (the dagger, overall)
Provenance
A Private Collection, London
An Important English Private Collection Literature
Claude Blair and John Wallace, ‘Scots Or Still English?’, in, The Scottish Art Review, vol. 1, no. 9, 1963, p. 13, pl. 5b
Part of a distinctive group of daggers that were almost certainly manufactured in Scotland and probably known at the time as ‘dudgeon daggers’. An example dated 1605 is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum (M.59-1959). For a discussion of this group see Blair and Wallace, op. cit. and Laking 1920, vol. III, pp. 40-41.
£7,000-9,000
A
VERY RARE HIGHLAND DIRK, DATED 1663
with tapering blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a slender fuller along the back-edge and numbered ' 5' on one side at the forte, copper alloy hilt of characteristic form, comprising a pair of slender shoulders, engraved with the owner's initials 'G. G.' and the date on one face, and the owner's coat-of-arms and motto on the other, slender integral ferrule engraved with a pair of lines, small pommel with ferrule en suite, and fluted iron cross-shaped, and engraved ivory grip (small age cracks), 41.2 cm blade
Provenance
An Important English Private Collection
The motto (Vel Pax Vel Bellum), arms and initials are those of George Gordon of Rothney. The Gordons of Rothney bore the fesse chequee of the Stewarts in their arms, indicating that they were cadets of the Lesmoirs. They were descended from John of Newton, 3rd son of George, 3rd laird of Lesmoir. For an account of the Gordon's of Rothney see Wimberley 1894, pp. 51-54.
£3,000-4,000
A RARE GERMAN GOTHIC STEEL MACE, LAST QUARTER OF THE 15TH CENTURY
with bulbous head formed of six shaped flanges of wedgesection, moulded terminal button and moulding at the base of the head, tapering octagonal haft interrupted by a central moulding, guard formed of a disc top and bottom, the former pierced with two holes, probably for a thong (a further filled rectangular aperture probably the remains of a belt hook), and early, perhaps original, leather-covered wooden grip, 49.8 cm overall
Provenance
An Important English Private Collection Literature
£4,000-6,000
Clive Thomas, The Gothic Mace, in The London Park Lane Arms Fair, Spring 2014, p. 29, illustrated.
Provenance
The Penruddocke family, Compton Chamberlayne George Cross Esq.
William Keith Neal, sold Christie’s 25th October 2010, lot 230
An Important English Private Collection
Literature
John Cooper, An English Holster Pistol of Commonwealth Date, in, The Park Lane Arms Fair 2006, pp. 73-74, no. 30. Brain Godwin, David Oliver, Martin Pegler and Robert C. Woosman Savage, Early English Firearms, A Loan Exhibition from the Royal Armouries and Private Collections, in The Park Lane Arms Fair 2003, p. 15, no. 12
The accompanying note reads: ‘This English holster pistol dating from 1645-50 belonged to the Penruddock family and was sold from the family weapons preserved at Compton Chamberlayne by George Cross Esq., who purchased the house and contents from the Penruddock family. There can be no doubt that this pistol belonged to Colonel John Penruddocke born 1619 and beheaded at Exeter 16th May 1655 for his participation in an insurrection against Oliver Cromwell, who had then usurped the Government. I purchased this pistol at Christies when George Cross sent the arms for sale about 1955. Amongst the many firearms preserved at Compton Chamberlayne, this was the only pistol dating from this period. Signed W. Keith Neal. ‘
For further pistols of this type see Cooper 1993, pp. 164-167 and 197-207.
£5,000-8,000
Provenance
Captain Farquharson, Invercauld Castle, sold Sotheby’s 30th June 2004, lot 102
An Important English Private Collection
Literature
John Cooper, An English Holster Pistol of Commonwealth Date, in The Park Lane Arms Fair 2006, p. 65
Brian Godwin, The Luttrell Pistols, in The Park Lane Arms Fair 2013, no. 16, p. 91.
The principal characteristics of the lock place it within the type 2 category of the 17th Century English-locks as identified by Graeme Rimer in his study of the firearms at Littlecote House, subsequently expanded upon by Messrs Godwin, Cooper and Spencer in their published survey. See Goodwin, Cooper and Spencer, 2003. The leading terminal of the lock-plate on the present pistol is distinctly angular and as such is very unusual.
A similar configuration exists in a musket of circa 1640, in the armoury at Dunster Castle, Somerset. Another comparable example is found in a pistol worn by Abraham Stanyan in his portrait (dated 1644), exhibited ‘The Age of Charles I’, the Tate Gallery, 1972 (op. cit. fig.73).
£3,000-5,000
A RARE 40 BORE ENGLISH FLINTLOCK TURN-OFF RIFLED HOLSTER PISTOL, JOHN DAFTE, CIRCA 1660
with turn-off barrel formed in three stages, rifled with six slender grooves and moulded at the muzzle (one small lamination beneath), moulded at the median and engraved with a band of foliage, octagonal then polygonal breech struck with the barrelsmith’s mark (illegible) and London proof marks on the left, rounded lock signed along the lower edge and engraved with strawberry foliage, fitted with rounded cock decorated en suite and moulded steel, figured half-stock carved with a moulding about the barrel tang (small chips about the pommel, small repairs), inlaid with a symmetrical panel of silver wire in place of an escutcheon, steel mounts comprising spurred pommel decorated with foliage (worn, indistinct), plain trigger-guard, trigger-plate with shaped terminal, and engraved openwork foliate side plate incorporating a scaley serpent, plain fore-end cap (perhaps later), and no provision for a ramrod, 42.3 cm overall Provenance
An Important English Private Collection
John Dafte was admitted to the freedom of the Gunmakers’ Company on 12th November 1668 but apparently did not start his business until 1673, continuing until 1696. He was implicated in the Rye House plot of 1683 having supplied arms to the participants who attempted to assassinate Charles II as he travelled from a horse meet near Rye House, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. The exact details remain somewhat cloudy, according to the official narrative, the King depar ted earlier than expected thus foiling the plot. For a full account of this maker and the conspiracy see Cooper and Westwood 1989.
£2,500-3,500
(reverse)
MISCELLANEA
133
GUY FRANCIS LAKING (1875-1919)
A PAINTING OF THE MOUNTED GERMAN GOTHIC ARMOUR IN THE WALLACE COLLECTION (NO. A21)
signed G. F. Laking (lower right), in gilt frame, circa 1905, pencil, grey brown wash heightened with white
35.2 x 45.7 cm
Provenance
Christie’s 16th July 1997, lot 72
Literature
Claude Blair: Introduction to Sir Guy Francis Laking, Bart., C.B., M.V.O., F.S.A., A Record of European Armour & Arms Through Seven Centuries, 2000, p. XXI.
The sale at Christie's included two further pictures that also show Laking's very skilled draughtsmanship. Though best known as an authority on antique arms and armour Laking trained as an artist, having left Westminster School 'somewhat early, owing to a boyish escapade with a pony...' See Blair op. cit.
£2,000-2,500
134
A LARGE GERMAN PAINTED STEEL STRONGBOX, LATE 17TH/18TH CENTURY AND LATER
formed of large iron plates, the inside of the lid fitted with a lock mechanism incorporating twelve shooting bolts retained by a rectangular pierced panel decorated in each quarter with an openwork design of foliate scrolls centring on a faceted onion-shaped boss, pivot support, the exterior with an openwork column in each corner, decorated with chased grotesque mask panels on the front, back, left and right hand sides, the latter two each fitted with a large lifting handle, the exterior of the lid with a chased foliate panel each with false key cover, and the centre with oval escutcheon (cover missing), painted red and gold throughout, on an elaborate wrought iron stand, 92.0 x 53.0 x 49.0 cm
£800-1,000
THE ROBERT E. BROOKER JR. COLLECTION OF RARE ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR PART ONE: THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD
Robert Elton Brooker, Jr. started collecting firearms in 1954 at the age of 17, when he identified an original Colt revolver for sale in Morelia, Mexico. This led to a lifetime of collecting and scholarship related to technology development and geopolitics viewed through the lens of European military pistols. His first book, British Military Pistols 1603-1887, was published in 1978. This was followed by Armes de Poing Militaires Francaises (2006), Landeszeughaus Graz, Austria (2007), and finally British Military Pistols and Associated Edged Weapons (2016), an updated version of his original book, illustrated largely with items from his personal collection. He authored scholarly articles about Napoleon's Mamluk guard, Saxon military pistols, Neapolitan pistols, and other topics, plus t wo unfinished book manuscripts: one about Spanish and Latin American pistols, another about the Bavarian Army Museum collection. He received the Great Medal of Honor from the Austrian state of Styria in 2008.
Alongside his collecting and scholarship, Brooker built a career initially as an officer and pilot in the US Marine Corps. In the summer of 1959 he was granted a leave of absence from the Marines to work as an interpreter for the American Exhibition in Moscow. While there, he happened to be in the room where Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev entered and filmed what later became known as the Kitchen Debate. Following an MBA at Harvard Business School, he served in senior management roles at Cummins Engine Company, NL Industries, Lord Corporation, and Connell LP. He oversaw the development of horizonal drilling technology that later transformed the oil and gas industry. He retired from business to obtain a PhD in Art History from Brown University. He speaks six languages and was an enthusiastic scuba diver. All these achievements took place alongside his wife of 60 years, Kitty Brooker. He has four children and six grandchildren.
Robert Elton Brooker, Jr.
A GERMAN SWORD, 15TH CENTURY
with sharply tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, iron hilt comprising straight slender quillons of tapering-diamond section, incised with pairs of lines and with small beaded terminals, strongly formed slightly compressed wheel pommel formed with a recessed rondel on each face, and later leather covered grip, the blade with white paint inventory number ‘E6’, the pommel with white paint number ‘112’ (pitted throughout), 85.3 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1481
The blade conforms to Oakeshott type XV.
‡ £3,000-5,000
A GERMAN MILITARY BROADSWORD, CIRCA 1580-90
with broad tapering double-edged blade of flattened-hexagonal section, stamped with three pairs of ‘X’ marks within a pair of very long slender fullers on each face, rectangular ricasso, struck with a Pi mark on each face, iron hilt comprising a pair of horizontally recurved quillons swelling towards the terminals, a pair of écusson framed by a pair of lines on each side, upper and lower ring-guard each with a central moulding en suite with the quillons, trifurcated inner-guard, thumb-ring, spherical pommel, later grip and blackened colour throughout, 106.8 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1410
A backsword with a hilt of similar form, also struck with a Pi mark at the forte, is preserved in the Armeria Reale, Turin. See Bertolotto et al 1982, p. 355, no. 128. A further hilt of this type is preserved in the Royal Armouries, Leeds. See Dufty 1974, p. 18, plate 21d.
‡ £3,000-4,000
A PANZERSTECHER, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, AUSTRIAN OR GERMAN
with very long tapering blade of hollow-triangular section, iron hilt comprising a pair of very slender langets extending symmetrically into the grip, a pair of straight tapering quillons, flattened pear-shaped cap pommel, a portion of its knuckle chain, and banded leather-covered wooden grip (the steel parts chemically cleaned and pitted), 115.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S993
‡ £700-1,000
A RARE VENETIAN BROADSWORD, EARLY 16TH CENTURY
with broad flat straight double-edged blade, formed with a central slender third-length fuller on each face and with a latten-inlaid running wolf mark on one face at the forte, iron hilt comprising a pair of broad fluted spatulate quillons widening towards the tips, strongly curled inwardly and outwardly respectively, rectangular pommel with characteristic central hemi-spherical moulding front and back, and spirallymoulded leather covered grip, almost certainly the original, 88.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1124
A number of swords of this type are preserved in the armoury of the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice. See Franzoi 1990, p. 85 no. 144.
‡ £2,000-3,000
A RARE STYRIAN BROADSWORD OF HUNGARIAN TYPE, CIRCA 1660
with broad straight double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section over the upper portion, and flattened-hexagonal over its lower third, the latter cut with a broad shallow fuller over its surface and struck with a mark, in a shield the letters ‘CD’ above a Maltese cross, iron hilt comprising a pair of flat sharply down-turned quillons swelling towards the terminals and lightly engraved with foliage over the lower portion, circular outerguard with up-turned brim at the front and integral small inner guard with down turned edge at the back, fluted plummetshaped pommel engraved with foliage, and leather-bound grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with iron mounts comprising openwork chape (detached), four further mounts each formed of three slender rivetted bands, and the upper two with a pair of rings for suspension, 92.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S266
One hundred and twelve so-called ‘Hungarian Pallasch’ are listed in the Graz Zeughaus inventories of 1594 and 1598. Approximately thirty related examples remain extant there. See Pichler 1880, p. 72.
‡ £2,000-3,000
A RARE DANISH RAPIER, CIRCA 1610, PROBABLY FOR THE GUARD OF CHRISTIAN IV (1588-1648)
with broad straight flat double-edged blade, signed ‘Clemens’ and ‘ NNBDIBW’ between a pair of decorative cross marks in a slender central fuller framed by a pair of further fullers enclosed by lightly engraved border, grooved ricasso struck with the bladesmith’s mark, perhaps a scorpion, symmetrical iron hilt of flattened rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon incised with a pair of lines at the terminal, upper and lower ring-guards, the latter with a pair of up-turned arms en suite with the quillon and knuckle-guard, tall ovoid pommel, and spirally-moulded grip with plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads, probably the original, 92.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S500
Ten further examples are preserved in the Tøjhusmuseet Copenhagen. See Askgaard 1988, pp. 200-203, nos 44-53. The form of the hilt is closely related to the gold-and enamel-hilted sword of Christian IV, preserved in the Royal Collection at Rosenborg Slot, Copenhagen, see Schepelern and Boesen 1956, pp. 32-33 plate 8.
