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Nation : British
Local Price : £2550

English Silver Hilted Small Sword with London Hallmarks for 1726 / 1727 likely by Thomas Bass and made for the American market. A fine early 18th century English silver hilted small sword mounted with a double shell guard. The hilt is of the early plain form that arrived in the late 17th century and is the precursor to the period when the quality of small sword design and decorative appearance blossomed and reached its hiatus in London from the 1730’s onwards. An interesting feature of the hilt is the two outwardly concave bars which link the pas d'ane rings to the knuckle bow and rear quillon presumably to strengthen the structure in an attractive manner. The ring terminals also protrude upwards. These features are unusual on English silver hilted small swords but appear on one of the swords featured in Leslie Southwick’s “London Silver-hilted Swords”, Royal Armouries, 2001, page 279, plate 29. This sword is in the Royal Armouries Collection, Ref IX.2241. It is by the maker George Willcocks and hallmarked for 1720 / 1721. The hilt is almost identical to our sword even down to the minor details such as the shape of the pommel button and the grip ferrules. The maker's mark is also shown in the same place on the pommel button. Whilst the subtle features described above are unusual in English made swords they are not unusual in 18th century American small swords. Daniel D Hartzler in “American Silver-Hilted, Revolutionary and Early Federal Swords”, 2015, Volume 1, illustrates a number of swords with these features made by 18th century American silversmiths such as Edward Winslow (pages 222, 223), William Little (pages 249 to 251) of Massachusetts and working in the early 18th century contemporary with the maker of our sword. Hartzler describes the hilt features highlighted above as the “American manner of construction” (page 222). Our sword was presumably therefore made in the American manner most likely for an American gentleman by one of a number of London silversmiths that catered for this demand. Most American silver hilted small swords at this time, like our sword, are rather plain double shell guard types as can also be seen in Hartzler. The hilt of our sword is almost certainly by Thomas Bass. Three hallmarks marks are present on the knuckle bow and two on the pommel button. The knucklebow marks are the lion passant and the crowned leopard's head assay mark plus the date stamp for 1726 / 1727. The pommel button has a worn lion passant on one side and the maker's mark on the other which is also worn and indistinctly stamped onto this awkward surface. Thomas Bass's Sterling mark was registered in 1720 (Grimwade 2685) and consisted of his initials “T B” in raised relief inside a shield with a pellet between, and below, and a crown above. The mark on the sword pommel clearly shows the “T” plus the pellet to its right and the spine of the letter “B” to its right. Due to the tight curve of the small button most of the right hand part of the stamp is missing. A feature of the lives of London silver hilted sword makers of the 18th century was that talent in working with silver was not necessarily a guarantee of commercial success. To succeed they also needed business acumen. Some silversmiths were very successful and became wealthy men. However, the records show that many talented silversmiths, evidenced by the quality of their surviving works, lived a sparse existence and sometimes ended their lives in penury. Thomas Bass seems to have been one such unfortunate case. Thomas is recorded from 1701 to 1760 as a silver hilt maker and sword cutler. He was indentured to the profession by the cutler Joseph Reason for seven years and sworn “free” of the Cutlers' Company on 15th April 1708, after which he is recorded as working in Fetter Lane in the City of London where he remained for the next 50 years and registered his first mark. He indentured his one known apprentice, Isaac Stewart, in 1712, and registered his second (Sterling) mark in 1720. On 5th October 1721 the Court of Assistants of the Cutlers' Company excused Thomas from taking livery due to his “mean” circumstances. A year later he was excused again: “Thomas Bass being sumon'd did not appear but several Members knowing him to be poor the Court doth think fit to excuse him till he is in better Circumstances”. It seems that Thomas struggled with poverty all his life and spent his last years in a workhouse to be buried at St Andrew's Church, Holborn, on 22nd February 1760. The above reference work borrows from Leslie Southwick 2001. The hollow ground, triangular section blade displays a pronounced taper at the forte and is in fine condition with a grey uncleaned patina. Engraved scroll designs have been applied near to the hilt in panels on both sides. The widest shows a hatted figure surrounded by foliage. Minor speckles and patches of age staining are present in places. The blade length is 30.5 inches (77.5 cm) and the overall length of the sword is just over 37 inches (just over 94 cm).

