edged weapons
This comprises the study and development of swords, daggers, polearms and Third Reich dress dirks. Most of this material is well covered by excellent modern reference books and examples can be seen in European and American museums. My own personal interest is in 18th-century small swords, Napoleonic era swords and naval dirks. Museums with important collections include: the Royal Armouries, Leeds; the Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, London W1; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; Musee de l'Armee, Paris; Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna; and various other museums in European capitals.
Here is a selection of militaria from this category:
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Tula smallsword, cut steel - Russian
This sword (almost identical to one I sold to a Moscow dealer) 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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Hauswehr (or rugger) - German
A fine example of an early 16th century, South German (or possibly Swiss) peasant's side arm. The heavy razor sharp 13-inch blade is in excellent condition for its age. The intials 'HH' engraved at the forte almost certainly stand for 'Heilige Hubertus', the peasants' patron saint of hunting.
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1788 pattern Light Cavalry officer's sabre - British
This splendid sabre, with much of its original lead polish finish to the blade and most of its original campaign blacking to the scabbard, was formally introduced in 1788, but in all probability had actually seen service from the early 1770s. This particular hilt is a direct copy of the 1768 pattern Austrian trooper's type.
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Imperial German naval officer's sword - German
This is an interesting example, inasmuch as, unlike most of those currently on the market, it has a composition grip as opposed to bone or ivory. It is probably made by Eickhorn, although not marked as such. The back of the blade is marked 'Chr. Ahlers, Kiel', probably the name of the retailer - this is very faint (see below), though still legible.
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Silver-mounted hunting hanger - French
The ebony hilt has silver mounts (hallmarked Paris, 1743, with a fully legible maker's mark). This type of weapon would have been used for dispatching large game (eg boar, stag) at the end of the hunt. They were also carried by naval officers as a handy sidearm throughout the 18th century, both in England and France.
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