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Nation : British
Local Price : £9500

Very Fine Scottish “Pinch of Snuff” Basket Hilted Sword. An attractive Scottish Officer's basket hilted sword dating to the second to third quarter periods of the 18th century. The sword is notable for its remarkably fine condition and is mounted with an imposing high quality blade. These swords were carried by Scottish officers on British Army service with Scottish Highland Regiments in Europe and in North America during the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War periods. The sword is one of a distinctive group of Scottish military officers' swords. The complex hilt structure consists of oval shaped apertures, mounted between structural guard bars, which are infilled with an elaborate lattice of finely wrought iron of lace-like delicacy which obscures the robust strength of the hilt structure. The pommel is of typical mid-18th century British military bun shape with an integral pommel button. The pommel neck sits tightly in a circle of iron onto which the upper arms of the basket guard are attached. The hilt type is the same as three others depicted in contemporary portraits. The first is dated between 1757 and 1763 called “The Pinch of Snuff” by William Delacour, after which the sword type gains its name. It shows an officer in a Highland regiment, probably on service in the Americas, with one tucked under his arm, whilst he pauses to take a pinch of snuff. The painting is illustrated in “History of Highland Dress”, John Telfer Dunbar, Oliver & Boyd 1962, Plate 47. The second shows Colonel William Gordon of Fyvie, in the uniform of the Queens Own Royal Regiment of Highlanders, painted in Rome by Pompeo Batoni in 1766, and illustrated in “The Clans of Scotland”, Micheil MacDonald, Brian Trodd Publishing, 1991, Page 108. The third is a painting of an officer in Highland military uniform, circa 1780, auctioned by Christies (“Pictures of Scottish Interest”, Glasgow, 2nd April 1969, (lot 1) and now in the National Museums of Scotland. The earliest dated sword of this type that we know of, is a silver hilted example with the maker’s initials stamped as “TB”, with London hallmarks for 1745, which sold through Thomas Del Mar Auctions in London in December 2014 (lot 330). This example does not have frontal loop guards and may be an English variant but nevertheless shows that the hilt type had arrived by the second quarter of the 18th century. It thrived until circa 1780. Clearly the sword type was popular with the Scottish officer class at a time when Scottish regiments were increasingly being mobilised by the British Army for service abroad. The tapering single edged blade is unmarked and of exceptional quality retaining much of its original polished finish. It is just under 36 inches (91 cm) long with a short ricasso from which a long broad fuller extends to the tip where the blade develops a false back edge a short distance before. The attractive wooden baluster shaped grip is spirally grooved, covered with shagreen, and bound with a length of twisted copper wire with a narrower band on each side and finished with woven copper “Turks Heads” mounted top and bottom. The hilt has a shaped liner made from red cloth backed with leather stitched together with the remnants of a blue silken hem at the edge. The hilt type was manufactured with two styles of frontal guard loop. One form being a plate fashioned into loops, pierced with a diamond or heart shape, and secured to the hilt by three screws as in the manner of our sword hilt, and those illustrated in the Batoni and Christies Glasgow portraits. The bottom of the hilt in the Delacour painting is obscured by the clothing of the sitter and the loop guard assembly is not visible. In the second form the loops are integral to the hilt as in a sword illustrated in “Scottish Swords and Dirks”, John Wallace, Arms and Armour Press, 1970, fig 44. Overall the sword is 41.75 inches (106 cm) long. The condition overall is very fine with some parts of the hilt and blade exhibiting minor age blemishes in places.

