For Sale

The following items are listed by for sale by users of the site and dealers. They are in no way endorsed or guaranteed by www.antiquearmsresearch.com

Add a Classified Item

Type:

Nation:

Keyword(s):

Budget: to

Clicking on the sword will take you through to the relevant classified item or dealer site.

Don't miss out! - Do you want to be kept informed weekly of new aditions? Just join our weekly update list.

You can also receive regular email notifcations when items match your keywords. To recieve them just register or logon at the top right of this page.

Nation : British
Local Price : £945.00

A Most Rare, Original, Late 18th Century Spanish Heavy Dragoon Cup Hilt Sword of the Napoleonic War Peninsular Campaign. An I8th Century or Earlier Form Spanish Rapier Hilt With a British 1796 Heavy Cavalry Ordnance Stamped Hadley Contract Blade. This is simply a fascinating and intriguing sword in that in it's service working life it has had a wide 1796 British Heavy cavalry trooper's sword blade, stamped and made by Ordnance contractor, Hadley of 47 Bull St. Birmingham, and supplied by their British allies. The hilt is actually a design and likely made from a 1650 Spanish Toledo cup hilt rapier. Spanish cup hilt rapiers often originally had long and slender blades, however in the 18th century their blades became wider and of broadsword dimensions when used by Spanish heavy dragoons, especially in the Peninsular war from 1808, but they retained the cup hilt form of the traditional, Spanish cavalry sword. We also acquired a rare, fully standard Napoleonic Peninsular War 1808 Spanish Heavy Dragoon sword, with its wide blade, and changed hilt pattern We have never seen an original period Spanish sword mounted with a British ordnance blade before, and this is most intriguing. We conclude it was added at the time of the Spanish alliance with Britain during the Peninsular War in Spain, against Napoleon's occupying forces. Possibly supplied and given by the British, from such as the 4th Heavy Dragoons or 3rd Dragoon Guards, to their Spanish allies to replace an unsuitable narrow earlier Spanish rapier blade. The 4th Dragoons were landed between the 22nd and 27th of April 1809 at Lisbon and were brigaded with the more senior 3rd Dragoon Guards under Major General Henry Fane forming the first British Heavy Cavalry brigade in the Peninsular War. The sword's cup has some original combat impact damage and field repair on one side. Traditional long quilons of the late 18th century pattern up to 1808 when the hilt design was changed and the quillons deeply curved. Crown 4 stamp to blade and maker's mark stamp on backstrap, ordnance contractor and supplier of 1796 Heavy Dragoon swords, Hadley of Birmingham. The Spanish heavy cavalry in the Peninsular campaign, such as, The Battle of Bailen Fought July 19, 1808, between 15,000 Spaniards under Castaflos, and 20,000 French under Dupont. The French were totally defeated with a loss of over 2,000 men, and Dupont surrendered with his whole army. The Battle of Bailen was contested in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castanos and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Etang. The heaviest fighting took place near Bailen (sometimes anglicised Baylen), a village by the Guadalquivir river in the Jaen province of southern Spain. In June 1808, following the widespread uprisings against the French occupation of Spain, Napoleon organised French units into flying columns to pacify Spain's major centres of resistance. One of these, under General Dupont, was dispatched across the Sierra Morena and south through Andalusia to the port of Cadiz where an French naval squadron lay at the mercy of the Spanish. The Emperor was confident that with 20,000 men, Dupont would crush any opposition encountered on the way. Events proved otherwise, and after storming and plundering Cordoba in July, Dupont retraced his steps to the north of the province to await reinforcements. Meanwhile, General Castanos, commanding the Spanish field army at San Roque, and General von Reding, Governor of Malaga, travelled to Seville to negotiate with the Seville Junta a patriotic assembly committed to resisting the French incursions?and to turn the province's combined forces against the French. Dupont's failure to leave Andalusia proved disastrous. Between 16 and 19 July, Spanish forces converged on the French positions stretched out along villages on the Guadalquivir and attacked at several points, forcing the confused French defenders to shift their divisions this way and that. With Castanos pinning Dupont downstream at Andujar, Reding successfully forced the river at Mengibar and seized Bailen, interposing himself between the two wings of the French army. Caught between Castanos and Reding, Dupont attempted vainly to break through the Spanish line at Bailen in three bloody and desperate charges, losing more than 2,500 men. His counterattacks defeated, Dupont called for an armistice and was compelled to sign the Convention of Andujar which stipulated the surrender of almost 18,000 men, making Bailen the worst disaster and capitulation of the Peninsular War, and the first major defeat of Napoleon's Grande Armee. When news of the catastrophe reached the French high command in Madrid, the result was a general retreat to the Ebro, abandoning much of Spain to the insurgents. France's enemies in Spain and throughout Europe cheered at this first check to the hitherto unbeatable Imperial armies tales of Spanish heroism inspired Austria and showed the force of nation-wide resistance to Napoleon, setting in motion the rise of the Fifth Coalition against France. The Portuguese and Spanish played an important part in the war. Retrained and reorganised by Marshal William Beresford, Portugal’s soldiers fought bravely alongside those of Britain. The stubborn Spanish defence of cities and towns tied down thousands of French troops. Spanish armies, though frequently defeated, kept reappearing, forcing France to send more armies against them. French troops were also required to garrison hostile territory and wage a bitter war against Spanish and Portuguese insurgents, the ‘guerrillas’. French communications and supply lines were harassed by their raids and ambushes. By 1812, the French had over 350,000 soldiers in Iberia, but 200,000 were protecting lines of supply rather than serving as front-line troops. All of these factors meant that although on paper the French heavily outnumbered the British armies in Iberia, they were never able to concentrate enough of their troops to win a decisive victory. The continual drain on French resources led Napoleon to call the conflict the ‘Spanish Ulcer’. A picture in the gallery of an old watercolour of an officer of one of the British allies in a Spanish Heavy Dragoon regiment in the Peninsular War, with his identical broadsword bladed cup hilt sword drawn for combat. 42 inches long overall