Nation : -
Local Price : 3,300.00 USD

CELTIC BROADSWORD C.400-100 BC. La Tene culture. A two handed sword with characteristic broad double edged blade with rounded tip. These were used for slashing or hacking only, not thrusting, which the broad section for the full length of the blade optimized, in the technique specific to the culture. 31" total length. Well forged with rectangular section tang and depressed medial stepped ricasso. Original arched guard which rests on the step of the ricasso, providing a blade catcher with the ricasso. Excavated with excellent profile including the rounded tip of the blade preserved intact. Two small areas of copper on the surface of the blade from electrolytic transfer from the scabbard, mounts while buried. Scabbard now perished. Norse literature identifies two types of swords, the svaerd which is a blunt slashing sword and the maekir, a tapered pointed sword. See Records of the Medieval Sword, Oakeshott, p.20 illustrating and discussing examples of both found in Denmark. The La Tene evolved from the Halstatt culture and populated vast areas of Europe, including Ireland, England, Scandinavia and northern Europe to the Mediterranean, through conquest, settlement and trade. This sword is a well preserved classic example of one of the two broad swords which empowered the conquest.

Nation : Italian
Local Price : 3,300.00 USD

AN ITALIAN SMALLSWORD, PAPAL STATES C.1720. This sword is mounted with a steel hilt, finely chiseled in flags and military trophies. The decoration is in panels gilt overall in Italian taste. The grip is finely wrapped in steel wire and copper bands, originally gilt. The blade, swelled at the forte (colichemarde form) is decorated with a coronet impaled with palm fronds over an armorial device of a raptor on a globe encoiled by a serpent. The quality and form of the decoration indicate a noble owner, perhaps a branch of the Borghese family who grew in power under Pope Paul V (Camille Borghese) after 1605. This sword dates to the period of the greatest power of the Papal states which lasted until the Napoleonic Wars. 31 7/8" length blade.

Nation : ?
Local Price : 3,300.00 USD

FINE EUROPEAN RAPIER C.1650-80. A fine quality example of a type that evolved about 1645 in response to changing social customs and swordsmanship and remained popular for about a generation. It has a fine 28 ¼” blade of diamond section, flattened at the forte with remnants of a mark or inlay. The iron hilt is decorated in relief with flowers on the quillon terminals, quillon block, and pommel faces, all with gold decoration and gold scrolling tendrils to the flat surfaces. The cross guard edges and each side of the pommel ridges are embellished with fine bands of raised circles. All were skillfully chiseled into the steel with the gold about 50% intact. Fine silver, brass, and copper wire-wrapped grip. A lovely weapon clearly intended to impress in social situations, but a match for any in the street enhanced agility. Known to collectors, as pillow swords in recent years, they were more likely known to their owners as scarf swords. Norman discusses this and the method in which they were worn in The Rapier and Smallsword 1460-1820, Norman, page 186. Its contemporaries in Northern Europe were the transitional rapiers and occasional dish-hilted rapier. Somewhat smaller than either, it was able to be worn in social settings where larger weapons were prohibited. Size, and thus weight, which in motion equates to inertia was always balanced against agility. In this weapon, the choice is for the latter.