Nation : British
Local Price : £9500

Click and use the code >21508 to search for this item on the dealer website Wonderful, Original, German ´Zweihander´ Great Sword, 16th Century. Probably The Most Impressive And Largest Sword Ever Used in Historic Warfare. Following the Form of Sword Made Famous By The Scots in The Time Of Sir William Wallace

Nation : British
Local Price : £9,450.00

Volunteer Baker Flintlock Rifle by I. Gill, fine. SN 9021. A Fine Volunteer Baker Flintlock Rifle by I. Gill. 46&157; overall, 30&157; 16 bore 7 groove twist barrel stamped with Tower Private and Ordnance proofs at breech and&194;&160; blade fore sight, block for bayonet on the underside of muzzle, leaf rear sights, one fixed and two hinged, the hinged leaves with V’s to top and sighting holes at a lower level, flat bevelled lock border line engraved, with stepped tail signed ’I. GILL’ and Crown G.R. cypher, semi waterproof pan, roller to frizzen, a ring neck cock, detented action. Regulation brass mounted, figured, full walnut stock without slit for ramrod, with raised cheek rest, small brass patch box lid, the wrist escutcheon engraved ’T. W. W. IIII’, sling swivels and iron ramrod. Circa 1802&194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160;&194;&160; This is a superior example with a fine stock, barrel&194;&160; rebrowned. Bore good with seven grooves making one turn in 30&157;. (standard Baker is 1/4 turn in 30&157;.). Made to be used with a socket bayonet. Provenance: This rifle was produced for a volunteer rifle company by John Gill of Birmingham who took over the family business from his father Thomas Gill in mid-1801. A quantity of these Baker rifles were sold at Sotheby’s many years back and spread over a number of sales. There were two different grades, the superior grade such as this example had fast twist rifling, detented actions and superior sights. The standard grade had normal Baker rifling, standard sight and actions, all were marked "T. W. W" and a number. Apparently a quantity had been brought into Sotheby’s by a couple who had bought a large country house and found a rack of these rifles in one of the outhouses.&194;&160; Images courtesy of West Street Antiques (https://antiquearmsandarmour.com/)

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £9450

Click and use the code >25215 to search for this item on the dealer website Stunning and Impressively Powerful Koto Katana, Circa 1500. With All Original Edo Period Koshirae Mountings. A Fabulous Sword of Likely a Seieibushi {the Highest Ranked Elite Samurai} Traditionally the Highest Rank of Elite Samurai

Nation : German
Local Price : £8995

Click and use the code >24623 to search for this item on the dealer website Exceptional 1700 to 1600 Year Old Spartha Sword of A Warrior of the Roman Empire´s Invasions by the Huns and Visigoths. A Hun or Visigoth Horseman´s Sword Spartha With Its Lifstein, the Magical Life-Stone, and Original Crossguard

Nation : British
Local Price : £8995

Click and use the code >24421 to search for this item on the dealer website Original, Rare, Anno Domini 4th Century. Original Roman Legionary´s ´Spartha´ Sword. An Amazing & Rare Historical Sword of The Roman Empire. Almost Identical To Those Discovered In The Nydam Treasure Horde of Nordam Mose in Denmark

Nation : -
Local Price : £8,995.00

General Officer&#acute;s Sword “ Sir Thomas Arbuthnot. General Officer&#acute;s Sword 1803 style hilt which has had the royal cypher replaced with the family crest of the Arbuthnot&#acute;s family. Lion head pommel with bone grip and gold bullion sword knot. The curved fat back blade with broad fuller and hatchet point. The blade is engraved with crown over GR and stands of arms the back edge engraved J J Runkel Solingen. Complete with black leather scabbard with matching mounts the leather looks to have been replaced however the sword is in excellent condition so maybe original. It is possible the sword belonged to either Sir Thomas Arbuthnot or Sir Robert Arbuthnot the former seems to be more likely. Reference: Blade Length: 32.25 inch Overall Length: 36.0 Inch

Nation : Indian
Local Price : £8995

Click and use the code >23372 to search for this item on the dealer website Simply Fabulous, Cased, Double Barrelled Percussion Sporting Gun by James Wilkinson, Successor To The Legendary Henry Nock, and Later To Become The World Famous Wilkinson Sword Co.

