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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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Silver smallsword, Inspecteur aux Revues - French
This sword, dating from 1805-09, would have been carried by an Inspecteur aux (or 'des') Revues (the equivalent of Commissary in the British Army), responsible for pay, provisions (hence the ears of wheat on the guard and knuckle bow) and the depot system. Before this sword, they simply carried an ordinary infantry sword. The sword is rare.
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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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Westminster truncheon, 18th century - British
This 24" truncheon is the classic Westminster design, with the pre-1801 Royal Arms. It would have been carried by the local watch officers prior to the establishment of Peel's police force in 1832. It is just possible that this is a George II example, which on the death of that king in 1760 simply had an extra Roman numeral I added for George III.
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Royal Navy fighting dirk - British
This is likely to have been made towards the end of the American Revolutionary War (Peace of Paris, 1783) or during the early part of the Napoleonic Wars (starting 1793). This would have been carried by an RN officer or HEIC naval officer, and this example is interesting in having a particularly long (approx 26") blade.
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KNIL service revolver (Vickers), model 1891 - Dutch
This is a nice example of a Schmidt-Galand 9.4 mm centre-fire double-action revolver. It was unique to the Dutch colonial army (KNIL = Royal Netherlands East Indies Army) and was carried by officers and police personnel. This was made by Vickers under a Dutch ordnance contract for about 5,000 guns in the early 1920s.
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Whitworth bayonet marked for 2nd/60th - British
This is the bayonet for the .451 muzzle-loading Whitworth rifle. In extensive trials these were issued in 1863-67 to infantry units, including various guards and rifle regiments. Some 8,000 bayonets were produced, the general scale of issue being some 68 rifles and bayonets per regiment. The 2nd Battalion 60th were in the Maori Wars 1860-70.
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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.