Nation : -
Local Price : 3,275.00 USD

17th CENTURY CARIBBEAN CUP HILTED RAPIER. Classic example of the type identified as the first swords made in the New World. These were made in the Caribbean in the 17th century and are well documented in literature including Arms and Armor in Colonial America, Peterson, pl.78, and Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America, Brinkerhoff & Chamberlain, where the chapter on swords is introduced with an example, pl.125 & 126. These were made by talented blacksmiths, not swordsmiths, and are unlike European swords which were products of groups of specialists, each performing a task repeatedly, they show variations and the effects of handwork. This example represents the group very well for form and workmanship with 36" (outside the cup) triple fullered d.e. blade. Scalloped edge cup with four bars joining the edge to the crossguard. Deep curved knuckle bow and mushroom form pommel. Diced horn grip complete and excellent. The metal uniformly lightly textured with a rich brown patina as typical for arms used at sea. These swords served the Spanish whose primary goal was the capture and transport of gold to the Spanish crown. So substantial was the volume, that it caused a deflation in the world economy at the time. It also generated a fleet of pirates who skillfully scoured the Caribbean for the Spanish treasure ships using stealth, deception, the cover of weather, and the speed and agility of captured ships to overcome their objectives. Fine centerpiece for Caribbean pirate collection.

Nation : ?
Local Price : £2500.00

D.Egg Paget Carbine. A 16 Bore Paget Flintlock Cavalry Carbine by D. Egg. With round sighted barrel, retaining traces of original colour, stamped with Ordnance proofs, plain tang fitted with rear sight, bevelled double border line engraved lock, signed D. EGG, figured full stock with regulation brass mounts, saddle bar absent, with captive ramrod. Dimensions: Bore: 16-Bore Barrel Length: 16 Inches (40.64 cm) Overall Length: 32 Inches (81.28 cm)

Nation : British
Local Price : £2500

Fine Hanoverian Georgian Officer’s Side Arm with Paktong Mounts – Second Half of the 18th Century. A fine Georgian Officer’s Side Arm, engraved on its blade with the crowned British Royal Arms, crowned GR cypher, and on the spine with “Fabrique Royale a Hertzberg”, all highlighted in rich gilt. Hertzberg is a town in Lower Saxony and part of the state of Hanover. The weapon is of heavy construction and was made in Hertzberg as a military side arm for an officer serving the House of Hanover in a regiment recruited to serve British interests in the second half of the 18th century. Swords dating to the 18th century with blades of this size are often referred to under a general ill-defined umbrella as “Hunting Swords”, and the curved bladed versions “Hunting Hangers”. The term “Hunting” attached to these smaller proportioned swords, compared to the usual full length types, is something of a misnomer. These weapons were primarily intended for offence, or defence, with regard to people, not animals. Some made in the UK were most certainly intended for military use. In his portrait Vice-Admiral John Benbow, who died in 1702, wears armour in a naval scene and is holding a robust early hanger of later cutlass proportions, and clearly intended for use in close quarter melee when ships were boarded in naval warfare. During the 18th century a number of German states hired out their troops in commercial enterprises to fight for the armies of vying nations at war in Europe. One of these states, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire, was Hanover. Its Elector, George, became King George I of England In 1714, after which he ruled the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Electorate of Hanover. Hanover was one of the states that raised troops for foreign service and as a result, Britain inherited with its new king, established diplomatic routes through which German troops could be recruited into British service. For instance, the Seven Years War in Europe, from 1756 to 1763, started with George II as king and ended with George III. When Britain’s need for foreign assistance was at its highest at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, treaties were signed with these German states and around 40,000 German troops were recruited into British service at this time. Although generally grouped as “Hessian”, these troops were recruited from a wide range of different states including: Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Hanau, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Ansbach-Bayreuth, Waldeck, Anhaldt-Zerbst and of course Hanover. The troops were recruited mainly as fully organised units or regiments rather than as individual recruits to be absorbed into the British military. Clearly there was a loyalty from the troops recruited in Hanover to their paymaster King George III who was also their own ruler. So it is no surprise to find evidence of this on their weaponry which was probably also well represented on other regimental regalia, colours, etc, although little has survived. Interestingly, Herzberg was an established town 56 miles (90 km) from the state capital of Hanover. Its industries included the production of armaments for the Hanover forces. Other than as indicated by the quality of the blade and its gilt highlighted decoration, the prestige of this weapon is further enhanced by the mounts which are made of Paktong (Chinese Silver). More of this attractive metal was imported into France and Germany from China compared to England at the time. It seems clear therefore that the side arm was most likely made in Hertzberg for an officer in an infantry regiment recruited in Hanover for service with the British Army in the American Revolutionary War period. The British royal arms on the blade in style date to before 1803. The sword consists of a sturdy cross-guard with counter-facing flattened swollen terminals, one of which is stamped with the maker’s mark “I K”, and a downward facing shell guard with a moulded border. The grip is of natural stag horn, spirally bound with chain, with a ribbed ferrule at the base, and a ribbed domed cap on top with an integral button. The military style leather scabbard is stitched down one side and retains its chape and mouthpiece. The thick, heavy blade is exquisitely forged with a single deep fuller extending just underneath the back edge for three quarters of its length after which it is double edged. A second, broader, shallower fuller extends between the first fuller and the cutting edge to the tip. It has a short ricasso, after which a panel on one side is engraved with the crowned Royal Arms and the crowned GR cypher on the reverse side. These features are enhanced with strapwork and acanthus, all highlighted in rich gilt. The overall length is 25.75 inches (65.5 cm). The blade length is 19.75 inches (just over 50 cm).