Nation : British
Local Price : £8995

Click and use the code >25224 to search for this item on the dealer website Fabulous & Rare US Civil War General´s Sabre With Its Original Civil War General Officer´s Pattern ´Acorn´ Sword Knot, & Steel Combat Scabbard. Superb Deluxe Etched Blade

Nation : British
Local Price : £8950

Click and use the code >22607 to search for this item on the dealer website Exceptionally Beautiful Gold Hilted Sword With &#acute;Laminated Damascus&#acute; Pattern Steel Blade. A Sword of Highest Museum Quality. An Indian Prince´s Tulwar, Accompanied With His Oriental Annual 1838

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £8750

Click and use the code >21721 to search for this item on the dealer website Simply Wonderful 16th Century Koto Era Katana, Museum Quality Mounting, With Shakudo & Pure Gold Decorated Menuki of Takeda Shingen in Armour With His Tiger&#acute;s Tail Saya Mounted Sword & War Bow

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £8750

Click and use the code >23998 to search for this item on the dealer website Fine Shinto Samurai Katana Signed By Mino Swordsmith, Nodagoro Fujiwara Kanesada Circa 1720 Around 300 Years Old, With a Horai-zu Style Tsuba

Nation : British
Local Price : £8,495.00

Pair of Flintlock Silver Mounted Pistols by Hadley. Ref 9169. A Pair of Flintlock Silver Mounted Pistols by Hadley. 14&157; overall, 8&157; two-stage brass barrels 18 bore each slightly swamped towards the muzzle with turned girdle, octagonal breeches each signed ´Hadley London´ in capitals along the top flat & engraved with foliate rocailles fore & aft, border engraved tangs decorated with foliage. Tower private proof marks. Border engraved flat bevelled locks each signed ´Hadley´ in capitals on a foliate rococo scroll & decorated en suite on the tail, engraved cocks & steels. Figured walnut full stocks each carved with a shell behind the barrel tang, rounded butts with swelling pommels, silver mounts&194;&160;comprising pierced & engraved ribbon side plates, vacant escutcheons cast & chased with a flower above & drapery below, grotesque mask caps, trigger guards each with shell & flower finial engraved with a flower head in a diamond shaped panel on the bow, turned ramrod pipes, & original horn tipped ramrods, one with iron worm.Silver Hallmarks For 1777, maker’s mark of Charles Freeth Handsome pistols in fine condition, some minor bruising to stocks. The maker is almost certainly Thomas Hadley, gunmaker Birmingham, who was apprenticed to Thomas Hudson in 1750. On the death of his father, also Thomas, in 1766 he continued the business in Birmingham and is recorded as having died in 1789. Many Birmingham gunmakers signed their firearms ’London’&194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; Images courtesy of West Street Antiques (https://antiquearmsandarmour.com/)

Nation : American
Local Price : £8495

Click and use the code >25287 to search for this item on the dealer website Superb, Rare, Original, French Napoleonic Wars Deluxe Grade Sabre of a French General of Napoleon´s General Staff, a Wonderful & Most Beautiful Sabre of Napoleon´s Grand Armee. Consulate to Ist Empire Period

Nation : British
Local Price : £7995

Click and use the code >23230 to search for this item on the dealer website Circa 600 ad Middle Ages Sword Blade, Re-Hilted Around 1000 Years Ago At The Time of the Norman Invasion in 1066

Nation : British
Local Price : £7995

Click and use the code >22370 to search for this item on the dealer website Original, Incredibly Rare ´Damascus´ Presentation Sword, Presented to the German Fuhrer of 1898, An Imperial German, Damascus Steel, Blue & Gilt, Presentation Fuhrer´s Sword. Set With Genuine Rubies and Silver Crossed Cannon

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £7995

Click and use the code >24820 to search for this item on the dealer website Superb Shinto Period Samurai Katana By Bizen Osafune Sukesada, Named By The Swordsmith, Likely For its Original Samurai Owner

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £7950

Click and use the code >21795 to search for this item on the dealer website Wonderful & Captivating Ancient Nambokochu Period Samurai Sword of the Nambokochu Era Circa 1370. With Beautiful Polished Kairagi-Gawa {Giant Rayskin} Saya. From The Era of The Great Bizen Smiths