Nation : British
Local Price : £925.00

1803 Flank Office’s Sabre. A large solid example of the popular British 1803 Flank Offices sabre. Made by Osborn (dated 1803-1808), carrying the GG stamp of the maker. It has the distinctive lion headed pommel and brass guard with GR cypher. The long fullered blade has a speckled overall patina and is solid in the guard with no movement. The grip still retains its original shagreen and brass wire cover. The sword is 94cm overall with a 81cm blade and measures 3.5cm at the forte.Authorised in 1803, when ’a Pattern Sword for the Officers of Grenadiers and Light Infantry’ was authorised. Similar in shape and style to the sword carried by light cavalry officers, it still retained a remarkable amount of regimental differences. It was designed to be a more robust fighting sword for officers of the elite flank companies of British regiments. These sabres proved to be incredibly popular, and remained in service until 1822, when they were eventually replaced by a more standard pattern.

Nation : British
Local Price : £925.00

Georgian 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry.... Georgian 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry bugler's or pioneers sidearm. A neo-classical, gladius style sword. Cast, lion headed brass hilt showing the

Nation : Persian
Local Price : 1,275.00 USD

PERSIAN RENAISSANCE REVIVAL SWORD, 19TH CENTURY. Iconic example of this rare type which are dated variously from late 18th century to mid 19th. 28” broadsword blade, replicating the 15th century originals. Decorated with five portraits of nobles each side on a background of thicket made up of stylized thuluth calligraphy. Elaborately shaped iron hilt with cross form pommel and monster form quillon terminals. This example with remnants of silver decoration on both sides. The silver worn and the pommel with a dent each side, probably from ritual use. At least one reference states that these are made with undecorated hilts and we found only one other with decoration, further distinguishing this example.

