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Nation : British
Local Price : £300.00

Indian 19th Century Foot Artillery Sword. Slightly curved unfullered blade with false edge and spear point. Blade 65.8cm in length, ¼ inch (6.5mm) thick at the shoulder, the sword 78.4cm overall. Steel hilt with forward curving comma-shaped quillon and recurved single bar knucklebow. Full-width tang with slab grips of black hardwood secured by five rivets. Flat teardrop-shaped pommel. No scabbard. These swords are thought to have been used by one of the princely states of British India during the 19 th century. Princely states were protectorates with a degree of autonomy and sometimes considerable wealth, which could raise and equip their own armies or even navies. The swords are somewhat scarce – supposedly all extant examples were discovered as a group and exported together during the 1980s, presumably as a clearout of an old armoury. If true this suggests that they were a small custom order probably intended for a single unit. No scabbards appear to have survived, if they had one originally. The outside of the knucklebow is engraved in Hindi with what appears to be ज ४ ०. In the Devanagari script ज is a consonant with the sound ‘ja’ and ४ ० are numerals for ‘4 0’. I therefore believe this is a rack or serial number, essentially equivalent to ‘J40’. All other examples I can find use the ज prefix and two following digits – I have noted ‘2 9’ and ‘5 0’. Were there fewer than 100 examples? Its design is clearly inspired by standard-issue British Army swords of the 19 th century, especially the 1853 Pattern Cavalry Trooper’s sword, which also uses a full-width tang, black slab grips secured by five rivets and a similar shaped quillon. This model in particular seems to have been well regarded in India – the swords used by the cavalry of the Baroda State were also modelled on it. The blade reminds me somewhat of that of the Baker rifle bayonet: a similar length, unfullered, with a prominent false edge. Baker bayonets were often used as sidearms even beyond the life of the Baker rifle itself. However, some elements of its design are simpler than on British types, such as its unfullered blade and lack of leather covering on the grips, and its construction seems more artisanal than one would expect from British workshops or even larger Indian workshops like Rodwell & Co which made the Baroda swords. This may mean that the swords were made locally by blacksmiths. They are consistently referred to as ‘foot artillery’ swords and this seems reasonable given their design, but I can find no hard evidence for it. They are certainly too short for cavalry use and their thick heavy blades (with essentially no distal taper until the last 12cm) are a far cry from the light, flexible and razor-sharp cutting swords favoured by most Indian swordsmen. Indian foot troops would have been shorter men than the British in that period, and if they were indeed artillerymen they would have also had to kneel while crewing guns without their sidearms getting in the way, and would not have been expected to fight hand-to-hand except in extremis. The blade has been sharpened along the true edge, the false edge is unsharpened. The blade has some spots of patination, one larger spot also with light pitting, some tiny divots which I think are imperfections in forging. Some undulation to the spine, possibly from hand manufacture, with patination to the recessed areas. Some areas of darker patination to the hilt and exposed tang. One grip slab is intact, the other has areas of chipping which partly expose the tang on the edge side and one of the rivets next to the pommel.

Nation : French
Local Price : £215.00

French M1892 Mannlicher Berthier 1st Pattern Bayonet. Straight blade with spear point, single fuller on each face as well as short fuller on the spine running to the tip. Black slab composition grips (meaning that this is the 1 st pattern, the 2 nd pattern having wood grips) secured to the exposed tang by two steel rivets. Hilt with muzzle ring overlapping the grip and a hooked lower quillon. Many M1892 bayonets had the quillon removed during WW1 – this example remains intact and original. Steel pommel with locking button. Steel scabbard with frog loop, brown leather frog of the correct type for the M1892, with strap and brass buckle. The bayonet’s quillon is stamped with a cursive F and the serial number ’38157’. The scabbard is also numbered on the frog loop band but because of the black paint that has been applied to it this number is illegible, so I cannot tell if the bayonet and scabbard are a matching pair or not. The scabbard has a small ‘S’ inspection mark next to the rivet hole on one side. The blade is bright with some light frosting and a few small spots of patination in the fullers. The edge of the blade has been sharpened with visible grinding marks – the tip has also been ground but is not particularly sharp, probably because of its thick point intended to pierce without breaking. The hilt, tang and pommel have areas of patination, the pommel some speckled cleaned light pitting. Some small indentations to the grip slabs. The scabbard has been painted gloss black – this is mostly intact with just a few small chips revealing steel. The rivet near the throat of the scabbard is missing. The leather frog has some surface rubbing and loss of stitching in places.

Nation : -
Local Price : 295.00 USD

18th CENTURY OTTOMAN PRIMING FLASK FOR FLINTLOCK PISTOL. All iron of small size to hold about three pan charges, likely the most expected to be used in a battle where the opportunity for reloading was rare. Just over 2 3/4" width with curved chamber engraved hatched bands and pivoting spring cut off. Excellent with uniform light to medium surface patina.

Nation : British
Local Price : £295.00

1890 Pattern Cavalry Sword. EL7325 - A late-Victorian 1890 pattern cavalry sword, with numerous markings, in quite good condition, with some pitting at the ricasso, and no scabbard.

Nation : British
Local Price : £295.00

Mid-Victorian Infantry Officer's Sword by Buckmaster. EL7313 - A good quality mid-Victorian 1845 pattern Infantry officer's sword by Buckmaster. Bright blade with good detailed and crisp etching, firm in the hilt. The brass guard has a very tiny amount of movement, but very small, the grip in good condition and firm on the tang. The folding drop works well. No scabbard.

Nation : British
Local Price : £295.00

British Cavalry or Artillery NCO's Sword. EL7302 - A mystery British sword, perhaps for an artillery or cavalry NCO. Featuring a completely plain and un-etched blade of just under 33 inches long, retaining most of the original mirror polish. Firm in the hilt, but with the tiniest bit of movement in the guard. The shagreen of the grip in good condition, but with no grip wire. The three-bar hilt with light pitting and traces of gold paint

Nation : -
Local Price : £295.00

1890 Pattern Cavalry Sword for Restoration. EL7211 - An 1890 pattern cavalry sword. With numerous stamps, showing that this was made in 1890 and approved for service in Birmingham, then re-issued in 1895. The blade is nice and clean, with a bright finish. The hilt and scabbard have been painted and this should be removed, and there is a red cloth liner added to the guard, which I imagine was for theatrical purposes. A restoration project

Nation : US
Local Price : £210.00

US M1873 Socket Bayonet for the Springfield Trapdoor Rifle, Pennsylvania National Guard. Socket bayonet for the Model 1873 .45-70 Springfield Trapdoor rifle, with fullered triangular blade and steel scabbard. Scabbard with drainage hole and frog hanging hook, black leather frog with rotating belt loop. The brass swivel of the belt frog is also cast with ‘N.G.P.’ indicating that it was made for the Pennsylvania National Guard. The leather inside of the scabbard loop is also roughly inscribed with ‘WM’, presumably a soldier’s initials. The last model of standard-issue socket bayonet, the M1873 was used with the 1873 and 1879 ‘Trapdoor’ Springfield rifles, until 1884 when the new model introduced a rod bayonet. The blade is bright with some patination, likewise the socket apart from the shank, which has bluing. The scabbard body is free of dents, it has been painted black with substantial flaking to the paint revealing patinated steel, particularly along edges. The leather frog is partly cracked along the seam attaching the semicircular ‘ear’ piece to the scabbard loop – it can support its own weight but should be handled with care. Some rubbing to the leather frog, surface flaking to the belt loop in places. The loop still rotates freely. One small dent to the flat side of the scabbard body.