‡ £4,000-6,000
141
A NORTH EUROPEAN SWORD
RAPIER, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY ENGLISH
with broad flat tapering blade, struck ‘HSHHHS’ between a series of decorative marks within a pair of short fullers framed by engraved lines at the forte on each face, iron hilt of faceted bars, comprising a pair of vertically recurved quillons swelling at the terminals, outer ring-guard joined to a shallow convex Cshaped basal plate by a pair of arms, upper ring-guard joined to the knuckleguard by an additional bar, inner-guard ensuite formed of a ring-guard with a matching basal plate and an open thumbloop, faceted spherical pommel, and the grip with a later binding of plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’ (areas of pitting throughout), 91.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1162
A sword with a related hilt is illustrated Brooker 2016, p. 13, fig. 15. Two further examples are preserved in the Pilgrim Hall Museum, Massachusetts, see Brooker, ibid. ‡ £1,500-2,000
142
AN ITALIAN RAPIER, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY VENETIAN
with associated blade of flatteneddiamond section, rectangular ricasso engraved with the Lion of St Mark on one face, iron hilt of faceted bars, comprising a pair of straight quillons swelling towards the terminals, three outer ring-guards, the uppermost joined to the knuckle-guard by a further bar, trifurcated inner-guard, faceted spherical pommel (perhaps associated) and later grip bound with plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’, 105.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S816 ‡ £1,200-1,800
143
A GERMAN RAPIER, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
with tapering fullered blade flattenedhexagonal section (burnished), rectangular ricasso struck with a mark (rubbed), black-painted iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising vertically recurved quillons with spatulate terminals, upper and lower ring-guard and additional diagonal bar joining the arms to the quillons, knuckle-guard with a bar front and back to the respective guards, trifurcated inner-guard, plummet-shape pommel and the grip bound with plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’ (areas of pitting), 89.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1268 ‡ £600-800
A GERMAN RAPIER, SECOND QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with broad tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, tapering ricasso struck with two marks, an arrow and a hatched shield on one face and further marks (rubbed) on the other, iron hilt of rounded bars with moulded roots adjacent to the écusson, comprising down-curved quillon swelling to apointed terminal, upper-and lower ring-guards, knuckle-guard en suite with the quillon, trifurcated inner-guard, barrel-shaped pommel, and later grip bound with plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’ (polished bright throughout), 97.0 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S823
‡ £1,200-1,800
145
A GERMAN RAPIER, CIRCA 1620
with broad tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, stamped with a series of marks (indistinct) within a pair of short fullers on each face, tapering ricasso struck with a mark on one face (indistinct), iron hilt of flattened bevelled bars, comprising border-engraved écusson with delicately filed mouldings, curled quillon with rounded terminal, lower ring-guard, upper ringguard rooted on the arms and bifurcated at the top to a further bar joining the knuckle-guard, the latter en suite with the quillon, small inner ring-guard, short ovoid pommel with a triangular moulding top and bottom at the front, and the grip with a later binding of plaited copper alloy wire between ‘Turk’s Heads’ (areas of pitting, cleaned), 89.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S781
‡ £1,200-1,800
146
AN ITALIAN MULTI-RING RAPIER, CIRCA 1630-40 with long tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, with traces of a mark within a short fuller on one face, rectangular ricasso, symmetrical iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising a pair of vertically recurved quillons, inner and outer ring-guards each of seven bars, the uppermost joined to the knuckle-guard by an additional bar, fitted with a scalloped plate at the base, fluted pommel, and retaining some of its grip with ‘Turk’s heads’ (now loose), 120.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1104
‡ £1,500-2,000
147
AN ITALIAN MULTI-RING RAPIER, CIRCA 1630-40 with long tapering blade of flattened-hexagonal section, struck with a running wolf mark and with traces of a bladesmith’s inscription on each face within a short fuller, rectangular ricasso, symmetrical iron hilt of slender faceted bars, comprising a pair of vertically recurved quillons, inner and outer ring-guards each of six bars, the uppermost joined to the knuckle-guard by an additional bar, fitted with a pierced fluted plate at the base, spherical pommel, and later grip bound with plaited wire between ‘Turk’s Heads’ (pitted throughout), 119.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S987
‡ £1,400-1,800
A GERMAN RAPIER, SECOND QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY BAVARIAN
with straight flat tapering blade tapering to a sharp point, grooved rectangular ricasso engraved with a pair of lines, struck on the front with a ‘W’ mark, iron hilt (slightly loose) comprising long curved quillon with bifurcated terminal, upper and lower ring-guards, the latter with pair of additional upturned arms en suite with the quillon and knuckle-guard, trifurcated inner-guard, pierced ‘fishtail’ pommel, and spirallymoulded plaited wire grip between ‘Turk’s heads’, 91.8 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1341
A number of swords of this type are preserved in the Bavarian Army Museum, Ingoldstadt.
‡ £2,000-2,500
A NORTH GERMAN ‘PAPPENHEIMER’ RAPIER, SECOND QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with polished double-edged blade of hollow-diamond section, rectangular ricasso struck with a crowned ‘B’ mark on one face, symmetrical blackened iron hilt of slender faceted bars, comprising a pair of vertically recurved quillons upper and lower ring-guards joined by a short moulded bar, the latter fitted with a large sprung-in plate pierced with a diamondshaped panel filled with quatrefoils, knuckle-guard with an additional diagonal bar joined to the ring guard, faceted plummet-shaped pommel, and the grip with a later binding of plaited wire (‘Turk’s heads’ missing), with oval brass inventory tag ‘121’, 93.5 cm blade
Provenance
Schloss Blankenburg
The Brunswick Ducal Collections, Schloss Blankenburg, inv. no 121
The Royal House of Hanover, sold Sotheby’s 5th October 2005, lot 241
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1016
Literature
Robert Bohlman, Die Braunschweiger Waffen aus Schloss Blankenburg, in, Zeitschrift fur Waffen-und Kostumkunde, 1915, p. 21, abb. 48
‡ £1,500-2,000
150
A RARE NORTH EUROPEAN BASKET-HILTED BACKSWORD, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, DUTCH OR ENGLISH
with long single-edged blade formed with three slender near full-length fullers on each face and with two marks, an eye lash and a copper alloy lined star, on one face, iron hilt comprising a pair of vertically recurved quillons with moulded knopshaped terminals, basket-guard formed of a series of bars joined by saltires carrying rondels and short scrolling bars, two-stage brioche-shaped pommel, and the grip bound with plaited wire with a single ‘Turk’s head’ at the base (the upper missing, pitted throughout), 103.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S704
The hilt is very close to one found in the river Maas, near Mook. The distinctive pommel is similar to that on a sword shown in the portrait of Sir Thomas Tresham at Boughton House. See Blair 1982, pp. 215-219.
‡ £1,000-1,400
151
A NORTH EUROPEAN BASKET-HILTED MILITARY BACKSWORD (TESSAK), LATE 16TH CENTURY with tapering blade double-edged and of flattened-hexagonal section for its upper three quarters, stamped ‘IANNI’ and with a series of decorative star-shaped marks within a short central fuller on the respective faces, stamped with a series of four further marks on the reverse at the forte, iron basket-hilt of rounded bars, comprising a pair of straight quillons with vertically recurved tips with pronounced globular terminals each chiselled with a finely chequered design, symmetrical basket-guard formed on each face with a saltire joining the knuckle-guard to the front and rear guards, figure-of-eight shaped basal plate pierced with four trefoils (small chips) and joined front and back by an s-shaped bar to the guard, thumbloop, mushroom-shaped pommel cut with a band of chequering en suite with the quillons, and leather-covered wooden grip, 100.0 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S315
Hilts of this form are associated with North Germany and Scandinavia. See Norman 1980, p. 149.
‡ £2,000-3,000
152
A NORTH EUROPEAN BASKET-HILTED MILITARY BACKSWORD (TESSAK), LATE 16TH CENTURY with tapering blade double-edged for the upper half, formed with a slender central fuller and struck with a series of eyelash marks along the back-edge on each face, iron basket-hilt of rounded bars, comprising a pair of straight quillons with vertically recurved tips with pronounced globular terminals each chiselled with a finely chequered design, symmetrical basket-guard formed on each face with a saltire with a scrolling arm joining front and rear guards, figure-of-eight shaped basal plate pierced with four apertures, and joined front and back by an s-shaped bar to the guard, thumb-loop, mushroom-shaped pommel cut with a band of chequering en suite with the quillons, and the grip with a later binding of plaited wire and ribband between ‘Turk’s Heads’, 91.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S117
Hilts of this form are associated with North Germany and Scandinavia. See Norman 1980, p. 149.
‡ £1,500-2,000
153
A NORTH GERMAN MILITARY RAPIER, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY
with long slender blade of flattened-diamond section, formed with a short slender fuller on each face at the forte, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising a pair of long straight quillons with globular terminals cut with a band of chequering, knuckleguard and outer guard joined by a saltire, upper and lower ring-guards, the former with an S-shaped bar joined to the saltires, inner-guard with thumb-loop, compressed spherical pommel chiselled with a band of chequering, and leathercovered wooden grip, 109.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S812
The hilt is related to military ‘Tessaks’ associated with North Germany and Scandinavia. See Norman 1980, p. 149.
‡ £1,000-1,500
154
A NORTH GERMAN MILITARY BROADSWORD (TESSAK), CIRCA 1600-40
with broad double-edged blade struck with an indistinct mark, perhaps a celestial mask, on each face at the forte, iron hilt comprising a pair of straight quillons flaring towards the terminals and with bud-shaped finials, basket-guard formed of a trellis arrangement of rounded bars, thumb-loop, low pyramidal pommel, the quillon terminal and principle junctions lightly engraved, and leather-covered wooden grip (small losses, the hilt), 86.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S755
‡ £1,000-1,500
155
A
GERMAN MILITARY SWORD, CIRCA 1580, PROBABLY STYRIAN
with broad straight blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a long shallow fuller over the greater part of its surface and with a further slender groove along the back-edge on each face, struck with a double eye-lash mark (rubbed), iron hilt comprising a pair of quillons of flattened-diamond section swelling towards the bud-shaped terminals and engraved with foliage on the tips at the front, shallow convex guard pierced with a pair of heartshaped apertures, knuckle-guard with moulded terminal, diagonal inner guard with thumb-loop, low pyramidal pommel, and early leather-coved grip (the iron parts with areas of pitting), 90.3 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1267
‡ £600-800
156
A MILITARY SHORTSWORD, LATE 16TH CENTURY, PROBABLY AUSTRIAN
with broad slightly curved blade doubleedged at the tip and formed with a fuller along the back-edge on each face, struck twice with a mark, a shield charged with a cross, on the reverse, iron hilt comprising a pair of drooping quillons of flattened-triangular section with pointed terminals engraved with a pair of lines, outer ring-guard and knuckle-guard en suite with the quillons, low pyramidal pommel, and early leather-bound grip, 64.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1170
The marks on the blade are perhaps for the Vienna Town Arsenal.
‡ £500-700
157 A STYRIAN SWORD, LATE 16TH CENTURY
with broad curved blade formed with a hatchet point, a long central fuller and struck with a series of double eyelash marks at the forte on each face, iron hilt of flattened bars, comprising asymmetrical vertically recurved quillons, one with moulded terminal the other flattened and incised with scrolls, outer guard fitted with a sprung-in plate, a pair of scrolling outer bars joining the knuckle-guard inner guard, perhaps fitted with a matching plate (now missing), low pyramidal pommel incised around the border with scroll, and leather-covered grip, probably the original areas of pitting), 70.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1423
‡ £500-700
158
A STYRIAN MILITARY SWORD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 16TH CENTURY
with broad curved blade formed with a double-edged hatchet point and with two slender fullers along the back-edge on each face, struck with a double eye lash mark on the reverse and a cross mark on each side at the forte, iron hilt of flattened bars, comprising vertically recurved quillons with rounded terminals, curved frontal guard joined to the quillon by a scrolling bar, diagonal inner-guard with thumb-loop, spirally fluted mushroom-shaped pommel (perhaps an early association), and the grip with a later fishskin covering, 75.0 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S779
For another preserved in the Landeszeughaus Graz, see Pichler 1880, p. 77, Tafel XXIV, fig. 6 ‡ £600-800
159 A STYRIAN MILITARY SWORD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 16TH CENTURY
with broad straight blade double-edged towards the point and formed with a slender fuller along the back-edge in the middle section on each face, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising vertically recurved quillons with swollen terminals, curved frontal guard pierced with a pair of apertures at the base and joined to the knuckle-guard by a scrolling bar each with a central moulding en suite with the quillons, diagonal inner guard with thumb loop, and low pyramidal pommel, and leathercovered wooden grip, 89.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S603 ‡ £600-800
160
A GERMAN MILITARY SWORD, LATE 16TH CENTURY
with broad curved single-edged blade engraved with a flower, a classical warrior, and a falchion clasped in a hand issuant from a cloud, on each face at the forte, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising vertically recurved quillons with chequered bud-shaped terminals, a curved triangular plate charged with an engraved coat-of-arms framed by a pair of incised lines, knuckle-guard incorporating an additional loop each interrupted by a moulding en suite with the quillons, inner-guard of a diagonal bar joined by two bars to a further arm joining the knuckle-guard, thumb-loop, and chequered mushroom-shaped pommel, and the later leather-covered grip bound with twisted wire, 82.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S21 ‡ £800-1,000
161
A GERMAN MILITARY SWORD, LATE 16TH CENTURY
with broad curved blade double-edged towards the point and formed with a long shallow fuller on each face, struck with a double eyelash mark, iron hilt of flattened bars, including vertically recurved quillons with bud-shaped terminals, frontal guard formed of a tall plate pierced with a quatrefoil, knuckleguard with an additional scrolling bar, diagonal inner-guard with thumb loop, low pyramidal pommel (areas of pitting), and leather-covered grip, 76.0 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1085 ‡ £600-800
162
A GERMAN MILITARY SWORD, LATE 16TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY STYRIAN
with curved blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a pair of fullers of differing length over the greater part of each face, engraved with celestial masks, a lion, cabalistic inscriptions and struck with a double eyelash mark at the forte, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising straight quillons with vertically recurved tips and spirally-moulded terminals, knuckleguard en suite, joined to the front and back by a scrolling bar, angular frontal guard formed a scalloped plate with spirally moulded recurved finial, innerguard of a small semi-circular plate, thumb-loop, spirally moulded pommel, and the grip with a later leather covering, 76.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1188 ‡ £700-900
163
A GERMAN CAVALRY SWORD, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
with broad double-edged blade signed by the bladesmith ‘Herman Keisser’ within a pair of short fullers on each face, the forte with a further pair of short grooves, iron hilt of flattened bars, comprising straight quillon with scrolling terminal, up-turned scalloped outer guard, diagonal inner-guard joined by a further bar with trifurcated base to the knuckle-guard, and tall octagonal pommel, and the grip with a later binding of plaited wire between ‘Turk’s Heads’, 88.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1197
Herman Keisser is recorded in Solingen circa 1625-60.