Nation : British
Local Price : £1255.00

Superb Crimean War 1853 Issue British Cavalry Sabre, Exactly as Used by The Charge of the Light Brigade, and, The {Less Well Known, Yet Ironically More Successful} Charge of the Heavy Brigade. In Its Stunning Steel Scabbard, With White Buff Hide Knot. A stunning 1853 pattern sabre that superseded the earlier issue 1821 pattern. A beautiful three bar bright steel hilt, with regulation chequered leather grip, held with 5 rivets. A Regulation steel blade with ordnance stamps and ordnance contract maker stamp, Mole. In its regulation pattern, rolled sheet steel, mirror bright plated scabbard. Many Mole blades were used extensively by the British Army, including during the Crimean War (in the Charge of the Light Brigade) this sword has every indication to have been one of them, such as in the 13th Light dragoons This original 1853 pattern trooper's sabre was the replacement of the previous 1821 pattern. This particular sabre was issued, just in time, to a few of the hussar and lancer regiments that departed for service in the Crimean War, but it took around another 10 years or so to be supplied to all the other cavalry regiments in the army, especially if they were in service at the time within the far flung reaches of the empire. We have also acquired, a similarly fabulous, 1821 issue example, from the same collection. However, all our other, fabulous condition British cavalry sabres, that we recently acquired from the Crimean War collection, have now been sold over the past few weeks. Both cavalry charges against the Russian lines happened on the same day in the Crimean War, at Balaklava, on the 25th October 1854, and barely two hours apart. The first charge was at 9.30 am and was the 'Charge of the Heavy Brigade', and it was followed at 11.10 am by the famed 'Charge of the Light Brigade'. This sabre would very likely have been used in either charge as the 1853 pattern was designated for use by both light and heavy cavalry. It bears the same ordnance maker's mark, as an identical pattern issue sword, from the Charge of the Light Brigade, used by a trooper the 13th Light Dragoon's in the charge, that is now in the 13th-18th Royal Hussars and Light Dragoons Regimental Museum {see a photo of that sword in the gallery}. Our sword also bears the line regt. issue ordnance inspectors marks. Following the Battle of the Alma in September 1854, British, French and Ottoman forces had begun to besiege the Russian naval base of Sevastopol. The siege lines, running back to their base at Balaklava harbour, went through two valleys and a ridge, and were vulnerable. Seeking to take advantage of this, the Russians planned to break the British lines and then capture the base. 'The Thin Red Line' The Russian cavalry charged on Balaklava, but their route was blocked by the 93rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot. Traditionally, infantry facing a charge would form a square, four lines deep. But the Highlanders took an unconventional approach, making two lines instead. In the face of the oncoming Russian horses, the Highlanders' commander, Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, told his troops: ‘There is no retreat from here, men. You must die where you stand.’ They fired two disciplined volleys at the advancing enemy, which turned the Russians back. 'Charge of the Heavy Brigade' The Heavy Brigade, moving up to support the Highlanders, then intercepted the retreating Russian cavalry. The 800 British horsemen were hugely outnumbered by the 3,000-strong Russian cavalry. But seeing their enemy halted and vulnerable to attack, they charged uphill all the same. Their advance was little faster than a trot and only lasted 10 minutes, but it sent the Russian horsemen into disorder. 'Charge of the Light Brigade' ‘Cavalry to advance rapidly to the front’ To prevent the Russians moving the guns they had captured earlier, Lord Raglan issued an order to the Light Brigade to go and retrieve them. He was still waiting on reinforcements from Sevastopol to arrive, so the light horsemen were the only troops available to him. But the cavalry commanders, who lacked Raglan’s view of the battlefield, were uncertain as to which guns his order referred to. What’s more, all they could see was a Russian artillery battery at the end of a heavily defended valley. In response to their orders, the Light Brigade began their charge, but at the wrong gun batteries. They galloped through Russian artillery fire from three sides and on into the ‘Valley of Death’ suffering heavy losses in the process. Some of the horsemen succeeded in reaching the Russian guns at the end of the valley, and even drove the men operating them into retreat before charging the Russian cavalry beyond. After intense fighting, the remnants of the Light Brigade were forced to retreat from the guns. They made their way back through the ‘Valley of Death’ before reaching safety. Fortunately, their return was ensured by the French cavalry, who cleared the Russians from the north side of the valley. Although the reinforcements from Sevastopol had now deployed and were ready to begin an assault on the heights, no further action was taken. The battle ended in strategic stalemate, with the Russians controlling the heights and the road, but Balaklava still in Allied hands. Unfortunately, Russian possession of the road made supplying the forces besieging Sevastopol during a terrible winter much harder. The loss of the Light Brigade was one of Britain’s most spectacular military disasters. It is remembered because of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s popular poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, written a few weeks after the battle. Years later, Tennyson also wrote ‘The Charge of the Heavy Brigade’ to raise money for Crimean veterans, many of whom were living in poverty. For similar reasons Rudyard Kipling wrote ‘The Last of the Light Brigade’ in 1890 to raise awareness of the hardships faced by veterans. The blade is grey stained. Over two decades ago we were delighted to buy Captain Nolan's undress sabretache that was used to carry the order in the Charge of the Light Brigade, and was recovered from beneath his, and his horses bodies after the battle. It spent most of its life after the charge in two museums, one at the rebuilt and re-sited Crystal Palace in London. We were privileged to buy direct it from the original family owners with the personal assistance of the late Gordon Gardner, Militaria Expert of Sotheby's from 1979. "Robert Mole & Sons" was a prominent British sword manufacturer and contractor active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Established in Birmingham, England, in 1835 by a descendant of German craftsman Hermann Mohll (later Anglicized to Mole). Government Contractor: The firm was a significant supplier to the British War Office, the Admiralty, and the Government of India, particularly from 1852 to 1919. Produced swords, sword bayonets, lances, and matchets (machetes). They were known for high-quality production, often considered second only to Wilkinson Sword during the Victorian era. Mole blades were used extensively by the British Army and Navy, including during the Crimean War (Charge of the Light Brigade), the Boer War, and World War I. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Robert Mole & Sons produced swords, including cavalry sabers and naval cutlasses, that were imported by the Confederacy. Blades are typically marked "RobT Mole & Sons, Makers, Birmingham" or simply "Mole" on the spine or ricasso. Records of their production were discovered in 1988, detailing contracts from 1852-1920. The company eventually became part of Wilkinson Sword.

