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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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Tula smallsword, cut steel - Russian
This sword (almost identical to one I sold to a Moscow dealer in about 2006) has an unsigned Tula hilt - undercut and pierced steel work of this type is a virtual 'signature', only found on European cast silver hilts and never on the knuckle bow. The influence for this work is probably Brescian or possibly Toledo, with London for the lattice work.
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Lord Raglan's despatch folder/blotter - British
This magnificent tooled leather despatch folder displays the coat of arms of the Master General of the Ordnance (the mural crown indicates the Tower of London, which was the headquarters of the Royal Ordnance department at this period). Lord Raglan was the last holder of this office, from 1852 to his death in 1855.
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US model 1917 trench knife - American
This fiersome weapon has the distinction of being the first knuckle knife officially issued to any army in wartime. The pattern was designed by Henry Disston & Sons of Philadelphia. This particular example was made by Landers, Frari & Clark (L.F.&C. as shown on the guard). It was an issue weapon for close combat work for the troops in the trenches.
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Navy dirk, model 1936 - German
This is an Eickhorn example with an engraved brightwork blade. These were worn by senior petty officers right through to admirals in the sea-going navy, seen as a more convenient sidearm than the traditional sword. It has an early pattern aluminium bullion knot, as opposed to the later rayon variety.
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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.