‡ £700-900
164
AN AUSTRIAN INFANTRY
SWORD, CIRCA 1600 with broad blade of flattened-hexagonal section, cut with a short fuller framed by lines at the forte, rectangular ricasso, iron hilt of flattened bars comprising drooping quillons with scrolling terminals, outer ring-guard interrupted by a recessed central moulding, knuckleguard en suite with the quillons, and flattened figure-of-eight shaped pommel pierced with a pair of holes and incised with deep lines on the reverse, and spirally-carved wooden grip, 79.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1207 ‡ £400-600
165
AN AUSTRIAN INFANTRY
SWORD, CIRCA 1600 with broad blade of flattened-hexagonal section, cut with a short slender fuller on each face, iron hilt of flattened bars comprising drooping quillons with scrolling terminals, an additional basal lug and knuckle-guard each en suite with the quillons, and flattened figure-of-eight shaped pommel pierced with a pair of holes, and the grip with a later wire binding between ‘Turk’s heads’, 67.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1175 ‡ £400-600
166
AN ITALIAN SWORD WITH ‘CRAB-CLAW’ HILT, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY VENETIAN with tapering blade of hollow-diamond section, iron hilt of flattened moulded bars (slightly loose), comprising a pair of drooping quillons with scrolling terminals, an additional pair of basal lugs en suite, three outer ring-guards of diminishing size towards the base, the upper two with a scalloped plate between (small holes, areas of pitting), faceted ovoid pommel, and the grip bound with plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’, 84.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S747
A number of swords of this type are preserved in the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice, see Franzoi 1990, p. 91, cat. nos. 179. ‡ £700-900
167
A SWEDISH MILITARY SWORD, CIRCA 1620-30
with tapering blade of flattened-diamond section, iron hilt of flattened bars comprising curved quillon, curved pear-shaped frontal guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate, rising to a single bar interrupted by a moulded, flattened pear-shaped pommel, small inner-guard fitted with a further pierced sprung-in plate, thumb-loop, and spirally-carved wooden grip (binding missing), 92.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S632
‡ £600-800
168
A SWEDISH MILITARY SWORD, CIRCA 1620-30 with tapering blade formed with a short slender fuller on each face, iron hilt of flattened bars comprising down-curved quillon with flaring scrolled terminal, curved pear-shaped frontal guard fitted with a sprung-in plate pierced with stars and circles, rising to a single bar with a fluted moulding at the base, knuckle-guard with a basal moulding on the inside en suite, near circular thumb-loop, faceted spherical pommel and wooden grip (binding missing, areas of pitting), 81.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S680
‡ £400-600
169
A SWEDISH MILITARY SWORD, CIRCA 1630-40 with tapering blade of flattened-diamond section etched with mottoes, a falchion, and an exotic bird (worn), iron hilt of flattened bars comprising a pair of quillons with vertically recurved pointed terminals, slightly curved small pear-shaped frontal guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate and rising to a single bar interrupted by a moulding, flattened pear-shaped pommel, small inner-guard with thumb-loop, engraved throughout with scrollwork, and later grip of plaited wire between ‘Turk’s heads’, 85.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S691
‡ £600-800
170
A SWISS MILITARY SWORD, BERN, CIRCA 1640 with tapering double-edged blade of hollow-diamond section over its upper three-quarters etched with the inscription ‘fur Gott and das Vaterland’ on one face and with a shield charged with the arms of Bern on the other, iron hilt comprising vertically recurved quillons, the lower with scrolling terminal, pear-shaped outer guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate (small chips) and rising to an outer guard interrupted by a moulding, inner-guard with a further pierced sprung-in plate, thumb-loop, decorated throughout with scrollwork, faceted pear-shaped pommel (areas of pitting), and spirally carved wooden grip, perhaps early, 79.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1370
For a related example see Wegeli 1929, p. 84, no. 304.
‡ £500-700
171
A NORTH EUROPEAN BASKETHILTED SWORD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY DUTCH
with associated double-edged fullered blade, iron basket-hilt of rounded bars comprising figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back, twelve frontal bars carrying a lobated plate engraved with a rampant lion (refreshed, probably later), inner-guard of two bars, associated small spherical pommel, and the grip bound with plaited wire between iron collars, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with iron chape, middle-band and locket, the latter two each with a ring for suspension, 79.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1176 ‡ £700-1,000
172
AN
AUSTRIAN MILITARY PALLASCH, CIRCA 1711-30
with broad double-edged blade, etched with the crowned Imperial double eagle, ‘Vivat Printz Eugen’ and ‘Vivat Carolus Sixtus’, a classical Imperial portrait profile, ‘Imperator Germaniae Rex Bohemia’ on the respective faces at the forte, iron hilt of pallasch with a pair of straight langets, quillon with moulded terminal, engraved ‘3ZIII’ beneath, shaped outer-guard joined to the knuckle-guard by an s-shaped bar, thumb-loop, back-strap engraved twice with the Cross of Burgundy, borderengraved cap pommel, wire-bound leather-covered grip, in its leathercovered iron-clad Hungarian style scabbard, the edges reinforced with strips of differing length, bound with ten bands, engraved chape, and four rings for suspension, 85.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S869 ‡ £500-700
173
A SWISS MILITARY SWORD, ZURICH, THE BLADE DATED
1717 with tapering double-edged blade, engraved with the date within a short fuller, a running fox and the arms of Zurich on each face, iron hilt comprising forward-and rear-canted quillons with flattened scrolling terminals, pearshaped outer guard fitted with a sprung-in plate chased with an eagle, outer guard swelling in the centre, knuckle-guard en suite, small inner guard fitted with a matching sprung-in plate, thumb-loop, fluted pear-shaped pommel, and associated copper alloy grip (areas of pitting), 87.4 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1047 ‡ £400-600
174
A FRENCH ‘MODEL 1679’ SWORD with broad double-edged blade with running wolf mark, stamped ‘SAHAGUM’ within a short fuller on each face, struck with a bladesmith’s mark (indistinct) and with Amsterdam town mark on the respective faces at the forte, iron hilt of flattened rounded bars, comprising scrolling quillon struck with a mark on the reverse, symmetrical inner and outer guard each fitted with a sprung-in plate pierced with minute stars and circles, knuckle-guard, thumbloop, globular pommel, and the grip with a later wire binding between ‘Turk’s heads’, in its leather scabbard (losses) with iron mounts comprising chape, middle-band and locket, the latter two each with a pierced mount, and the middle-band retain a ring for suspension ring, 89.7 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S965
See Aries VII, 1968.
‡ £700-900
175
AN AUSTRIAN MILITARY SWORD, THIRD QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with straight blade of flattened-diamond section, engraved with foliage and a brief inscription on face at the forte (worn, areas of pitting), iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a finely pierced and chiselled sprung-in plate front and back, decorated respectively with a classical portrait profile of Leopold I within a wreath of laurel between the letters ‘L’ and ‘I’ for Leopold Imperator and elaborate ball flowers, frontal guard interrupted by a small double globular moulding, knuckleguard en suite, thumb-loop, engraved globular pommel decorated with foliage, and the grip with a later copper alloy wire binding between ‘Turk’s heads’, 92.0 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S798 ‡ £500-700
176
AN AUSTRIAN INFANTRY
SWORD, THE BLADE DATED 1623 with curved blade double-edged towards the point and formed with a long slender fuller along the back-edge, engraved with a shield charged with crowned cross swords and the date, a framed pious inscription and a bouquet of flowers on one face and with a further inscription and the crowned double eagle on the other, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard, frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a diagonal bar, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and the grip bound with plaited copper alloy wire between ‘Turk’s heads’, 79.2 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1011 ‡ £400-600
177
A SWISS SWORD, LATE 17TH CENTURY
with broad blade cut with a running wolf mark and struck with the numbers ‘1441’ between a series of decorative marks within a short fuller on each face at the forte (the tip with a small chip), iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back, frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a diagonal bar, thumb-loop, pear-shaped pommel, and the grip with an early plaited wire binding between ‘Turk’s heads’, 88.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1126
‡ £600-800
178
A GERMAN CAVALRY SWORD, LATE 17TH CENTURY
with earlier broad blade of flattened-diamond section, struck ‘Antonio Anortan’ and ‘Me Itate Illigite’ with a pair of short deep fullers on each face, iron hilt of rounded bars comprising down-curved quillon with swollen globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back, frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite, thumb-loop, globular pommel chiselled with foliage, and spirally-moulded iron grip, 89.4 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1106
‡ £400-600
179
A MILITARY SWORD, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, FRENCH OR SWISS
with broad blade cut with a running wolf mark and struck with the numbers ‘1551’ between a series of decorative marks within a short fuller on each face at the forte, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back, frontal guard interrupted by a small double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a diagonal bar, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and the grip bound with plaited copper alloy wire between moulded collars, 86.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1062
‡ £500-700
180
A WALLOON SWORD, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
with broad double-edged blade formed with a short fuller on each face, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with mushroom-shaped terminal, pear-shaped outer-guard filled with a pierced sprung-in plate, frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a diagonal bar, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and spirally carved wooden grip retaining a small portion of its wire binding and collars, in a leather-covered iron-mounted scabbard, probably the original, the chape with a spherical moulding and the locket with a long belt hook, 80.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1209
‡ £400-600
181
A SWISS SWORD, CIRCA 1700 with curved blade double-edged towards the point and formed with a long slender fuller, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back, frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a diagonal bar, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and spirally moulded iron grip, 84.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1429
‡ £400-600
182
A CAVALRY SWORD, EARLY 18TH CENTURY, GERMAN OR SWISS with curved blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a long slender fuller along the back-edge and engraved with elaborate trophies-ofarms on each face at the forte on each face, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figureof-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back, frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a saltire centring on a twisted moulding, globular pommel, and later grip bound with plaited copper alloy wire between ‘Turk’s heads’, 76.8 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1069 ‡ £400-600
183
A SWISS MILITARY SWORD, THE BLADE DATED 1726 with broad double-edged blade inscribed ‘Fur Gott und das Vaterland 1716’ framed by foliage within a short fuller on one face at the forte and with a cavalryman on the other, iron hilt of rounded bars, comprising down-curved quillon with globular terminal, asymmetrical figure-of-eight shaped guard fitted with a pierced sprung-in plate front and back (the latter dented), frontal guard interrupted by a double globular moulding, knuckle-guard en suite and joined to the front by a diagonal bar, thumb-loop, globular pommel, and spirally moulded solid iron grip, 88.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S76 ‡ £500-700
184
A VENETIAN SCHIAVONA, MID-17TH CENTURY
with broad double-edged blade formed with a short fuller on each face, retaining its leather scabbard cover at the forte, iron basket-hilt of characteristic trellised flattened bars, forward-curved quillon with globular terminal, thumb loop, shield-shaped pommel formed with a central hemispherical moulding on each side and joined to the guard by a later wire ring, early leather-covered banded grip, and the hilt struck twice with a mark (indistinct, probably a series of concentric circles, areas of pitting), 89.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S933
‡ £800-1,000
185
A VENETIAN SCHIAVONA, MID-17TH CENTURY
with broad double-edged blade stamped with an ‘S’ mark within a short fuller on each face, iron basket-hilt of characteristic trellised flattened bars, forward-curved quillon with globular terminal, thumb loop, shield-shaped pommel formed with a central hemispherical moulding on each side, stamped twice with a series of concentric circles and joined to the guard by a later wire ring, and early leather-covered banded grip, 85.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S751
‡ £600-800
186 A VENETIAN SCHIAVONA, LATE 17TH CENTURY
with broad blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a near full-length fuller and a pair of long fullers along the back-edge on each face, struck with a double eye-lash mark, rectangular ricasso with a further grooved struck on each face with three bladesmith’s marks, iron basket-hilt of characteristic trellised flattened bars, each interrupted by an engraved moulding, slightly curved quillon with globular terminal, innerguard with thumb-loop, shield-shaped copper alloy pommel formed with a central flowerhead on each face, and early leather-covered banded grip (small losses),103.8 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1390
‡ £800-1,000
187
A VENETIAN SCHIAVONA, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
with broad double-edged blade formed with three long fullers on each face, retaining its leather scabbard cover the forte, decorated with a blind flowerhead on the front, iron baskethilt of characteristic trellised flattened bars, a pair of straight quillons, one forward-canted, thumb-loop, copper alloy shieldshaped pommel formed with a flowerhead moulding on each face and joined to the guard by a later wire ring, and early leather-covered banded grip, in associated leather-covered wooden scabbard with copper-alloy mounts enclosing the sides of the lower half and the chape applied with a relief panel on each face, 97.5 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S356
‡ £1,500-2,000
188 A VENETIAN SCHIAVONA, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
with broad flat double-edged blade formed with a short fuller and with a latten-inlaid running wolf mark (small losses) on each face, retaining its leather scabbard cover the forte, iron basket-hilt of characteristic trellised flattened bars, cut with a brief inscription on one bar at the front, rear-canted quillon with moulded terminal, copper alloy shield-shaped pommel (perhaps associated) drawn-out in the centre on each face, early banded grip, in associated leather-covered wooden scabbard with iron mounts enclosing the sides of the lower half, 100.7 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S827
‡ £1,500-2,000
189
A
VENETIAN BROADSWORD, LATE 18TH CENTURY
with broad flat blade formed with a short fuller on each face, iron hilt of square-section bars, comprising down-curved quillon, up-turned shield-shaped outer guard cut with a pair of slots at the base, knuckle-guard with recurved terminal, shieldshaped pommel drawn-out to a low-domed boss on each face, and leather-covered banded grip, 69.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1030
Related examples are preserved in the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice.
‡ £400-600
190
A VENETIAN BROADSWORD, LATE 18TH CENTURY
with earlier broad flat blade struck with a mark in a short fuller on each face, iron hilt comprising a pair of long straight quillons with drooping terminals, up-turned shield-shaped outer guard cut with a pair of slots at the base, small spherical pommel, and blackened leather-covered grip between iron collars (areas of pitting), 63.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1303
Related examples are preserved in the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice.