Nation : Chinese
Local Price : £7950

Click and use the code >22160 to search for this item on the dealer website Possibly The Finest 17th Cent. French Royal Silver Hunting Short Sword, With Original, Incredibly Rare Scabbard & Belt Mount, From a Royal Collection. With The Rarest Bayonne Form Hilt. Likely Used By The King & His Court For the King&#acute;s Boar or Sta

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £7950

Click and use the code >23038 to search for this item on the dealer website Beautiful, Shinto Period, Handachi Mounted Samurai Katana. Fitted With All Original Edo Mounts. Showing Great Quality, Shibui {Quietly Reserved} And Without Undue Extravagance. An Impressive Sword With Incredible & Elegant Lines & Curvature

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £7950

Click and use the code >23245 to search for this item on the dealer website Marvelous Museum Quality Samurai Tanto, 15th Century, Signed Sukesada, A Famous Line of Exemplary Master Swordsmiths That Continued From the 1400&#acute;s To The End of The Tokugawa Shogunate. This Wonderful Tanto is Around 600 Years Old

Nation : American
Local Price : 10,600.00 USD

RARE AMERICAN SILVER HILTED SMALLSWORD C.1750. This rare American sword was made by Bilious Ward of Middleton Connecticut and bears his mark on the knuckle bow terminal. Ward was born in Guilford in 1729. His mark is shown p.320, American Silversmiths, Old Silver, English, American and Foreign which is considered the standard reference for silver marks. His Father, William Ward Jr. and his son, James Ward were also silversmiths (Early Connecticut Silver, Bohan). Yale University Art Gallery has five spoons by Bilious War, 3 identified as C.1750-70 and two C.1755. New York Historical Society has a single spoon dated to 1750-70. The form of the sword is iconic. 1740s and 50s in America was the period of the Great Awakening, a time of strengthening religious values and reverting to basics. In a sense, a return to Puritanism. In American Silver Mounted Swords, 1700-1815, Peterson states “American silver hilted small swords are characterized by simple chaste lines. In Europe, most of the silver mounted smallswords of the same period were completely covered with heavily modeled or pierced decoration. In this country, however, such surface decoration was extremely rare as American craftsmen relied more upon the pure beauty of line and form to attain their artistic effect.” He illustrates and discusses 16 examples. #1-4 dated 1722-30. Three of the four incorporate traditional (European) decorative elements. #5-13 date C.1740-50 and are all of the same spartan form of this example with the iconic ringed slightly elongated pommel. In fact, the ten including this one are nearly indistinguishable but for minor details. #14-17 date C.1770-1815 and fully embrace the later European forms. Also notable is that of #5-13, eight of nine are maker marked, while none of the first four are and two of the last four are not. The blade of this example is flat, 28 5/8” in length, undecorated with a narrow fuller to the forte. Of the comparable group, seven of nine are triangular and two flat. At that time (1955) five of the nine comparable examples were in museum collections. Silver hilted swords in Colonial America were very rare and the zenith of gentlemanly style. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston reports, in a description of a sword by Jacob Hurd “Between 1730 and 1750 he (Hurd) made about ten swords, far more than his peers, most of whom made only one or two.” The 1762 inventory of silversmith John Edwards includes “One silver hilted sword at 60 pounds, 3 shillings” at a time when the per capita income in America was 15 pounds, 12 shillings. A historic Colonial American sword for which there have been no comparable examples on the market for decades.

Nation : -
Local Price : 10,500.00 USD

MAGNIFICENT SWEPT HILT RAPIER AND COMPANION LEFT HAND DAGGER. Early 20th century, by Anton Konrad, and built on matching 16th-century blades. Faithfully replicating a very fine-matched pair of German rapier and sword of about 1580-1600. Iron hits beautifully chased in high relief scrolling foliage, flowers, and fruit. Fine wire-wrapped grips with turban form terminals. The blades, 41” and 12 ½” respectively, each with maker's marks to each side of the ricasso and with deep fuller marked * PAR * CE * SIGNE * TU * VAINCRAS * (BY THIS SIGN YOU OVERCOME) on each side. Made to the very highest standard of the period craftsmen which they emulate, this very pair has been known to fool more than one accomplished expert and surely has been sold as of the period in the past.

