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For 40 years I have been an antique militaria dealer (based at Grays Antique Market in London's West End until Christmas 2008): 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 customers all around the world!
featured antique military items
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2nd troop Horse Grenadier Guards sword - British
The 2nd, or Scots, troop of HGG was originally raised in 1678, disbanded in 1680, revived in 1684, and finally absorbed into the 2nd Life Guards in 1788. The sword is illustrated in one of the Morier paintings at Buckingham Palace on a soldier of this regiment. The swords may well have been carried by the regiment at Dettingen and Fontenoy.
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Tap action, double-barrelled flintlock pistol - French
This is a direct copy of an English design, almost certainly made in France, the piquet work on the butt being typically French, with the early Liege proof marks, in use up to 1816 when they were changed to a letter punch within a circle. The French rarely copied English designs, so this is an interesting pistol.
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Medal of Honour, Provincial Exhibition, NWP (India) - British Empire
Marked on the obverse: 'MEDAL OF HONOR 1867' with 'PROVINCIAL EXHIBITION N.W.P.' [for Province] and 'THE HONBLE E. DRUMMOND, LT.GR.' [for Governor]. It is neatly engraved around the rim: 'SUPDT. ROORKEE WORKSHOPS', probably for the railway workshops in the town of Roorkee in Northern India.
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.36 calibre Colt cartridge pocket navy - American
Approximately 6,000 of these were made. Specimens were still being shipped from the factory as late as the 1880s. This was not a conversion from percussion, but was custom-built from scratch. The top of the barrel is marked 'COLTS PT.F.A. MFG.Co/HARTFORD CT. U.S.A.' There are matching serial numbers throughout except on the barrel wedge.
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Runka or Ranseur (polearm) - Italian
This classic Italian (almost certainly made in the Veneto, Venice's hinterland) infantry polearm saw continuous use from the late 15th to the early 17th century. The Metropolitan Museum shows five of these in Stone's Glossary. The Palazzo Ducale armoury in Venice has four examples. This is the earlier variant, the later ones having shorter blades.
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Infantry officer's sword, 1822 pattern - British
The cypher on the guard is that of George IV; the William IV examples have the IV right at the bottom of the cypher. This was the standard infantry officer's sword which replaced the 1796 pattern of the Napoleonic Wars. It was worn with a pipeback blade until about 1845, when Wilkinson introduced the new pattern blade with a fuller.
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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.