‡ £400-600
191
A SPANISH OFFICER’S CUP-HILT RAPIER, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
with slender blade stamped ‘IHN SOLINGEN’ within a short fuller on each face, iron hilt comprising cup-guard with moulded brim, a pair of straight quillons with moulded terminals, knuckle-guard with a central moulding en suite, small faceted pommel and the grip bound with plaited copper alloy wire and ribband between iron collars, 85.4 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1269
‡ £350-450
192
AN OFFICER’S CUP-HILT RAPIER, EARLY 18TH CENTURY, PORTUGUESE OR SPANISH
with broad tapering blade stamped ‘IHN SOLINGEN’ within a short fuller and with a cross and orb mark on each face, iron hilt comprising cup-guard with moulded brim (holed, areas of pitting), a pair of straight quillons with moulded terminals, knuckle-guard interrupted by a central moulding en suite, small faceted pommel, and the grip bound with an early copper alloy binding, 95.2 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S926
‡ £300-400
193
A SPANISH OFFICER’S CUP-HILT RAPIER, LATE 17TH CENTURY
with tapering blade formed with a short fuller on each face, iron hilt comprising cup-guard with slender moulded brim, a pair of straight quillons swelling towards the terminals, knuckle-guard en suite, small globular pommel (pitted throughout), and wooden grip with copper alloy collars (binding missing), 96.0 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1119
‡ £350-450
194
AN OFFICER’S CUP-HILT RAPIER, LAST QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY PORTUGUESE with slender blade stamped ‘Solingen’ within a short fuller on each face, iron hilt comprising cup-guard with strongly moulded brim, a pair of robust straight quillons with moulded terminals, an additional forward-curled bar en suite, knuckleguard interrupted by a moulding, small faceted pommel (pitted throughout), and wooden grip, 100.3 cm blade
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S1096
‡ £350-450
195
A NORTH GERMAN BURGONET, CIRCA 1560, PERHAPS BRUNSWICK
with rounded one-piece skull rising to a tall, boldly-roped medial comb (internally patched at its apex), its base enclosed to either side by two raised ribs, the lower of which descends to a central cusp, and projecting forward to a narrow acutelypointed peak, flanged outwards to an acutely-pointed neck-guard at the nape, fit ted at each side with a hinged cheekpiece flanged out wards at it lower edge to serve as a continuation of the neck-guard and pierced at its centre with eight auditory holes around a central stellate hole and radiating incised lines, the whole formed at its main edges with boldlyroped inward turns accompanied by recessed borders within raised ribs enclosed by incised lines, and fitted throughout with brass-capped rivets with rosette washers, 25.4 cm high
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £1,000-1,400
196
A SOUTH GERMAN BURGONET, CIRCA 1580-90 with rounded one-piece skull rising gently to a high file-roped medial comb and projecting forward to a narrow acutelypointed peak, fitted at its lower edge with a matching neck-guard of one lame, and at each side with a hinged cheekpiece flanged out wards at it lower edge to serve as a continuation of the neck-guard and pierced at its centre with five small auditory holes in dice-formation, the whole formed at its main edges with finely file-roped inward turns accompanied by recessed borders, and fitted throughout with brass-capped constructional rivets and lining-rivets of iron retaining beneath their heads in the case of those encircling the neck and the brow, large rosette washers of brass, the left of the nape fitted with a fretted brass plaque bearing simple punched ornament (the right cheek-piece associated but probably from the same arsenal, the hinge of the right broken and that of the left repaired); 23.0 cm
Provenance
Morton and Angela Stern, New York, sold in this room 4th December 2013, lot 180
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £1,400-1,800
A
NORTH ITALIAN CLOSE HELMET, FIRST QUARTER
OF THE 17TH CENTURY
with rounded one-piece skull rising to a low medial ridge (with internal patch towards the rear of its apex), peak, upper bevor and bevor attached to the skull by common pivots of rosette form (replaced), the peak rounded at its front, the upper bevor formed at its upper edge with a centrally-divided vision-slit and pierced at its right side with ten vertical ventilation slits, the bevor shaped to the chin, cut with a U-shaped face-opening, pierced for the attachment of a lining and fitted at the right cheek with a swivelhook to secure a pierced stud projecting from the upper bevor, the lower edge of the skull and bevor each flanged outwards to receive a single deep gorget-plate, the main edges of the helmet formed with plain inward turns, the whole decorated throughout with incised lines, the surface bearing a light mottled patina overall, 29.2 cm high Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £1,200-1,800
198
A GERMAN CIRCULAR TURNED WOODEN CHARGE-FLASK, 17TH CENTURY
decorated with incised lines and chip-carved, fitted with wooden nozzle, copper alloy closure, two rings for suspension, and later leather tassel, 11.5 cm high
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. A4
‡ £200-300
199
A RARE GERMAN EMBOSSED STEEL CARTRIDGE BOX (PATRON), CIRCA 1580, PROBABLY BRUNSWICK
with wooden body of plano-convex section, the interior with provision for five cartridges and fitted with a pierced brass top-plate, the outside entirely encased in steel embossed with star-shaped patterns of beadwork, outwardly flanged at the base and decorated en suite, fitted with matching hinged sprung lid with button closure, and four suspension loops on the back, 14.0 cm high
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
A patron of related design is preserved in the Landeszeughaus, Graz (inv. no. PK72) and two further related patrons were included in the sale of Works of Art from the Royal House of Hanover, Sotheby’s 2005, lots 339 and 340. The treatment of these pieces is similar to the stocks of contemporary Brunswick firearms. In 1589 Andreas Krebs, a Carinthian leather-worker, delivered ‘200 Braunschweig boxes with wooden cartridges at 28 kreuzer each to the Landeszeughaus Graz. See Krenn 1990, p. 22.
‡ £500-700
200
A GERMAN TRIANGULAR CHARGE-FLASK, 17TH CENTURY
with iron-bound wooden body, fitted with tapering nozzle with spring closure at the top, a pair of rings for suspension, and blackened throughout, 15.0 cm high
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 1062
‡ £200-300
201
A RARE GERMAN COMBINED RAMROD, WHEELLOCK SPANNER AND CHARGE-FLASK, CIRCA 1620-40
with long tubular rod section, fitted at the top with two square spanner apertures, and a sprung closure for the charge flask accommodated within, 60.3 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 2087
For related examples preserved in the Historishces Museum Dresden see Lewerken 1988, p. 294, cat. nos 196-199.
‡ £400-600
202
A HAND-IGNITED POWDER-TESTER, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, GERMAN OR ITALIAN
formed entirely of steel, with flat arched head numbered from ‘1’ to ‘12’ in Roman numerals on one side, indicator arm attached to an internal ratchet wheel acting against a spring pivoting beneath the pan, and moulded tubular handle, 17.0 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
Two related examples, incorporating a powder measure, are illustrated Kempers 1998, p. 166-167, figs. 179 and 181. Another was sold in this room, 7th December 2022, lot 423.
‡ £300-500
203
A GERMAN COMBINED POWDER-FLASK, WHEELLOCK SPANNER AND TURNSCREW INSCRIBED 1565, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
formed entirely of steel, with tapering faceted body, fitted at one end with nozzle decorated with fluting and fitted with spring cut-off, and at the other end with a turnscrew, a bracket incorporating a spanner on one side, a single swivelling suspension ring on the other, fitted with a pricker, decorated throughout with incised lines, and inscribed ‘*MRM*1565*’ on one face, 22.8 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 694
‡ £700-900
204
A COMBINED POWDER MEASURE, WHEEL-LOCK SPANNER AND TURNSCREW, 17TH CENTURY
formed entirely of steel, with pierced head with three spanner apertures, fitted at its terminal with a turnscrew, moulded base fitted with a suspension ring, and sliding tubular body with spring catch for the measure, 16.5 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £300-400
205
A WHEEL-LOCK SPANNER, 17TH CENTURY
formed entirely of steel, with T-shaped spanner head, moulded neck with a swivelling suspension ring, and circular basal terminal (patinated), 16.0 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £200-300
206
A WHEEL-LOCK SPANNER, 17TH CENTURY
formed entirely of steel, with square head, moulded angular neck, long faceted integral handle with a further smaller aperture at the terminal, 19.0 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £200-300
207
A WHEEL-LOCK SPANNER, PROBABLY 17TH CENTURY
formed entirely of steel, with faceted tubular head, and bifurcated grip with a pair of scrolling arms, 8.2 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £80-120
208
A COMBINED MAINSPRING CLAMP, TURNSCREW, HAMMER AND KNAPPER, PROBABLY 17TH CENTURY
formed entirely of steel, with slightly curved hammer head of square section, threaded haft and turn screw with moulded head, 13.2 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection
‡ £300-500
209
A PAIR OF LONG PISTOL HOLSTERS OF MILITARY TYPE, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY
of hardened leather in double thickness, the basal caps reinforced with small copper alloy nails, sparsely decorated with two cross-filled panels framed by a pair of lines top and bottom, and fitted on the inside at the top with two loops for suspension, 63.0 cm (2)
Provenance
An Austrian noble collection, sold Sotheby’s Billinghurst, 7th December 1998, part of lot 3101
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. S3065
‡ £600-800
210
A PAIR OF LONG PISTOL HOLSTERS OF MILITARY TYPE, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY of hardened leather in double thickness, the basal caps reinforced with nails with large fluted copper alloy heads, and fitted on the inside at the top with two loops for suspension, 60.5 cm (2)
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. HG4 & HG5
‡ £500-700
211
TWO WELL MATCHED PISTOL HOLSTERS OF MILITARY TYPE, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY of hardened leather in double thickness, one basal cap reinforced with nails with large fluted copper alloy heads (small losses), and fitted on the inside at the top with two loops for suspension (one repaired), 37.5 cm (2)
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 3013
‡ £500-700
212
A VERY RARE LEATHER COVER FOR A WHEEL-LOCK PISTOL, MID-17TH CENTURY
formed of a pair of stitched panels, decorated on each face with designs of concentric circles, retaining one leather button and one leather strap at the base for closure (small losses), 22.5 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 2091
‡ £200-300
213
A RARE DETACHED GERMAN COMBINED MATCH-AND WHEEL-LOCK MECHANISM, LATE 16TH CENTURY
with provision for two side nails, fitted with internal wheel with low circular cover, match-holder with circular thumb-screw, dog with faceted neck, sliding pan-cover with button release, and safety-catch, 31.0 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 1374
‡ £600-800
214
A DETACHED CENTRAL ITALIAN SNAPHAUNCE MECHANISM, MID-17TH CENTURY
with main plate of late wheel-lock form, engraved with scrolling foliage and flowers and an exotic bird, fitted with moulded cock engraved en suite, pan with sliding cover, and battery with moulded arm, 15.8 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. L27
‡ £200-300
215
A DETACHED ITALIAN SNAPHAUNCE MECHANISM, CIRCA 1660-80
with flat plate fitted with flat cock and battery each with neck of shaped outline, pan with sliding cover, and internal spring, 15.2 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. L2
‡ £150-200
216
A DETACHED ITALIAN ‘ROMAN’ LOCK MECHANISM, CIRCA 1660
with flat plate truck with a mark on the outer face (indistinct), fitted with cock with moulded neck, and moulded pan with block-shaped base (restorations), 17.2 cm
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. L26
‡ £100-150
217
NINE RAMRODS FOR WHEEL-LOCK PISTOLS, LATE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES
the first with iron tip and engraved staghorn terminal decorated with foliage, seven further horn-tipped wooden ramrods and another, formed entirely of wood, the first: 32.0 cm (9)
Provenance
The Robert Brooker collection
‡ £300-400
A RARE 20 BORE NORTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK ‘PUFFER’ PISTOL, CIRCA 1590, PROBABLY BRUNSWICK with swamped barrel formed in two stages, the forward section of ‘hog’s back form, the breech oc tagonal and engraved with a pair of lines at each end, flat lock retained by two side nails passing through the lock plate and engaging the belt-hook bracket, fitted with external wheel retained by a circular bracket, safety-catch, sliding pan-cover with button release and dog with cross-hatched pivot, decorated throughout with pairs of lines en suite with the breech, full stock profusely inlaid over its surface in staghorn with scrolling tendrils enclosing ball flowers, a slender chevron frame over the fore-end and about the lock, compressed spherical butt decorated en suite and set with an engraved staghorn rondel decorated with a cavalryman, slender iron trigger-guard, slender iron belt-hook with acorn finial, engraved staghorn ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap, and wooden ramrod with engraved staghorn finial ensuite (fore-end repaired, a concealed crack behind the tang, the inlay with minor restorations, one barrel bolt washer missing), 56.0 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 547
‡ £8,000-10,000
(reverse)
219
A RARE 20 BORE NORTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK ‘PUFFER’ PISTOL, CIRCA 1575, ALMOST CERTAINLY FOR THE GENEVA ARSENAL
with swamped barrel formed in two stages, octagonal breech stamped with the barrelsmith’s mark (indistinct) and engraved with a band of ropework, flat lock retained by two side nails passing through the lock plate and engaging the belt-hook bracket, fitted with external wheel retained by a circular bracket, safety-catch, sliding pan-cover with button release and moulded dog, decorated throughout with pairs of lines en suite with the barrel, full stock profusely inlaid over its surface with engraved staghorn panels and scrolling leafy tendrils , including cherub mask s on the fore-end, an exotic bird and a cherub opposite the lock and with the figure of Lucretia in a niche on the spine of the butt, compressed spherical pommel decorated with winged cherubic masks issuant with foliage between segmental lines and a warrior rondel on the pommel, steel trigger-guard and openwork belt hook, engraved ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap, and wooden ramrod with engraved staghorn tip (the stock with extensive restored worm damage, ramrod later), 57.5 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1428
Part of a distinctive group of pistols formerly in the Geneva arsenal, all of which are inlaid in this manner and have female figures, including Lucretia and Saint Barbara, on the spines of the butts. Other examples, now preserved in the Musée d’art et Historie, Geneva, are illustrated Godoy 1993, pp. 306-312, nos. 172-178.
‡ £6,000-8,000
(reverse)
220
A VERY RARE COMBINED SOUTH GERMAN 50 BORE WHEEL-LOCK PISTOL AND AXE, CIRCA 1580 with tapering two-sage barrel swamped towards the muzzle, fitted with a xe-head at the muzzle end with curved upper edge, struck with a five-point cross mark in a rondel on the front, flat lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel with domed cover, sliding pan-cover with button release, safety-catch and dog with moulded spring (areas of pitting, one side nail and safety-catch expertly restored), fruitwood full stock profusely inlaid with stag and green-stained horn pellets within a framework of segmental lines, further engraved panels including a pair of profile demon mask s and a green man mask about the barrel tang, a scrollwork panel forming a side nail washer, a diagonally hatched shield behind, a monsterhead panel behind the lock (some plaques restored), iron belt clip and moulded trigger-guard, and bone basal cap decorated with foliage, 48.0 cm overall Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 2070
A very similar decorated combined wheel-lock pistol and axe is preserved in the Historisches Museum, Dresden, see Lewerken 1989, p. 209, cat. No. 6. ‡ £5,000-7,000
(reverse)
221
A 25 BORE WHEEL-LOCK ‘PUFFER’ PISTOL, NUREMBURG, CIRCA 1575
with two stage swamped barrel, octagonal breech struck with Nuremburg mark , reblued flat lock retained by two side nails, struck with a mark (indistinct) fitted with external wheel retained by a circular bracket, engraved safety-catch, pan with sliding cover with button release and dog, full stock inlaid with a running pattern of flowers and foliage between segmental lines (small repairs and restorations), foliate panels about the tang, over the spine of the butt and behind the lock , compressed spherical pommel decorated with broad shallow fluted designs, inlaid with flowers and foliage en suite with the fore-end (small losses), iron trigger-guard and slender belt hook, and associated iron-tipped wooden ramrod, 57.5 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1379
A number of pistols inlaid in a similar manner, with Nuremberg marked barrels, formerly in the Geneva arsenal, are now preserved in the Musée d’art et Historie, Geneva. See illustrated Godoy 1993, 283-287, nos. 149-154.
‡ £6,000-8,000
(reverse)
A RARE 28 BORE GERMAN SMALL WHEEL-LOCK ‘PUFFER’ PISTOL FORMED ENTIRELY OF STEEL, CIRCA 1580, PROBABLY FOR THE VENETIAN STATE ARSENAL
with two-stage swamped barrel engraved with foliage at each end of the forward section, octagonal breech struck with Nuremburg and the barrelsmith’s mark (unrecorded, perhaps a rampant lion) and engraved with a band of foliage, flat lock retained by two side nails and struck with a further mark, a bird perched on a tree dividing the initials GB, fitted with external wheel beneath a domed cover, engraved pan with sliding cover (button missing) and safety-catch, full stock (one small repair beneath the fore-end), engraved with pairs of lines beneath the muzzle, small near spherical pommel formed in two pieces, plain iron trigger-guard, and associated iron ramrod, 36.0 cm overall Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 2072
A number of pistols of this type are preserved in the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice. See Franzoi, pp. 135-136, nos. 450-457, illustrated p. 174. ‡ £5,000-7,000
223
A RARE 20 BORE NORTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK ‘PUFFER’ PISTOL, CIRCA 1580, POSSIBLY ESSLINGEN with swamped barrel formed in three stages, engraved with ropework bands, dots and scrolls at the muzzle, median and breech, the latter engraved with a panel of scale ornament and struck with a mark (possibly Neue Støckel 5870), (the barrel lightly cleaned with chemicals), flat lock retained by two side nails passing through the lock plate and engaging the belt-hook bracket, fitted with external wheel retained by a circular bracket, safety-catch, sliding pan-cover with button release and dog with cross-hatched spindle, decorated throughout with pairs of lines, blackened full stock (small repairs on the left of the fore-end at the breech), spherical pommel, iron trigger-guard and belt hook, associated iron-tipped ramrod, white painted inventory number ‘100’ beneath the lock, and a further enamel inventory tag ‘120’, 54.5 cm overall Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1956
‡ £5,000-7,000
(reverse)
224
A 25 BORE SOUTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK PUFFER PISTOL, CIRCA 1580 with swamped barrel formed in two stages, engraved with a band around the muz zle, pellets at the median and octagonal over the breech, the latter struck three times with a mark, beneath a dagger the let ters ‘HH’ or ‘HI’, flat lock struck with a mark en suite, retained by a side nail acting on the belt hook bracket and three further side nails opposite, fitted with external wheel beneath a domed cover, safety-catch, sliding pan-cover with but ton release, and dog with filed spring, blackened full stock, car ved with slender panels of foliage around the borders, about the tang and beneath the fore-end near spherical pommel carved with a warrior mask rondel on the base, iron trigger-guard, belt-hook and ramrod stirrup (very light worm damage, the fore-end with one small internal repair on the left at the breech, ramrod missing), 58.8 cm overall Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 2089
The mark appears to be unrecorded but is similar to that of Lorenz Herl, recorded as a barrelsmith and dealer in Nuremburg circa 1572-1622. His father Hans, also a gunmaker, was active in the same town circa 1566-1608.