Nation : North European
Local Price : £7850

Fine North European Rapier with Gilt Swept Hilt dating to the early 17th Century mounted with a fine quality blade by MEVES BERNS of Solingen. A splendid swept hilt rapier which has survived in fine condition and retains much of its original gilt finish to the hilt. The type is illustrated in many portraits of early 17th century date located across Europe including England, Scandinavia and the German States. This indicates that the rapier form was very popular amongst the social elites in these regions in the early 17th century. In contrast, few have lasted the rigours of time and over four hundred years later surviving examples are scarce. This scarcity makes this example particularly attractive given its fine condition. The weapon is an elegant example of the early 17th century armourer's craft formed with attractive flowing curves to the complex hilt which complement the strength of its construction. The hilt is made from oval section bars which give a stylish contoured appearance. The rapier is 45.25 inches (114.5 cm) long overall and it is well balanced and comfortable in-hand. The hilt platform is the strong quillon block with short downwardly pointing langets from which extends the rear quillon, which curves downwards, and the front quillon, which is slightly longer and curves upwards into a knuckle bow. Both quillons swell slightly into smoothed squared off terminals. Beneath the block outwardly curved symmetrical finger rings extend downwards either side of the langets. On the outer side of the hilt an imposing guard ring is linked by a diagonally downcurved bar to a small side-ring underneath. This is mounted onto the finger ring terminals. Three slender bars of circular section form the inner counter guards which are “swept-up” into one bar and merge into the forward quillon. The tall faceted ovoid pommel is of bold form with an integral button on top and ribbed flared neck beneath. The baluster shaped grip is bound with alternately spaced twisted and straight lengths of wire. The fine quality blade is of stiff, gently tapering, flattened, hexagonal section and is just over 38 inches (97 cm) long. It has a ricasso 1.5 inches (3.5 cm) long cut with two bold fullers which fill the width of the space side by side on each face. The right side fuller, seen when the rapier is held point down on each side, is stamped with a roundel containing a stag which is the mark of Meves Berns. A deep central fuller extends for 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) from the end of the ricasso and is cut with lines on the ridges either side and stamped with a stylised cross just beyond its terminal on each side. The fuller is incised each side with “M E V E S B E R N S” in spaced capital letters with a cross potent mark between the words and at each end. Berns was an accomplished blade maker based in Solingen. For more information regarding other examples and locations of rapiers of this type see A.V.B. Norman, The Rapier and Small-Sword 1460-1820, Arms & Armour Press, 1980, pp. 94-95. The guard is of Type 31 in Norman's typology. Plate 49 shows a rapier of the type in the Wallace Collection (Collection Number A627) dated to circa 1610-1620 with a russet steel hilt counterfeit damascened with gold and of North European origin. Plate 51 shows another with fire-gilt steel hilt of the same date and locality, originally from the Electoral Armoury in Dresden. Provenance: Christie's South Kensington, Antique Arms, Armour & Collectors Firearms, 22 June 2011, lot 109. Price Realised: £15,000 Including Buyers Premium. Sotheby's Olympia, Antique Arms, Armour & Militaria, 29 June 2005, lot 35. Price Realised: £12,350 Including Buyers Premium.

Nation : Chinese
Local Price : £7775

Click and use the code >24842 to search for this item on the dealer website Rare, Archaic Chinese Warrior Prince´s Bronze Jian Sword, Overlaid With Gold, Auspicious Metal, Around 2,400 to 2,600 Years Old, From the Zhou Dynasty to the Chin Dynasty, Including the Period of Sun-Tzu´. Likely of The Kingdom of Yue

Nation : Spanish
Local Price : £7750

Click and use the code >21774 to search for this item on the dealer website Singularly Beautiful Napoleonic Wars, The Peninsular Campaign, & The War of 100 Days Culminating at Quatre Bras & Waterloo, A Presentation Quality 1796-1803 Sword 15th Hussars