Nation : French
Local Price : £900.00

18th Century French &#acute;Manstopper&#acute; Pistol. A large bore &#acute;manstopper&#acute; pistol from the late 18th or early 19th century. With a twisted damacus barrel, swan neck cock, chequered grip and engraved steel mounts, comprising trigger guard and turned ramrod pipe. Marked on the lock Aubrun à Nantes. The lock and action are in good condition and the pistol holds half and full cock well.The pistol is the work of Jean Aubron ca 1771-1818 in Nantes (France), a town located on the upper Loire River in Brittany. The Aubron family of gunsmiths began in the 1770s with Jean, and was continued by his son Jules Aubron ca 1805-1855 and through the latter part of the 19th century with Jules son Thomas

Nation : -
Local Price : £1,250.00

Carved Hilt Transitional Rapier. Origin: Europe, Culture: European, Period: 18th Century. An 18th century transitional rapier featuring a richly decorated carved hilt. Some of the scenes are valiant while some others appear to be affectionate. The markings on the blade have yet to be researched, but they appear to be of typical Solingen form.

Nation : Unknown
Local Price : £1,250.00

A Flintlock Specimen Gun by Davies & Son. A Flintlock Specimen Gun by Davies & Son. With sighted octagonal to round barrel, breech block inlaid with two platinum lines and platinum plug, border engraved tang decorated with flowers, stepped bevelled lock, engraved with a game bird and a star-burst at the tail of the lock, half-stocked in walnut, cut with chequering at the grip, with white metal fore-end cap, engraved steel mounts comprising butt-plate and trigger guard. Staining to butt and mounts. Dimensions: Bore: 32 Bore Barrel Length: 25 Inches (63.50 cm) Overall Length: 41 Inches (104.15 cm)