‡ £5,000-7,000
(reverse)
225
A16 BORE ITALIAN WHEEL-LOCK CARBINE, BRESCIA, CIRCA 1600 with octagonal swamped sighted barrel struck with a mark, the let ters ‘AC’ in a shaped shield above a star beneath a crown, long down-curved tang, flat lock retained by two side nails (one restored), fitted with external wheel retained by a heart-shaped bracket, scalloped pan with sliding cover, dog with short moulded neck, trigger with acorn finial, full stock (worm damage, small repairs), curved ‘fishtail’ butt with tapering upper border of round section capped in iron at each end (pierced at the base), iron mounts comprising butt-plate, trigger-guard (belt hook missing), and two bands over the fore-end, and associated wooden ramrod, 85.3 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1869
The mark has been attributed to Angleo Colombo, though on no firm basis. A maker of this name lived in Brescia and is recorded as a ‘maestro d’archibusi’ and was associated with a merchant of arms. Other carbines of this type, are preserved in the Artillery Museum, Turin; the Capodimonte Museum, Naples and the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice. See Gaibi 1968, nos. 52 and 53 and Franzoi 1990, fig. 183.
‡ £3,000-5,000
(reverse)
226
A GERMAN 40 BORE WHEEL-LOCK CARBINE, CIRCA 1610
with two-stage swamped sighted barrel (fore-sight removed), octagonal breech fitted with copper-alloy back-sight and engraved with a pair of lines, tang engraved with further lines, flat lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a circular bracket, pan with sliding cover and stud release (replaced), safety-catch and moulded dog, full stock inlaid with engraved scrollwork staghorn panels within segmental lines over the fore-end, short butt shaped for the fingers beneath the lock, for the cheek on the left and fitted with patchbox with sliding cover on the right, inlaid with further segmental lines en suite (the inlay with minor restorations), moulded iron triggerguard, long slender belt hook, engraved horn butt-cap decorated with a quartered shield beneath a spray of foliage, horn ramrodpipes and fore-end cap, and horn-tipped ramrod, probably the original, 81.0 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 2075
‡ £4,000-6,000
227
A 34 BORE NORTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK PISTOL OF NOTABLE LENGTH, SUHL, 1610, POSSIBLY FOR SUPPLY TO HOLSTEIN
with tapering barrel moulded at the muzzle, octagonal over the breech, struck with Suhl mark on the left and the mark of Valentin Klett (Neue Støckel 589) on top, flat lock retained by three side nails, struck with marks en suite with the breech, fitted with external wheel with a heart-shaped bracket, pan with sliding cover, moulded dog, safety-catch opposite the lock, fruitwood full stock (small repairs, worm damage), faceted lemon-shaped butt inlaid with a staghorn rondel, iron trigger-guard and stirrup mount at the fore-end, and wooden ramrod, perhaps the original, 87.8 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 690
Valentin Klett, son of the gunsmith of the same name, is recorded circa 1603-22. He is recorded delivering muskets to the Zurich arsenal in 1614.
‡
£3,500-4,500
228
AN 80 BORE SOUTH GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK PISTOL, NUREMBURG, CIRCA 1610
with slender tapering barrel formed in two stages, octagonal breech struck beneath with Nuremburg mark and a further mark, a serpent (probably for Peter Danner), moulded at the rear, flat lock retained by to side nails, struck with Nuremburg mark and the mark of Peter Danner (Neue Støckel 4251), fitted with external wheel retained by a circular bracket, sliding pancover with button release, moulded dog, safety-catch opposite the lock, full stock bound with iron bands over the fore-end (pommel restored, perhaps in it working life), iron mounts comprising a band enclosing the pommel, trigger-guard, a pair of quatre foilside nail washers, and fore-end cap incorporating the ramrod-pipe (associated ramrod), 62.7 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 4016
‡ £2,500-3,500
229
A 20 BORE ITALIAN LONG WHEEL-LOCK BELT PISTOL, CIRCA 1610-20
with two-stage barrel, octagonal breech struck with a mark beneath, flat lock of shaped outline retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small bracket, pan with sliding cover, and moulded dog, figured full stock with short slender ‘fishtail’ butt, delicately formed iron triggerguard, long slender belt hook, engraved foliate barrel bolt escutcheons, and iron-tipped wooden ramrod (the tip perhaps original), 77.7 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 1864
‡ £3,500-4,500
(reverse)
230
A 54 BORE ITALIAN WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1640
with tapering barrel formed in two stages, octagonal breech, flat lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small bracket, pan with sliding cover, moulded dog, full stock inlaid with pierced iron plaques over the foreend, beneath the lock and on the base of the pommel, iron mounts comprising a moulded band enclosing the pommel, faceted trigger-guard, a pair of foliate side nail washers, and fore-end cap incorporating a ramrod-pipe, (associated irontipped ramrod), 62.7 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 784
‡
£2,000-3,000
231
A 20 BORE ITALIAN WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1640
with tapering barrel formed in two stages, octagonal breech, flat lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small bracket, pan with sliding cover, moulded dog, full stock inlaid with three pairs of iron wire tendrils over the fore-end, those at the front and rear enclosed by iron bands and forming the barrel bolt washers, further tendrils enclosing the foliate side nail washers, fishtail pommel enclosed by a moulded band and inlaid with further tendrils, faceted trigger-guard, and iron-tipped wooden ramrod (seized, probably an early association), 60.8 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 781
‡
£2,000-3,000
A PAIR OF 32 BORE DUTCH LONG WHEEL-LOCK
HOLSTER PISTOLS, MID-17TH CENTURY
with tapering barrels formed in two stages, octagonal breeches struck ‘IK’ divided by a further mark, rounded locks retained by three side nails , fitted with external wheels retained by a small ba sal bracket, sliding pan-covers with button release, and dogs, blackened full stocks (one with a small chip ahead of the lock, one fore-end with a small crack, the other expertly repaired), slender butts carved with an expanded flowerhead on the pommel, iron mounts comprising trigger-guards, a single ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap, and three staghorn side nail washers (later iron-tipped wooden ramrods), 63.7 cm (2)
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. nos. 1420 & 1421
‡ £4,000-6,000
A PAIR OF 25 BORE GERMAN LONG WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS, SUHL, CIRCA 1660 with tapering barrels formed in three stages, struck with Suhl marks on the left of the breeches, plain tangs, bevelled locks s truck ‘MR’ on the inside, fitted with external wheel retained by a small bracket, pans with sliding covers and faceted dogs, light wood full stocks (worm damage, small repairs), and iron mounts comprising domed pommels, strap trigger-guards, a single ramrod-pipe, fore-end caps, and iron tipped wooden ramrods perhaps the original, 60.0 cm overall (2)
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. nos. 2074 & 2075
‡ £4,000-6,000
234
A 20 BORE AUSTRIAN WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1620-30, PROBABLY FOR THE CARINTHIAN OR STYRIAN ARSENAL
with tapering barrel formed in two stages, polygonal over the forward section and octagonal over the breech, flat lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a crescentic bracket, sliding pan-cover, and moulded dog, full stock, slender ‘fishtail’ pommel, iron mounts comprising a moulded band around the pommel, trigger-guard, two further moulded bands over the fore-end forming ramrod-pipes, and small fore-end cap, and iron-tipped wooden ramrod (the iron parts chemically cleaned, areas of wear), 59.4 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv. no. 636
‡
£2,000-3,000
235
A 20 BORE DUTCH WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1630
with tapering barrel formed in four stages, octagonal then polygonal breech, tang incorporating the back-sight, bevelled lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a horizontal bracket, moulded dog with baluster bridle, figured full stock (light worm damage), moulded over the fore-end and carved with a banded moulding iron mounts comprising a band around the pommel, broad pierced triggerguard pivoting trigger-plate acting as a safety-catch, ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap (later iron-tipped wooden ramrod), 59.5 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1410
‡ £2,000-3,000
236
A 28 BORE DUTCH LONG WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1640
with tapering barrel formed with a long slender medial rib, the breech with two further ribs and struck with a mark beneath, rounded lock retained by three side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small basal bracket, full stock moulded over the fore-end, slender butt with large oval pommel encircled by an iron band and set with an iron stud, iron trigger-guard, small moulded ramrod-pipe, iron fore-end cap, and associated iron-tipped wooden ramrod, 70.5 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1407
‡
£2,000-3,000
237
A 28 BORE DUTCH WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1640
with tapering barrel formed in two stages and engraved with a pair of lines at the median, bevelled lock retained by two side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small bracket, dog with shaped bridle, and sliding pan-cover with button release, and blackened full stock (small repairs), iron mounts comprising a band around the pommel, trigger-guard, ramrodpipe and fore-end cap (later iron-tipped wooden ramrod), 64.2 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1408
‡ £2,000-3,000
238
A 32 BORE GERMAN WHEELLOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1640
with octagonal barrel, strongly bevelled flat lock retained by three side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small basal bracket, sliding pan-cover, faceted dog and spring with let-in bridle, full stock (a small crack at the fore-end and a further crack behind the lock to the side nail), impressed ‘3’ opposite the lock, iron mounts comprising cap pommel, trigger-guard, ramrod-pipe, and fore-end cap and associated irontipped ramrod, 56.8 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 2096
‡ £2,000-3,000
239
A 24 BORE GERMAN LONG WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1640
with tapering barrel formed in two stages, octagonal breech, flat bevelled lock retained by three side nails, fitted with external wheel retained by a small basal bracket, pan with sliding cover, and faceted dog, full stock (fore-end restored), iron mounts comprising cap pommel, trigger-guard, restored ramrod-pipe and fore-end cap (later ramrod), 68.5 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 699
‡ £2,000-3,000
240
A 25 BORE NORTH EUROPEAN WHEEL-LOCK HOLSTER PISTOL, CIRCA 1690, PROBABLY SWEDISH with tapering sighted barrel formed in three stages divided by engraved lines, rounded lock retained by two side nails, engraved with a spray of foliage, fitted with external wheel retained by a small basal bracket, sliding pan-cover with engraved button release, engraved dog and bridle, fruitwood full stock moulded over the fore-end and opposite the lock (a small repair near the pommel), impressed 211, probably a gunroom number, behind the lock, burnished steel mounts comprising engraved spurred pommel, broad trigger-guard, a pair of moulded ramrod-pipes, a slender band at the fore-end and iron-tipped ramrod, perhaps the original, 55.8 cm overall
Provenance
Robert Brooker Collection inv.no. 1799
‡ £2,000-3,000
241
A RARE COPPER ALLOY DAGGER, 2ND MILLENIUM B.C., ELAM OR LURISTAN AND ANOTHER COPPER ALLOY DAGGER, PROBABALY LURISTAN 1ST MILLENIUM B.C.
in excavated condition, the first with broad double-edged leaf-shaped blade formed with a pair of long very slender fullers divided by a central ridge on each face, integral hilt with slightly inwardly-curved guard, pierced conical pommel and tubular grip; the second with tapering double-edged blade formed with a broad medial ridge on each face, integral hilt enclosing the forte, disc pommel and two-stage grip pierced around the upper portion, the first: 29.0 cm (2)
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
See Khorasani 2006, p. 375, cat. no. 2.
‡ £500-700
242
AN IRON SHORTSWORD, POSSIBLY ROMAN 3RD CENTURY B.C
in excavated condition, with broad flat double-edged iron blade tapering sharply at the point (the tang missing), and five copper alloy mounts for the hilt comprising guard, three bands for the grip and a portion of its cap pommel, mounted on a wooden board for display, 52.3 cm blade
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
‡ £800-1,200
243
A RARE NORTH EUROPEAN LONG SCRAMASAX, PROBABLY 7TH/9TH CENTURY
in excavated condition, with broad single-edged knife-like blade of flattened-triangular section, formed with a pair of threequarter length slender fullers long the back-edge on each face (the edge with one large chip), swelling at the forte to form an elliptical guard, and tapering tang, 63.5 cm overall
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
Another long scramasax of related form is preserved in the Museums Für Deutsche Geschichte, Berlin. See Müller and Kölling 1990, p. 158, no. 8.
‡ £400-600
244
A RARE DAGGER, POSSIBLY 14TH/15TH CENTURY
in excavated condition, with tapering double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section, iron hilt comprising straight crosspiece of rectangular section, slender tang, and large ring pommel, 34.0 cm
Provenance
Excavated in Turkey, circa 1960
Howard M. Curtis (inv. no. 496)
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
A closely related example is preserved in the Historisches Museum, Bern. See Wegeli, 1929, p. 276, no. 1040. Two further examples are illustrated Peterson 1968, nos. 23 and 24.
‡ £400-600
245
A MEDIEVAL SWORD, POSSIBLY 13TH CENTURY
with broad double-edged tapering blade of flattened diamond section for its upper two thirds and formed with a central fuller on each face over the lower third, straight cross-piece of square-section (slightly bent), and disc pommel with pronounced flanged edges, 60.7 cm blade
Provenance
Enrico Saccone
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
‡ £800-1,000
246
A
RARE MEDIEVAL SWORD, CIRCA 1300-50
in excavated condition, with broad tapering blade of flatteneddiamond section, inlaid with six copper alloy flowerheads on each face (the inlay with extensive losses), short tang struck with five pellets in a cross formation (bent towards the pommel), iron hilt comprising slightly arched quillons of tapering-rectangular section flaring towards the terminals (one bent and heavily encrusted, the other incomplete), and octahedral pommel, 90.8 cm blade
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
Expertly conserved by Zacov Barov, former head of conservation at Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California.
