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Customer commentswelcome to antique militaria!
I have been a military antiques dealer (based at Grays Antique Market in London's West End until Christmas 2008) for over 45 years: antique swords, weapons, guns, uniforms, helmets, equipment, medals, belt buckles, bayonets and almost all other items of general militaria. British, German, European and worldwide items... I have provided all kinds of arms and armour and military collectibles to both private customers, trade and museum clientele all around the world!
featured antique military items
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Plug bayonet, silver mounted with ivory grip - English
This is an officer's plug bayonet from the early years of George I. In extremis, the weapon could be mounted in the barrel of a musket, but would have been carried perhaps more as a symbol of rank. The quillons are in the form of David (of Old Testament fame!) with a sword in one hand and Goliath's head in the other.
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Nicholas II naval dirk - Russian
This is the last, and possibly rarest, of the Russian naval dirks from the Imperial era. They were introduced sometime around the Crimean war, generally with rather longer blades and plain gilt brass fittings. This type continues with identical fittings, except that the pommel has the emperor's monogram embossed on it.
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Heavy Cavalry officer's sword, 1887 pattern - British
This sword was sold by Wilkinson in 1907 to H W Carson of the Royal Army Medical Corps. This much-decorated officer died in 1918 in Palestine and the sword was subsequently refurbished and given a different set of initials: A.H.S.W. for Arnold Horace Santo Waters, who was a VC winner of the Royal Engineers in November 1918.
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.32 Whitneyville five-shot revolver, single action rim fire - American
This was made at the Whitneyville Armory, Connecticut, USA, and is marked accordingly on the top barrel flat. It has a 3.25" barrel, stub trigger and lacquered rosewood grips. It fired a rim fire cartridge with a soft lead slug and a black powder load. Some 30,000 were made in various barrel lengths and other calibres, notably .22 and .38.
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US dragoon officer's sword, 1831 model - American
This is one of the rarest of the post-1812 War cavalry swords. The Federal army was microscopic at this time, perhaps only 30,000 strong, the numbers only gearing up for the Mexican War of 1848. The design is a direct copy of the British light cavalry sabre of the same era.
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Prussian breast plate (cuirass) - German
This clean example is marked '2' and 'Hartkopf', very probably a retailer's mark, Hartkopf being an early 19th century firm of arms dealers and sword cutlers. Its construction suggests a date nearer to 1760 than later. They were, in any case, proscribed (specifically forbidden) in 1790 by the Prussian army.
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a little history on my antiques interest
I have been a collector of military antiques since the age of 12, starting with bayonets and moving gradually on to swords, finally entering the broader military antique dealing arena in about 1970. At that stage, I rapidly started to learn about antique English pistols and revolvers.
In about 1980, I broadened my dealing coverage from mainstream militaria to include English campaign medals. The arrival of powerful auction houses in this field drove me back to my original interest in general militaria (swords, bayonets, dirks, guns, pistols, etc).
However, I still maintain a lively interest in all military objects, especially the rare and exotic, eg Imperial Russian and Austrian.
Throughout my dealing career, I have built up my personal collection of antique military prints and drawings and a substantial selection of early military photographs up to 1945, principally German and English. To aid both my dealing and collecting, I have a huge library covering all military aspects of antiques going back to the Middle Ages, and many aspects of antiques in general, especially early English silver.