Nation : German
Local Price : £7500

Fine German Swept Hilt Rapier dating to circa 1600. A fine, imposing and attractive German Swept Hilt Rapier dating to circa 1600. The rapier is a nicely balanced and well forged weapon in original condition with a consistent smooth grey mottled patination all over having never been invasively cleaned. The hilt type is illustrated in many portraits of late 16th / early 17th century date located across Europe including England, Scandinavia and the German States. This indicates that the swept hilt rapier was very popular amongst the social elites in countries across the region at the time. The rapier retains its full length 46.5 inch (118 cm) imposing blade. The overall length is 52.5 inches (133.5 cm). The complex hilt is an elegant example of the armourers' craft formed with attractive flowing curved bars of rounded octagonal section. The hilt is built around the strong quillon block which has short downwardly pointing langets which lie either side of the ricasso. Two straight quillons extend from the block, filed with decorative ribs at the join, and swell gently towards their terminals. To the front the knuckle bow curves upwards to the pommel and has a similarly swollen terminal. Beneath the block two outwardly curved symmetrical finger, or pas d' ane rings, extend downwards and terminate in square pads at the end of the ricasso. The outer guard consists of three ring guards and the inner guard of two circles joined by curved bars. These features on each side are supported by subsidiary bars which converge on the pas d’ane ring terminal pads which are engraved with cross-hatching on the outside. The hilt is further strengthened by two upper side guard bars, which are forged onto the outer edges of the outer and inner guard assemblies, and curve upwards to join the bow just above half way. The multifaceted ovoid pommel has an integral waisted button on top and a grooved flared neck beneath. The original spirally grooved wooden grip tapers slightly towards the pommel and is of oval cross section, laterally bound with thin twisted steel wire, which is further bound with contra-twisted wire ropes depressed into the grooves with the ends secured underneath “Turks Heads” mounted top and bottom woven from steel rope. The gently tapering blade is of fine quality. It is of stiff section intended primarily for thrusting and secondly for cutting. The thickened ricasso has a deep central groove extending from the hilt to the pas d'ane ring terminals on each side. Beyond these the blade broadens with a short external extension of the ricasso, after which a deep central fuller extends along each side for 17.5 inches (44.5 cm). The fullers are stamped with indistinct bladesmith’s identity letters and marks inside. Beyond the fuller terminals a mark resembling an anchor is stamped on each side after which the blade is of flattened diamond section to its tip. A small patch of minor old pitting is present on one of the secondary guard bars attached to the knucklebow as can be seen in the images. Otherwise the rapier is in fine condition. For more information regarding other examples and locations of rapiers, and depictions of rapiers, of this type, see A.V.B. Norman, “The Rapier and Small-Sword 1460-1820”, Arms & Armour Press, 1980, pp. 120 to 140.