‡ £1,200-4,000
247
A RARE MEDIEVAL HAND-AND-A-HALF SWORD, PROBABLY LATE 14TH/15TH CENTURY
in excavated condition, with broad flat blade tapering at the tip, straight cross-piece with slightly down-curved lower-edge and swelling towards the tips, and large wheel-shaped pommel, 81.5 cm blade
The hilt of this sword is related to those preserved in the Military Museum Istanbul and associated with the period circa 1392-1408 during which time there were numerous raids and skirmishes by the Mamluk forces against the Christian Kingdom of Lesser Armenia. See Alexander 1985, pp. 81-119, nos. 32, 38, 39.
£3,000-4,000
248
A COMPOSITE MEDIEVAL SWORD OF CASTILLON TYPE, 15TH CENTURY
in excavated condition, with sharply tapering blade of flattened hollow-diamond section, iron hilt comprising straight crossguard tapering to a pair of sharp down-turned terminals, disc pommel, and wooden grip (losses, the grip repaired), 62.7 cm blade
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
The blade conforms to Oakeshott type XV. The pommel is of similar form to the only dagger recorded in this distinct group.
‡ £2,500-3,500
A VERY FINE ENGLISH SMALL-SWORD WITH CHISELLED IRON HILT, CIRCA 1760
with colichemarde blade etched with a scrollwork panel at the forte (rubbed), finely pierced and chiselled steel hilt comprising double shell-guard filled with a cantering horse on a ground of scrolling leafy tendrils within a foliate frame on each face, quillon-block and pommel decorated en suite with the shell, pas d’ ânes, quillon with globular terminal and knuckle-guard each chased with foliage on a finely punched ground, and the grip with an early binding of plaited wire and ribbands between ‘Turk’s Heads’, 80.7 cm blade
Provenance
Ham House, sold Robinson & Foster Ltd., 14th March 1951, lot 194 (part), a copy of the original sale catalogue included.
Donald W. S. Donald
The horse is perhaps the owner’s crest, which may for a member of a number of families including Amosley, Colt, Fust, Hambrough, Jackson, Lorimer, Maturin, O’ Mallahan, O’ Malley and Straker.
£2,000-3,000
250
A SCOTTISH BASKET HILTED BROADSWORD, SECOND QUARTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY with double-edged blade stamped ‘Andrea’ and ‘Ferara’ between a series of decorative marks on the respective faces, iron basket hilt of rounded bars carrying an alternating arrangement of narrow and square fluted panels all pierced with hearts and circles, the narrow panels at the front and back each surmounting a ram’s horn moulding (chipped), the square panels carried by a saltire arrangement of bars, scrolling quillon, fluted bun-shaped pommel, and spirally moulded fishskin-covered grip (binding missing), 83.0 cm blade
£1,200-1,800
251
AN ITALIAN GUNNER’S STILETTO (FUSETTO DI BOMBARDIERE), MID-17TH CENTURY with tapering blade of triangular section graduated to 120, spirally-moulded iron hilt comprising short quillons and pommel, and later spirally-carved wooden grip, in a later leather-covered scabbard, 30.5 cm
£400-600
A RARE AMERICAN SILVER-HILTED OFFICER’S SWORD PRESENTED BY JOHN MURRAY OF NEW YORK TO H. SANSOM, LATE 18TH CENTURY with curved blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a long wide fuller, etched with scrolls and trophies and with traces of gilt decoration at the forte, silver stirrup hilt with scrolling quillon terminal, faceted back-strap engraved with the presentation inscription, cap pommel engraved with a band of conventional foliage, and leather grip bound with plaited silver wire and a moulded silver collar at the base, 73.7 cm blade
Provenance
Donald W. S. Donald
The inscription reads: ‘Presented by Jno Murray of New York to his Friend H. Sansom’.
£1,000-1,500
253
A RARE FRENCH GLAIVE FOR THE ECOLE DE MARS, CIRCA 1794
of regulation type, with broad double-edged blade (areas of light pitting), hilt comprising a pair of strong down-curved iron arms with brass budshaped finials, iron knuckle-guard, block-shaped brass guard cast with a Phrygian cap in low relief on each side of the langets, integral grip cast with an overlapping design of leaves and oval-section pommel, in its fabric-covered wooden scabbard with large brass mounts decorated with neoclassical designs, 53.2 cm blade
The Ecole de Mars was created on 13 Prairial An II (1 June 1794) and disbanded in September of the same year. The school was for teenaged men and organised along classical lines with three corps of ‘milleries’ each composed of ten ‘centuries’, in turn divided into ten ‘decuries’. See Ariès 1975, fasc. XXIII.
£500-700
254
A HUSSAR OFFICER'S SWORD, THIRD QUARTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY AUSTRIAN
with curved blade double-edged towards the point, formed with a near full length fuller and etched with trophies-of-arms, scrolls and an exotic bird on each face, copper alloy stirrup hilt including langets cast and chased with foliage and a differing trophyof-arms on each face in low relief, knuckle-guard decorated with a panel of foliage, pommel enclosed by further foliage and decorated with a trophy en suite on the top, and leather-covered grip retained by a rivet with a fluted copper alloy head (binding missing, blade with areas of pitting), in a leather scabbard, probably the original (shrunk), with large copper alloy mounts comprising chape with iron drag, middle band and locket each with a ring for suspension, 86.5 cm blade
£600-800
255
AN EDWARD VII 11TH (PRINCE ALBERT’S OWN) HUSSARS OFFICER’S LEVÉE SWORD RETAILED BY HAWKES & CO, 14 PICCADILLY LONDON
of regulation type, with curved blade doubleedged towards the point, etched over the lower half with foliage, battle honours to Sevastopol, regimental designation, crest and motto on one face and with the crowned Royal cypher and retailer’s details on the other, gilt-brass mameluke hilt (insignia missing), ivory grips, in its nickel-plated scabbard with gilt-brass mounts, comprising chape, middle-band and locket, the latter two each with a ring for suspension, 83.0 cm blade
£1,000-1,200
256 AN EDWARD VII MAMELUKE-HILTED SWORD RETAILED BY CATER & CO, 56 PALL MALL, LONDON, PROBABLY FOR AN EQUERRY OR A. D. C. TO THE KING
with curved blade double-edged towards the point, etched in the centre on each face with a long panel filled with scrolling foliage, the Prince of Wales’ feathers and motto ‘Ich Dien’ and with further foliage at the base and the retailer’s details, gilt-brass mameluke hilt with the royal cypher ‘ER’ on each face, ivory grips (one foliate washer missing), in its regulation brass scabbard (mouth missing), with two rings for suspension, 77.8 cm blade
This sword particularly resembles the levée swords of the 11th Hussars. The Lancashire Hussars were noted for adopting many features of 11th Hussars uniform; they were also known to have had a Mameluke sword which they retained for levées. Their regimental badge was a rose. It is quite likely that this scabbard was originally bright before being painted black between the gilt mounts. It seems very possible that this sword is that of the Lancashire Hussars.
Cater & Co. are recorded at this address circa 18801917.
£300-500
257 AN 1845 PATTERN NAVAL OFFICER’S SWORD, POST 1902 with etched blade including a fouled anchor and the crowned Royal arms, gilt-brass hilt with folding side-guard, in its brass-mounted scabbard, complete sword knot, 79.8 cm blade
£200-300
A GREEK BRONZE HELMET OF ILLYRIAN TYPE, 6TH-5TH CENTURY B.C.
formed in one piece with a rounded crown decorated to either side with raised medial ridges of inverted ‘V-section, at the rear an outward flange forming a short neck-guard, pierced with a projecting central rivet at the brow, the integral downward-projecting cheek-pieces forming a rectangular face-opening, the principle edges decorated with a series of small punched circles (the cheekpieces and the rear of the skull repaired, the whole with a mottled patina overall), 24.0 cm
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
Illyrian helmets originate in the Peloponnese region, with the majority having been excavated in Illyria (Northwestern part of the Balkan peninsula). Examples of these helmets belonging to Type III A, have been found in warrior graves belonging to Macedonian and Illyrian tribes, the closest example being from Sindos, Grave 115. See Pflug 1988 pp. 42-65, a related example (type IIIA) is preserved in the Olympia Museum, see Pflug, ibid, p. 54, abb. 10-11.
‡ £3,500-4,500
AN ITALIC BRONZE HELMET OF NEGAU TYPE, MID-5TH CENTURY B.C.
formed in one piece, the domed crown rising to a gentle medial ridge, at the brow a broad grooved band encircling three-quarters of the head, with a carinated brim below engraved with a line top and bottom (the brim with a small chip, pierced at each side for display purposes, the skull with several small holes and laminations, patinated green), 22.5 cm high
Provenance
Christie, Manson & Woods’s, King Street, 17th January 1979, lot 301
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
For a similar helmet, with a groove enclosing the entire head, preserved in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, found at Enns-Asten, Austria, see Gamber 1978, fig. 346. For a discussion of the group see Egg 1988, pp. 243-270.
‡ £3,000-5,000
A RARE ITALIAN BARBUTA, THE SKULL, MILANESE LATE 15TH CENTURY, STRUCK WITH THE MARKS OF TOMASSO MISSAGLIA
the skull formed in one piece with a rounded crown rising to a low medial ridge, extending downwards and flaring slightly outwards at each side to just above the level of the shoulders, projecting rearwards over the nape as a short integral “tail” and cut at the front with a T-shaped face-opening; its rear struck with the maker’s marks, a gothic letter ‘M’ beneath a split cross at each side, the face-opening reinforced, and the lower edge with a near square-section turn (the face-opening, neck-guard and a portion of the cheeks restored, small areas of light pitting), 29.5 cm high
Provenance
Christie’s, 20th March 1967, lot 109 Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
The marks appear to be those of the Missaglia workshop, the leading Milanese armorers in the fifteenth century. A sallet of circa 1440-50 marked by Tommaso dei Negroni da Ello, called Missaglia, considered to be the founder of the great Milanese dynasty of armourers, was sold in this room, 28th June 2023, lot 282. Rebuilt by Christpher Dobson, Suffolk, 2012.
‡ £6,000-8,000
A COMPOSITE CLOSE HELMET, CIRCA 1510-20, PROBABLY FLEMISH
with rounded one-piece skull formed with a low hollowed medial comb (pierced at its centre for a later funerary crest), associated ‘sparrow’s beak’ visor of pronounced form, pierced with a centrally-divided stepped vision-slit, and on each side of the beak with six ventilation-holes and three slots beneath them on each side (its upper edge cut to fit), associated bevor secured at the left by a swivel-hook and pierced stud, the lower edge of the bevor pierced for the attachment of a lining (bearing rich brown patina throughout), 28.0 cm high
Provenance
Probably Browsholme Hall, Forest of Boland, Lancashire
Eric Valentine
Arnhard, Graf Klenau, May 1982
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
Sold together with a letter from Claude Blair, dated 1st February 1983, stating that the helmet was from Eric Valentine and probably Browsholme Hall before.
‡ £5,000-7,000
A RARE SOUTH GERMAN CLOSE HELMET, CIRCA 1560 with finely formed skull boxed in eight sections and drawn out to an acute point at its apex, pierced with a circular arrangement of fourteen and thirteen circular ventilation-holes around a central hole on the left and right sides respectively, visor, upper bevor and bevor attached by common pivots (replaced), each secured at the right side by a spring-catch operated by a push button, the visor with stepped centrally-divided vision-slit, the prow-shaped upper bevor pierced with three pairs of cruciform ventilationholes at each side, lower bevor shaped to the chin, two associated gorget-plates front and rear, and the skull pierced at its rear with pairs of holes for securing a lining, 28.3 cm high Provenance
Harold Peterson, sold Christie’s 5th July 1978, lot 170 (£1200) Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
‡ £5,000-7,000
263
A SOUTH GERMAN BURGONET, NUREMBURG, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
with rounded skull joined along the crest of a tall medial comb, fitted at the brow with a separate obtusely-pointed peak (its tip bent upwards), at its flanged lower edge with a neck-guard of one lame, and at each side with a hinged cheek-piece pierced at its centre with five small auditory holes in diceformation and flanged outwards at its lower edge to continue the line of the neck-guard, the right cheekpiece stamped ‘188’, the main edges of the helmet formed with file-roped inward turns, and retaining an early padded lining, 28.0 cm
£800-1,000
264
A NORTH GERMAN INFANTRY BREASTPLATE, CIRCA 1570
formed of a medially-ridged main plate projecting forward over the belly, broad moderately shallow neck-opening (gussets missing) fitted at each side with a later buckle for a shoulder strap, and flanged outwards at its lower edge to receive an associated fauld of one lame, its upper edge struck to the right of centre with a dot, and decorated over the chest with a pair of ogee lines continuing vertically into the medial ridge, and the neck-opening formed with a prominent file-roped inward turn, 37.5 cm high
£800-1,200
265
A PAIR OF FLUTED PAULDRONS IN THE GERMAN EARLY 16TH CENTURY MAXIMILIAN STYLE, 19TH CENTURY of asymmetrical design, formed in each case of six lames, the first fitted with a haute-piece, decorated throughout with bands of fluting emphasised by incised lines, the principle edges formed with roped inward turns accompanied by recessed borders, and with an integral buckle in the centre at the top of each (leathers worn and disarticulated at points), 29.0 cm (2)
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
‡ £500-700
266
A PAIR OF FLUTED CUISSES AND POLEYNS IN ITALIAN EARLY 16TH CENTURY STYLE ‘ALLA TEDESCA’, 19TH CENTURY
each formed of a gutter-shaped main plate, poleyn of four lames with a large wing, decorated with a broad fluted panel emphasised by incised lines (mottled pitting overall), 41.5 cm (2)
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
‡ £500-700
267
A PAIR OF GERMAN TASSETS, CIRCA 1570
each formed of seven upward-lapping lames (two lames on the left and two of the right with soldered repairs, both releathered), the lowest lame of each decorated at its edge with a roped inward turn accompanied by a recessed border (light pitting), 40.7 cm (2)
£400-600
268
A TOOLED LEATHER SHIELD IN ITALIAN MID-16TH CENTURY STYLE, 19TH CENTURY
of tooled leather over plaster and wood (the plaster detached and cracked), decorated over its outer surface with a biblical scene, perhaps the conversion of St Paul, including figures in armour al antica all enclosed by a border filled with further figures carr ying oval panels, strapwork and foliage (small cracks and losses), the inner sur face with a ring for display, 53.30 cm diameter
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
This appears to be very closely modelled on, or moulded from, the shield preserved in the Royal Collection (RCIN 72907), perhaps inspired by the Milanese example now preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Acc. No. 25.163.1)
‡ £700-1,000
269
A BRONZE SIGNAL CANNON, 19TH CENTURY
with tapering barrel divided by raised mouldings, plain trunnions, globose cascable with button, on its wooden carriage, 61.0 cm barrel, 2.5 cm bore
£600-800
270
A NORTH ITALIAN CUIR BOUILLI POWDERFLASK, LAST QUARTER OF THE 16TH CENTURY
with bulbous body formed with a series of deep vertical flutes divided by roped borders at the base and a horizontal panel of foliage above, fitted with an engraved iron reinforce around the border, engraved iron cap decorated with foliage and ropework, iron nozzle with moulded lever for a cut-off, pierced long iron belt hook, and a further ring mount, 16.5 cm high
‡ £700-1,000
271
A DECORATED POWDER HORN, 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
of cow horn, fitted with wooden basal cap, a portion of its copper alloy cut-off (nozzle and sling mounts missing), decorated over its surface with the full crowned Royal arms, an artillery train, a British manof-war and an early representation of Halifax, with caption above (some engraving later), 33.3 cm
Provenance
Norman Fargo, Sandpoint, Idaho
‡ £1,000-1,400
EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN FIREARMS
272
A RARE 20 BORE ITALIAN MIQUELET-LOCK MUSKET, BRESCIA, CIRCA 1640
with octagonal swamped sighted Ottoman barrel inlaid with silver lines at the muzzle and breech, the latter struck with a copper alloy-lined barrelsmith’s mark an incorporating a pierced standing back-sight, flat lock-plate with rounded tail, fitted with external mechanism with delicately filed details, full stock moulded over the fore-end (repairs), of ‘wheel-lock’ form about the lock, and with strongly curved faceted butt, lightly incised with foliage and linear designs, steel mounts comprising trigger-guard, a pair of ramrod-pipes, two sling mounts and fore-end cap (later ramrod), 106.0 cm barrel
‡
£1,000-1,500
273
A 5 BORE ITALIAN ROMAN-LOCK CARBINE, LATE 17TH CENTURY
with two-stage barrel, octagonal breech struck with the barrelsmith’s initials, probably ‘CEP’ and with the crested Visconti arms (later), flat bevelled lock chiselled with a mask on the tail, fitted with moulded cock, filed external mainspring and steel en suite with the tail (top-jaw restored), elaborately carved full stock decorated with foliage and grotesque greenman masks, folding butt carved with a further grotesque on the pommel (restored), iron mounts comprising triggerguard and long belt hook (the iron parts with light pitting), silver escutcheon engraved en suite with the barrel, and inscribed 'Governatore di Como' (later), and carved wooden ramrod-pipe (later ramrod), 43.8 cm barrel
‡ £1,500-2,000
A FINE 40 BORE SARDINIAN MIQUELET GUN, LATE 17TH CENTURY
with very long tapering slender barrel formed in two stages, the forward portion polygonal and the breech section octagonal, inlaid in engraved silver with scrolling foliage, a sun-in-splendour and a further mask over the breech and inscribed ‘MFST’ and ‘MSC ‘ ahead, engraved tang, flat lock signed ‘MMS’ and finely chiselled with foliage and masks on the bridles, fitted with chiselled cock decorated with a mask on the top-jaw and steel en suite, trigger chiselled as a serpent, full stock encased in finely pierced and chiselled steel over the fore-end decorated with elaborate designs of foliage inhabited by naïve figures, rampant lions, serpents, further beasts and masks, the middle-section of wood carved with a matching design of foliage, slender flaring butt with a cylindrical comb all decorated en suite with the fore-end, long trigger-guard decorated with foliage and masks and open at the front, with no provision for a ramrod, and with large circular inventory tag ‘C. P. Bedford 1366’, 135.7 cm barrel
Provenance
E. A. Oxley, London, 1936
Clay P. Bedford, Arizona, (inv. no. 1366)
Stephen V. Grancsay
Literature
Arms and Armor, A Loan Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen V. Grancsay, with important contributions by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 15th March - 14th June 1964, p. 80
Exhibited
Allentown, 1964 (see above)
The initials probably those of Matteo II Franzini, recorded in Sarezzo and Gardone Val Trompia circa 1650-97. This gun is a notably fine example of this distinctive group, a comparable example, signed ‘M.F.S.’ on the barrel, is preserved in the Armeria Reale, Turin. See Bertolotto et al 1982, p. 389, cat. no. 305.
