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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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Oil painting signed by Alexander Pock (1871-1950) - Austrian
This painting (oil on board, 28 x 48.5 cm inside frame) shows an Austrian horse artillery gun team of the KuK army in the old pre-1914 uniform. Pock was perhaps one of the most celebrated of the Austrian artists where this genre was concerned and there are several examples of his work in the Military History Museum in Vienna.
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Double-edged Byzantine fighting axe - Greek
This extremely rare axe is similar in shape, but much larger in size, to one found on the Kosovo battlefield (1448), photographed in a Serbian catalogue on Kosovo battlefield finds. This type would have been carried by a large person, quite possibly in the Varangian Guard of the emperor of Byzantium.
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US Navy cutlass, model 1860 - American
This cutlass was the classic Civil War piece used by the Union Navy up until as late as the early stages of WW2 and superceded only in the 20th century by a later pattern with a sheet steel guard. It was modelled on the French cutlass of the Napoleonic Wars, which latter, however, had a sheet steel guard.
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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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Silver-mounted whalebone-hilted dirk - Adriatic
Dirks of this quality would have been carried by merchant seamen in the Mediterranean area, also by pirates. It could well be a Croatian piece.
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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.