Nation : British
Local Price : £7500

Late 17th Century Scottish Basket Hilted Sword in the “Glasgow” Style. A late 17th century Scottish Basket Hilted sword. The hilt is of fine quality workmanship and mounted with a broad single edged blade. The structural bars of the guard are of thick flattened rectangular section. These are decorated on the outside with broad filed longitudinal grooves along the middle with narrower incised lines on either side in what has become known to historians as the distinctive “Glasgow Style” of hilt decoration. The sword has a consistent dark russet patination across its parts. This style was developed by sword makers in Glasgow in the second half of the 17th century and flourished until the third quarter of the 18th century. The style was adopted by the most skilled smiths in other sword making centres in Scotland and was also copied by the British military for some of its own basket hilted swords made in the Scottish style in the mid-18th century. Filing and incising the bars in this manner was a time consuming and skilled task demanding many hours of work and reserved only for the best and most expensive hilts. The primary guard panels at the front of this sword are decorated with a pierced seven pointed star at the centre, surrounded by pierced triangles enhanced with circle shapes at the sides and circles in the corners. The narrower side guard panels and the knucklebow are pierced with similar shapes. The main guard panels are filed in “Glasgow” style at the sides. The side guards are filed the same across the top and bottom and the knucklebow across the base. These three secondary panels are enhanced with vertical lines. All five of the primary and secondary guard plates are fretted at the edges with cusps and merlons. The side panels have structural solid merlons mounted at the base with the flattened ends filed with cusps and pierced with flanged hearts. The forward loop guards are decorated in the “Glasgow” manner, and underneath, the cross bar is enhanced with a cut loop which surrounds the groove made to accommodate the blade into the hilt. The sloping rear quillon is decorated with a cross. The upper surface of the rear quillon has a piece of metal attached to the bar by two rivets. The rear quillon of early basket hilts like this one was not mounted with a scrolled wrist guard which is a later feature in basket hilt development. It seems that in the later working life of the sword an attempt was made to attach a wrist guard to the hilt which was only partially successful having been broken off at some point leaving the riveted stump behind. The basket has been intentionally forged to appear slightly asymmetrical when viewed from the front and back, with the basket appearing swollen more to the right compared to the left, indicating that the hilt was made for a right hand user. The swollen side of the hilt accommodates the fingers of the right hand whereas the opposite side needs only to accommodate the thumb which takes up less space inside the hilt. The dome shaped pommel has a ribbed button on top from which three sets of triple grooves radiate to the edge in the same “Glasgow” manner. The spaces between are cut with similar grooves in crescent shapes. The guard arm terminals tuck securely into a groove cut around the lower part of the pommel in the Scottish style. The associated grip is formed with a spirally grooved wooden core, is covered with shagreen, bound with flattened silver wire and is mounted on a thick leather liner. The tapering single edged blade is 31.75 inches long (81 cm) and just under 1.75 inches (just over 4.25 cm) wide at the ricasso which is 1.25 inches long (just over 3 cm) and has fullers on each side just inside from the edges. It was most likely made in Solingen in Germany. From the end of the ricasso a shallow central fuller extends for 8 inches (20 cm) flanked by narrower well defined grooves. The middle fuller on both sides is stamped with the blade smith’s mark of “ANDRIA FERARA” spaced by quatrefoils of dots. Beyond the end of the fullers on each side is an incised orb and cross mark which retains some of the original copper inlay on one side. It shows evidence of a lot of use and sharpening on the cutting edge. The blade was originally double edged and broader than it is now at around 2 inches (5 cm) wide at the hilt. It dates to the mid to late 17th century. It was intentionally ground down all along one side during its working life to create a back edge by removing around half an inch of blade width at the ricasso and a proportionate amount down to the tip. The three fullers are now not running along the middle as would be usual with a broad sword blade of this type, but instead are nearer to the regressed back edge than the cutting edge as a result of the modification. The groove underneath the hilt designed to accommodate and secure the ricasso has vacant space at the back edge which previously would have been occupied by the blade width now shaved away. During the early 18th century “back sword”, or single edged, blades became increasingly common. They were less expensive to make than double edged blades and became fashionable for both clan, civilian and military markets in Scotland. The blade may have been slimmed to suit the new fashion. But it is more likely that the sword was damaged and refurbished at some time which involved smoothing deep nicks out of the front of the blade, which absorbs most contact when in use, to create a back edge, then reversing the blade in the hilt. The altered blade gives a slightly unbalanced profile in that the blade front edge now appears to be positioned more forward towards the loop guards than is usual for the profile of a basket hilted sword mounted with an unaltered broad sword blade. There is a repair to the top of one of the guard bars at the pommel which may have been carried out at the same time. Swords with amended blades of this type, with similar profiles, are not unusual judging by the number that have survived. The famous portrait of Lord George Murray, Prince’s Charles’s Lieutenant General in the Jacobite Army in the 1745 Rebellion, seems to show Murray armed with a sword mounted with a similarly altered blade, as can be seen by the position of the fullers relative to the cutting edge. See the photos below. The overall length of the sword is 37.5 inches (just over 95 cm). For swords with similar hilts see Cyril Mazansky, “British Basket-Hilted Swords”, Boydell Press, 2005, particularly some illustrated in pages 107 to 126.