‡ £4,000-6,000
A 25 BORE CENTRAL ITALIAN ROMAN-LOCK CARBINE, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
with etched twist tapering sighted barrel formed in five stages, rifled with eight grooves and retained by a pierced copper alloy band, fluted and gilt over the breech, engraved and gilt tang incorporating the back-sight, engraved flat lock decorated with flowers and foliage on the tail, full stock with ‘Catalan’ style butt, gilt copper-alloy mounts comprising butt-plate and trigger-guard, the latter engraved with flowers and foliage en suite with the lock, gilt copper alloy fore-end cap, and associated wooden ramrod (the gilding refreshed), 48.7 cm barrel
‡
£1,500-2,000
276
AN 11 BORE NORTH ITALIAN SNAPHAUNCE SPORTING GUN BY CASSIANO ZANOTTI, CIRCA
1750-80
with tapering sighted barrel formed in three stages retained by a shaped copper alloy band, struck with a series of gold and silver-lined decorative marks including the barrelsmith’s mark at the breech (losses, restorations), flat lock chiselled with an espagnolette mask in low relief on the tail, signed by the maker ‘CZ’ (Neue Støckel 8578) on the inside, engraved with traditional foliage, flowerheads and a monster, fitted with engraved and chiselled cock, battery and sliding pan-cover en suite (restorations), figured half-stock, (small chips), fluted butt, copper alloy mounts including butt-plate with tang of shaped outline, trigger-guard with foliate terminal, a shaped plaque beneath the fore-end and ramrod-pipe (later ramrod, repaired), 99.0 cm barrel
£800-1,000
277
A 16 BORE CENTRAL ITALIAN ROMAN-LOCK FOWLING-PIECE, GIO. CIGHERA, CIRCA 1750
with two-stage barrel retained by a slender copper alloy band with scrollwork border in low relief, fitted with later copper alloy ‘spider’ fore-sight, chiselled girdle, and octagonal breech, tapering tang engraved with foliage, rounded lock signed on the pan-block, fitted with engraved cock and external mainspring, figured half-stock carved with foliage beneath the fore-end, fluted butt decorated with foliage en suite about the tang, copper alloy mounts en suite with the barrel band, comprising butt-plate, solid side-plate, and trigger-guard, and a later sling swivel, and associated horn-tipped wooden ramrod, 105.5 cm barrel
£600-800
278
A 22 BORE PORTUGUESE LONG FOWLING PIECE, CIRCA 1820
with browned barrel retained by three moulded copper alloy bands and fitted with copper alloy ‘spider’ fore-sight, octagonal breech signed ‘Lazaro Lazarino Legitimo de Braga’ on the flat, struck with Liège proof mark and engraved with foliage, engraved tang, border-engraved flat lock retained by three side nails, engraved with sprays of foliage and fitted with characteristic short cock, figured full stock carved with foliage behind the rear ramrod-pipe and about the tang, fluted butt, copper alloy mounts comprising butt-plate, trigger-guard with foliate terminals and side nail washers, wooden ramrod with steel worm, probably the original, 111.17 cm barrel
A father and son of this name are recorded in Braga active 1783 and circa 1800-50 respectively. The latter produced export goods with barrels from Birmingham and Liège.
‡ £800-1,000
A FINE
18 BORE SPANISH MIQUELET-LOCK SPORTING GUN
BY MIGUEL DE
ZEGARRA, CIRCA 1770
with blued barrel formed in two stages and retained by two pierced barrel bands, fitted with silver ‘spider’ fore-sight, moulded ‘saddle’ iron back-sight, finely hammered over the fore-end in imitation of fur, octagonal breech hammered with a scale pattern, struck with the gold-lined barrelsmith’s marks (Neue Støckel 1192, 8587), further decorative marks and sprays of foliage over the breech, gold-lined vent, chiselled and gilt tang decorated with scrolls of foliage and rococo scrolls, flat bevelled lock struck with a further gold-lined maker’s stamp (Neue Støckel 8586), inscribed ‘En Madrid’ and engraved with scrolls, fitted with chiselled moulded cock with finely engraved bridle, chiselled and gilt steel, and gold-lined pan, figured walnut full stock, fluted butt, finely engraved mounts comprising butt-plate, trigger-guard with gold-lined maker’s stamp en suite with the lock, and sideplate with a portrait profile, and horn-tipped wooden ramrod with steel terminal, and in fine condition throughout, 92.5 cm barrel Miguel de Zegarra (active circa 1740-83) apprenticed to Gabriel Algora, became honoury gunsmith to Carlos III in 1768 and his official gunsmith in 1771.
‡ £1,000-1,500
A 12 BORE SPANISH MIQUELET-LOCK SPORTING GUN BY FERNANDO MURÚA, EIBAR, CIRCA
1790-1800
with blued barrel formed in two stages, with silver ‘spider’ fore-sight, chiselled and gilt girdle, octagonal breech inlaid with silver foliage surmounted by birds ahead of the gold-lined barrelsmith’s marks and further decorative marks (small losses, bluing now brown), engraved tang, signed flat lock with chiselled, gilt and engraved details, half stock with ‘Catalan’ butt, engraved and blued steel mounts including butt-plate with foliate tang, trigger-guard with parcel gilt foliate terminal, a pair of silver sidenail washers, silver ramrod-pipe, a silver band at the fore-end and a silver sprung plaque engraved as a fish engaging a single silver barrel band (later ramrod), 91.0 cm barrel
A similar gun by Antonio Guisasola from the collection of Dr James D. Lavin was sold in this room 10th July 2019, lot 286. A more elaborate example made in 1796 and presented to Carlos IV is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 16.135). See Lavin 1965, p. 262.
‡
£1,000-1,500
281
A 12 BORE MIQUELET-LOCK SPORTING GUN
INCORPORATING A LATE 17TH CENTURY OTTOMAN TURKISH BARREL, EARLY 19TH CENTURY, AUSTRIAN OR GERMAN with heavy etched twist sighted barrel formed in four stages, flaring towards the muzzle, chiselled with cartouche-shaped panels at the muzzle, median and breech each decorated with silver-encrusted panels chased with foliage and set with coloured pastes (small losses, rubbed), plain tang, flat lock chiselled with foliage at the base of the cock and beneath the pan, figured half-stock carved with a raised moulding about the tang, steel mounts comprising butt-plate with long slender tang, trigger-guard with foliate terminals, and a pair of moulded copper alloy ramrod-pipes, and associated wooden ramrod, 101.7 cm barrel
Probably intended as a waterfowling gun (standrohr), for use on a rest by hunters in a ‘blind’ or ‘hide’. Another miquelet-lock gun with Ottoman-trophy barrel of this type, formerly in the gunroom of Their Serene Highnesses the Princes zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck, was sold Christie’s 15th April 1992, lot 77 ‡ £600-800
282
A GERMAN 140 BORE AIRGUN OF BELLOWS TYPE, J. HORNAUER IN REGENSBURG, MID-19TH CENTURY
with octagonal barrel eccentrically sleeved in copper alloy and signed in silver scrolling script surrounded by foliage over the breech (small losses), internal action enclosed by openwork copper alloy plaques on each side and on the top, double set trigger, full stock chip-carved along the length of the foreend, chequered beneath the breech and about the grip, the butt with carved raised cheek-piece decorated with bold scrolls on the left and winding spindle on the right, copper alloy mounts including butt-plate, trigger-guard shaped for the fingers and with scrolling finials, three ramrod-pipes and fore-end cap, and associated horn-tipped ramrod (restorations), 90.0 cm barrel
£1,500-2,200
283
A 130 BORE BAVARIAN BREECHLOADING AIR GUN OF BELLOWS TYPE BY F. FACKLER IN AICHACH, MID-19TH CENTURY
with signed blued octagonal sighted barrel opened by a lever ahead of the trigger-guard, inlaid with a slender German silver line at the breech, the tang covered with a plaque of engraved German silver, enclosed action retained by an engraved German silver serpentine plate on each side, double set trigger, figured walnut full stock carved with a panel of chequering at the fore-end and the grip (the fore-end with a small chip), the butt with carved raised cheek-piece on the left and incorporating an iron spindle for the mechanism on the right (cracked), the latter enclosed by a pierced German silver plaque of shaped outline, German silver mounts including trigger-guard shaped for the fingers, buttplate, and three ramrod-pipes, and horn-tipped ramrod, 74.5cm barrel
Provenance
The property of a member of the Wittelsbach family, sold in this room, 8th December 2010, lot 289
£600-800
284
AN AUSTRIAN 140 BORE BREECH-LOADING PUMP AIRGUN, J. SIEGEL, SALZBURG, CIRCA 1850 with octagonal tip-up barrel signed in silver in a scrollwork frame and inlaid with a further silver panel over the breech, fitted with an opening lever beneath, scroll-engraved tang fitted with adjustable peep-sight (one screw missing), engraved flush-fitting percussion style lock signed on a scroll, double set trigger, engraved hammer lever, figured full stock, chequered foreend and grip (cracked through), carved raised cheek-piece, engraved iron mounts including spurred butt-plate incorporating a pump, trigger-guard and trigger-plate, and a pair of ramrod-pipes, horn fore-end cap, and original horntipped wooden ramrod, 67.2 cm barrel
£1,000-1,500
285
A 40 BORE ENGLISH BUTT RESERVOIR AIRGUN, E. LONDON, GUN AND RIFLEMAKER, 51 LONDON WALL, CIRCA 1830 with rebrowned sighted twist barrel signed between scrolls on top, threaded breech sparsely scroll-engraved action fitted with cocking lever and safetycatch on the right and tap-lever on the left, leather-covered butt reservoir, iron trigger-guard, three iron ramrod-pipes, and later brass-tipped wooden ramrod (small restorations), 75.5 cm barrel
Edward London is recorded at this address 1828-66.
£500-600
286
A CASED 70 BORE BUTT RESERVOIR AIR RIFLE, JOHN BLISSET, 321 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, CIRCA 1840-50 with rebrowned twist signed multigroove-rifled barrel, threaded breech, scroll-engraved action fitted with engraved cocking lever and safety-catch on the right and tap-lever on the left, leather-covered butt reservoir, and scroll-engraved trigger-guard: in a later lined and fitted case, complete with signed pump by the same maker, and bullet mould, 75.2 cm barrel
John Blissett, son of Isaac a hair manufacturer, perfumerer and jeweller, is recorded at this address 1836-50. He was granted registered design no. 1050 for an airgun walking stick in 1847.
£1,200-1,500
287
A 90 BORE GERMAN BUTT RESERVOIR AIR GUN, SECOND HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY with two-stage barrel fitted with silver ‘barleycorn’ fore-sight, octagonal breech, imitation flintlock action with cock on the right and external action with filed details on the left, full length walnut fore-end carved in imitation of mounts with three ramrod-pipes, horn fore-end cap, leather covered butt reservoir, and horn-tipped wooden ramrod (restorations), 93.0 cm barrel
£2,000-2,500
288
A RARE 56 BORE REPEATING BUTT RESERVOIR AIR RIFLE BY STAUDENMAYER, CIRCA 1800 with octagonal sighted multi-groove rifled barrel signed in gold capitals on the flat (areas of pitting), inlaid with an elaborate sunburst over the breech, fitted with sprung tap-lever and tubular magazine with pivot cover, signed engraved case-hardened action decorated with border ornament and a Britannia trophy on the reverse, applied with a border-engraved silver plaque on top, fitted with sprung cocking lever on the right, cocking indicator and safety on the left (restorations), engraved trigger-guard decorated with a Britannia trophy and a trophy-of-music, leather-covered steel butt reservoir, and associated horn-tipped copper alloy ramrod, 69.3 cm barrel
Samuel Henry Staudenmayer, former workman of John Manton, was gunmaker to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. He is the maker of a Girandoni-system air rifle in the Royal Collection at Windsor (inv. no. L 409). Two air weapons by this maker are recorded in the Hanoverian Royal Gunroom, one of which was sold Sotheby’s, Hanover, October 2005, lot 868.
