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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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Heavy cavalry officer's levee sword, 1796 pattern - British
This sword was introduced, by regulation at any rate, as the 1796 pattern heavy cavalry officer's levee sword. The hilt design was taken from a commonly used continental type, principally Austrian and German, from the middle of the 18th century, and then married to the infantry officer's blade of 1796.
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KNIL service revolver, 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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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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KuK infantry officer's sword with triple-bar hilt - Austrian
Made by Luneschloss of Solingen (marked 'PDL' in italic script at the forte), this is particularly rare as a double-bar variant of the expanding hilt popular with Austrian infantry officers at this period. The normal type has only one expanding side bar. A typical feature to note is the early leather (as opposed to fish skin) grip.
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U-boat close combat badge, silver class - German
This is the rare silver grade, issued 24 November 1944 for exceptional valour in close combat, mostly against Allied aircraft assaults. Moreover, this is the first pattern of the clasp with a central hollowed out area to the reverse. The lesser bronze version had already been introduced on 15 May 1944.
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Gordon Highlanders broadsword, ERII - Scottish
This is the 1832 pattern model, which has been used continuously through the 19th and 20th centuries into the present. It is a Wilkinson sword, numbered 90,733, which dates it to 1967 according to Wilkinson's records.
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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.