Nation : British
Local Price : £7,495.00

Travelling Flintlock Pistols By H.W. Mortimer, For Sir Edward Pellew. SN 9152. A Fine Pair of Travelling Flintlock Pistols By H.W. Mortimer with the Crest of Sir Edward Pellew. 8 1/2&157; overall, 4&157; 40 bore octagonal barrels engraved on the top flat ´H.W. MORTIMER & SON LONDON GUN MAKER TO HIS MAJESTY´. &194;&160;Adjustable fore sights, rear sight on engraved tangs, flat border engraved bolted lock decorated with floral engraving & a band of wheat ears, signed ´H.W. MORTIMER & SON´. French cock, roller frizzen, full stocked, border engraved trigger guard engraved ´89 FLEET STT´ on bow, pineapple finial, finely chequered grip with horn tipped wooden ramrods, the belt hooks with floral terminal tangs. Circa 1810 In good condition, some original finish in protected areas, barrels rebrowned. The crest is of the wreck of the troop ship Dutton East Indiaman from which Pellew saved over 500 troops, wives and crew for which action he was awarded a&194;&160;Baronetcy as Sir Edward Pellew of Treverry, Cornwall Sir Edward Pellew earned repeated promotions for his gallantry, from the French wars in 1793 until his famous bombardment of Algiers in 1816 when the Dey refused to abolish the taking of Christian slaves. From 1817-1821 he was commander-in-chief at Plymouth. Harvey Walklate Mortimer (1753-1819) was appointed Gunmaker to George III in 1783. He was at 89 Fleet Street between 1782 & 1814, he was Contractor to the East India Company from 1796 until 1806, in partnership with his son 1808-1811. He retired in 1811 & died in 1819.&194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160;&194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; &194;&160; Images courtesy of West Street Antiques (https://antiquearmsandarmour.com/)

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £7450

Click and use the code >23673 to search for this item on the dealer website Ancient Koto Period Samurai Sword, Almost 600 Years old, From The Sengoku Jidai. A Handachi Mounted Katana, With Beautiful Deep Red Ishime Urushi Lacquer Saya, & Hammered Silver Onlaid Mounts

Nation : British
Local Price : £7450

Scottish Basket Hilted Sword of “Glasgow Style” dating to the early 18th century probably from the workshop of Thomas Gemmill. For similar swords by Thomas Gemmill see Cyril Mazansky, “British Basket-Hilted Swords”, Boydell Press, 2005, pages 117 Ref: F16b (TG) and 119 Ref: F16d (TG). The basket hilt of our sword has been intentionally forged to appear slightly asymmetrical when viewed from the front with the basket appearing slightly swollen to the right compared to the left. This is another mark of quality indicating that the hilt was made for a right hand user. The swollen side of the hilt accommodates the fingers of the right hand whereas the opposite side needs only to accommodate the thumb which takes up less space inside the hilt. The grip is formed with a spirally grooved wooden core covered with shagreen and bound with silver wire. Ribbed silver ferrules are also mounted onto the grip top and bottom. The tapering lenticular section blade is a fine late 17th century example of a type popular with Scots. It has a short ricasso with a series of three Kings Head armourers marks equally spaced along the middle of the blade flanked by double fullered incised lines on each side terminating in a group of three heads on each side. The kings head mark was a stamp used by a number of different blade makers in Solingen in Germany such as the Wundes family. Overall the sword is just under 38.75 inches (98.5 cm) long and the blade is 32.5 inches (82.5 cm).

Nation : Japanese
Local Price : £7450

Click and use the code >25351 to search for this item on the dealer website Very Beautiful & Incredibly Elegant Koto Katana Art Sword Circa 1500, With Very Fine All Original Edo Koshirae, of Finely Decorated Shakudo, Combined With Exceptional Urushi Lacquer Work. Kashira Decorated with &#acute;The Monkey Reaching for the Moon&#ac