£2,000-2,500
289
A 56 BORE GERMAN BUTT RESERVOIR AIR RIFLE, SECOND HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY with tapering sighted shallow-rifled barrel, moulded threaded breech engraved with a pair of lines, borderengraved external action with cocking-lever on the right, short green leather-covered fore-end, green leathercovered butt reservoir, iron trigger-guard, and copper alloy butt-cap (restorations), 83.7 cm barrel
£1,200-1,500
290
A CASED 140 BORE AIR CANE, LATE 19TH CENTURY with blackened body fitted with button trigger, multi-groove rifled copper alloy sleeve, threaded gun-stock butt covered with black leather: in early brass-bound fitted case lined in green baize (cracks, areas of wear), the lid with flush-fitting circular carrying handle on the outside, the interior with facsimile trade label for E. M. Reilly & Co., with pump, two bullet moulds, wad-cutter and oil bottle, 53.4 cm barrel
£1,200-1,500
291
A CASED .32 CALIBRE AIRCANE, LATE 19TH CENTURY with rifled barrel sleeved in brass, with tap-lever at the breech end, and turn-off brass finial for the muzzle, screw-in air reservoir section threaded at the top for a horn knob or a skeleton butt (repainted overall), the latter cut with chequering and with engraved steel mount, in a contemporary relined leather case, perhaps the original, with trade label for F. T. Baker, and complete with a pump, and associated cane handle 108cm; 42 1/2in overall (with skeleton butt)
Provenance
Sold in this room 8th December 2010, lot 336
£700-1,000
292
A FLINTLOCK BLUNDERBUSS BY SEARLES, LONDON, CIRCA 1790
with copper alloy barrel formed swelling towards the muzzle, octagonal breech section engraved en rocaille, inscribed London on the flat and struck with proof marks on the left, engraved iron tang, flat bevelled lock signed in an oval beneath a bouquet and engraved with border ornament, full stock (foreend chipped), engraved copper alloy mounts comprising butt-plate engraved with foliage on the tang, trigger-guard decorated with a rococo flower on the bow and with pineapple finial (chipped), a single moulded ramrod-pipe, and brass-tipped wooden ramrod, perhaps the original, 65.2 cm overall
Perhaps by James Sturman Searles gunmaker and springmaker recorded circa 1792-1824. His trade label of 1803 advertised a ‘Telegraph Game Gun, [that] gives the Earliest Intelligence at the Approach of Thieves and may at Will prove fatal….may be hung…outside camps in Foreign Countries, Wild beasts destroy themselves and make Food for the Army.’
£700-1,000
293
A FLINTLOCK BLUNDERBUSS BY WILSON, EARLY 19TH CENTURY
with brass barrel formed in three stages, swelling towards the muzzle and fitted with top-mounted spring bayonet retained by a catch on the tang, signed stepped lock fitted with engraved cock, semi-rainproof pan, steel spring with roller, full stock, engraved brass mounts including butt-plate with decorated tang (rubbed), solid side-plate decorated with a scallop shell, and trigger-guard with foliate terminal and associated horn-tipped ramrod, 76.0 cm overall
£1,000-1,200
A FINE PAIR OF 16 BORE LIEGOIS FLINTLOCK HOLSTER PISTOLS BY JEAN JAQUES BEHR, CIRCA 1720-30
with swamped barrels signed on a long flat, fitted with moulded brass fore-sights on engraved beds, chiselled and engraved with scrolls and foliage on a finely punched and gilt ground over the breeches, each stamped with a mark beneath (Neue Støckel 42), chiselled and gilt tangs, chiselled and gilt locks decorated with scrolls of foliage en suite with the breeches and tangs, fitted with matching cocks and steels (one cock retaining screw replaced, areas of light pit ting), figured walnut full stocks (small closed cracks), carved with mouldings over the fore-ends, a spray of foliage behind the rear ramrod-pipes, and about the tangs, the barrel channels each inscribed in pencil ‘AR/1898/2/KN1912’, cast and chased gilt copper-alloy mounts, comprising pierced side-plates in the Parisian taste, decorated with trophies-of-arms and a bound prisoner on the right and another figure on the left, probably Hercules with the Nemean lion, ‘bird’s head’ pommels fitted with grotesque mask caps with foliate tangs, trigger-guards chiselled with acanthus terminals and trophies-of-arms on the bows, gilt copper-alloy trigger-plates, a pair of gilt-brass ramrod-pipes, and wooden ramrods with gilt-brass caps, and one pistol with brass inventory tag numbered ‘1930’ 30.0 cm; barrels (2)
Provenance
The Gewehrkammer of Ernst August I, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1688-1748), Schloss Ettersburg, Saxony Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1876-1923), sold E. Kahlert & Sohn, Berlin, circa 1923
George F. Harding Jr., Chicago, acquired by August 1927
Transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982, Acc. No. 1982.2879, sold in this room, 25th June 2014, lot 196.
Literature
Walter J. Karcheski Jr., ‘Some Netherlandish Firearms in the George F. Harding Jr. Collection of Arms And Armor, The Art Institute of Chicago’, Proceedings of the International Association of Museums of Arms and Military History XIV Congress 1996 , (Amsterdam: 1996), p. 76.
Jean Jaques Behr is recorded in Liège circa 1720-40 as a gunmaker and dealer in firearms. Other firearms by this maker are recorded in the armoury of the Counts of Schönborn at Schloss Würzburg. See Gaier 1976, p. 81
‡ £7,000-9,000
295
A FINE PAIR OF 25 BORE FRENCH SILVER-MOUNTED FLINTLOCK PISTOLS BY BARGE, PARIS CHARGE AND DISCHARGE MARKS FOR 1756-62, MAISON COMMUNE MARK FOR 1758 with blued three-stage barrels, fitted with silver fore-sights on a gilt bed of swirling clouds and a sunburst, decorated with bands of gilt beadwork and foliage about the muzzles, an elaborate classical trophy-of-arms at the median, gilt bands around the muzzles, signed in gold over the breeches, decorated with scrollwork and stylised clam shells within a framework of punched and gilt pellets (the blueing now oxidised to brown), border-engraved tangs decorated with differing trophies-of-arms, bevelled locks signed within rococo scrollwork frames, chiselled with trophies on the tails, foliage on the cocks and stylised espagnolette masks on the steels, all against a finely punched and gilt ground (one top-jaw expertly replaced), figured walnut full stocks carved in low relief with linear mouldings over the fore-ends, a wavy pattern beneath the locks, sprays of laurel, fronds and flowers behind the rear ramrod-pipes and about the barrel tangs, silver mounts cast and chased with rococo ornament in low relief against a gilt fishroe ground, comprising side-plates involving a pair of cornucopia carrying an oval engraved with differing trophies en suite with the respective tangs, trigger-guards with flaming urn finials, the bows engraved with trophies matching the tangs, spurred pommels decorated with rococo shell ornament and trophies against a finely punched and gilt ground, a pair of ramrod-pipes, original horn-tipped ramrods, and remaining in fine condition throughout, 38cm (2)
Provenance
Property of a European Collector, sold in this room 9th December 2009, lot 269. Henri Barge is recorded arquebusier in Paris circa 1740-80.
‡ £8,000-10,000
A RARE 34 BORE SPANISH MIQUELET-LOCK BELT PISTOL, CIRCA 1645
with tapering octagonal barrel retained by a slender pierced iron band, flat patilla lock fitted with external mainspring, steel with screw-in fluted inner face, the cock bridle and steel bridle each with scalloped mouldings, full stock carved with three characteristic notches on the left of the breech, applied with pierced symmetrical iron panels beneath the lock, behind the tang and over the fore-end, the latter incorporating a sprung clip engaging the barrel band, the pommel fit ted with iron cap, moulded around its circumference and with a pierced basal cap en suite, iron mounts comprising trigger-guard with writhen rear terminal and long plain belt hook (later ramrod) 15.5 cm; 6 1/8 in barrel
Provenance
James D. Lavin (1929-2013), sold in this room, 5th December 2018, lot 256
Literature
James D. Lavin, A History of Spanish Firearms, 1965, p. 252. The iron mounts are patterned after contemporary arms of Brescia, see Lavin, op. cit.. ‡ £1,500-2,000
(reverse)
297
A 24 BORE SCOTTISH FLINTLOCK BELT PISTOL FORMED ENTIRELY OF STEEL BY JOHN MURDOCH, LATE 18TH CENTURY
with tapering multi-stage barrel engraved with traditional scrollwork, faceted muzzle, reeded breech, signed borderengraved lock, associated engraved cock (repaired), full stock decorated with traditional scroll and wriggle work, inlaid with three engraved silver bands beneath the lock, lobe-shaped pommel inlaid with triangular and circular silver panels, engraved silver button trigger, slender belt hook with pierced bracket, and steel ramrod with pierced moulding and button terminal, probably the original, 29.5 cm overall
£1,200-1,500
298
A PAIR OF 60 BORE HIGHLAND WHITE METAL MOUNTED DRESS BELT PISTOLS SIGNED CAMPBELL, BIRMINGHAM PROOF MARKS, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
with heavy engraved white metal barrels formed with long flats and moulded muzzles, each decorated with a central plaited design framed by thistle foliage, signed scroll and borderengraved locks fitted with side hammers en suite, each with silver button on the spur (one small dent), full stocks with slender ‘ramshorn’ butts engraved en suite with the barrels and with a trophy-of-arms on the left, white metal ball trigger and pricker, iron belt hooks and iron ramrods, 26.5 cm (2)
£1,500-2,000
A FINE AND RARE PAIR OF 120 BORE OVER-AND-UNDER FORSYTH PATENT SLIDING PRIMER POCKET PISTOLS BY FORSYTH & CO, PATENT GUNMAKERS, LONDON, BIRMINGHAM PROOF MARKS, CIRCA 1821 with border-engraved blued barrels signed ‘Forsyth & Co. Patent Gunmakers London’ on the top and fitted with silver fore-sights, foliate engraved actions fitted with engraved side-hammers and primer-covers, the latter numbered ‘L1’, ‘R1’ and ‘L2’, ‘R2’ respectively, blued bolt safety-catches, blued folding triggers, tangs en suite, the underside of the actions numbered ‘2657/3’ and ‘2658/4’ respectively, finely chequered walnut butts, large threaded silver pommel caps with cavities for ball and vacant silver escutchoens, and each with its steel ramrod with iron worm and threaded copper-alloy cover, and some original finish throughout: in original mahogany case with engraved brass escutcheon above the owner’s initials ‘RNP’, complete with accessories including three-way flask, charge-flask, bullet mould, oil bottle and wad-cutter, the case: 26.0 x 15.0 x 5.8 cm Provenance
Donald W. S. Donald
Literature
David H. L. Back, Forsyth & Co., patent gunmakers 1806-52, 1969, p, 42, plate 21. The crest is that of Partridge, Peard, Pinn or Penney.
£10,000-15,000
300
A PAIR OF FRENCH OFFICER’S PISTOLS BY BOUTET, VERSAILLES, PARIS MARKS FOR 1798-1809, THE ESCUTCHEONS INSCRIBED ‘PRESENTED BY THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON TO CAPTAIN MARSHALL RL MS ON BOARD H.M.S. BELLEROPHON, 6TH AUGUST 1815’
with browned octagonal swamped sighted polygroove rifled barrels , inscribed ‘Manufre. Impele a Versailles’ and numbered ‘189’, struck with gold-lined barrelsmith’s marks of Jean Nicolas Leclerc, further gold-lined marks (Neue Støckel 95, 97, 3741), ‘Boutet’ and a band of gold foliage at the breech (the gold with losses), case-hardened breeches incorporating the back-sights, flat bevelled locks signed ‘Boutet a Versailles’ fitted with ‘French’ cocks and semi-rainproof pans, figured walnut full stocks, chequered butts (small cracks and repairs), blued steel mounts of shaped outline comprising two-piece ‘batwing’ side-plates, trigger-guards with symmetrical finials, and moulded ramrod-pipes, the butts each fitted with finely cast and chased silver medusa-mask pommels struck with Paris silver marks and a further mark, in a lozenge NB a pistol between, silver escutcheons with presentation inscriptions, each with associated copper-alloy-tipped wooden ramrod with iron worm, perhaps the original, and some early colour throughout, 21.5 cm (2)
The inscription reads: ‘Presented by the Emperor Napoleon to Captain Marshall Rl Ms on board H .M.S. Bellerophon, 6th August 1815’ George Marshall, Captain of Marines (promoted 1806), is listed among the Officers borne on the Book s of H .M.S. Bellerophon in July 1815.
Following his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland on H.M.S. Bellerophon. The former Emperor of France was brought to England where he was detained on board in Plymouth Sound during July before continuing his journey to St Helena.
‘About ten A.M. the barge was manned, and a captain's guard turned out. When Buonaparte came on deck, he looked at the marines, who were generally fine-looking young men, with much satisfaction; went through their ranks, inspected their arms, and admired their appearance, saying to Bertrand, "How much might be done with a hundred thousand such soldiers as these." He asked which had been longest in the corps; went up and spoke to him. His questions were put in French, which I interpreted, as well as the man's answers. He enquired how many years he had served; on being told upwards of ten, he turned to me and said, "Is it not customary in your service, to give a man who has been in it so long some mark of distinc tion?" He was informed that the person in question had been a sergeant, but was reduced to the ranks for some misconduct. He then put the guard through part of their exercise, whilst I interpreted to the Captain of Marines, who did not understand French, the manœuvres he wished to have performed. He made some remarks upon the difference of the charge with the bayonet between our troops and the French; and found fault with our method of fixing the bayonet to the musquet, as being more easy to twist off, if seized by an enemy when in the act of charging.’ See Maitland in Dickson 2024. '[4th August]..... we left Plymouth Sound in company with the Tonnant, bearing the flag of Admiral Lord Keith, and on the 6th we came to an anchor off Berryhead, there to wait the arrival of the Northumberland, which was hourly expected. She made her appearance in the course of the day, and after due salutes from both admiral's ships, in which noisy greeting we of course joined, for we are very polite at sea, in our own thundering way, she took up her station close by us. Towards evening Lord Keith came on board of us, and had a long personal interview with Napoleon in the cabin, which we may judge was not of the pleasantest nature. From some intemperate threat of Savary, I believe, who had declared that he would not allow his master to leave the Bellerophon alive, to go into such wretched captivity, it was judged proper to deprive the refugees of their arms. A good many swords, and several brace of pistols, marked with a large silver N. at the butt end, were brought down to the gun-room, where they remained for some hours. Three of the swords belonged to Napoleon, and two of them were pointed out to us as those he wore at Marengo and Austerlitz.' See Home in Dickson 2024. ‡ £10,000-14,000
END OF SALE
Olympia Timed: Antique Arms, Armour & Militaria
Online 29th November 2024
Closing 8th December 2024
Fine Antique Arms, Armour & Militaria 25th June 2025