Nation : British
Local Price : £2500

Scottish Basket Hilted Sword for a Highland Regiment circa 1750 to 1784. A representative example of a distinctive type of Scottish munitions grade military basket hilted sword dating to the middle to third quarter of the 18th century. These swords were issued to soldiers serving in Scottish Highland infantry regiments such as the 42nd (Black Watch), and are often associated with their service in the French / Indian and Revolutionary Wars in North America. Some swords bear store or rack numbers marked into the pommels and guards, and occasionally amongst these marks the specific regiment can be identified. Most are unmarked. The swords were funded by regimental colonels from their allowances. Anthony D Darling in his “Weapons of the Highland Regiments 1740 to 80” (Historical Arms Series No 33) devotes a section to the background of this sword type. This hilt type evolved in Scotland towards the mid 18th century as a simplified version of the earlier more usual Scottish basket hilted sword, intended to be cheaper to produce for militias recruited from the Highlands which enforced order in the remote areas. The 43rd, later to become the 42nd , the Black Watch, was first formed for this purpose. Around 1757 production of these swords transferred to England as demand grew due to the increasing numbers of Highlanders being recruited into the newly raised Highland regiments. England was industrially better placed to fulfill bigger contracts in a more cost-effective and timely manner. Production fell mainly into the hands of two firms, Drury, and Jeffreys. Little is known of the exact process of manufacture, but it is thought that the hilts, blades, scabbards, and grips were sourced from Birmingham, Sheffield and London, then the swords were assembled in workshops in London. Drury and Jeffreys commissioned similar single edged blades, usually between circa 29 inches and 32 inches long, as witnessed on surviving swords, with single fullers. Generally they stamped their blades both sides in a similar manner and size with a crown, “G R” beneath, and their name below. The hilts are made from thin flattened ribbon-like iron bars mainly cut from plate which are forged together. Between these, primary and secondary guard plates are fixed and pierced with circles and triangles. The pommel is a pronounced cone shape with an integral button on top from which three shallow incised lines radiate downwards. The tops of the three guard arms are secured under a lip which extends around the pommel base. The grip is often made of spirally grooved wood mounted with a covering of shagreen and bound with brass wire. Some swords, like ours discussed here, have baluster shaped bare wooden grips, and whilst these may be more modern,or even period replacements, due to the frequency with which they occur, they may also be original grip cores. The Highland Regiments gave up their swords in 1784 when production of this sword type had ceased. The sword discussed retains its black leather stitched scabbard and mounts. Overall, the hilt, blade and scabbard mounts, display a consistent lightly pitted “salt and pepper” patination. The single edged blade has a fuller running underneath the blunt back edge for 80% of its length and is 29.5 inches (75 cm) long. The blade is stamped “DRURY” on both sides in the manner described above. The overall length of the sword is 35.5 inches (90 cm). For a full discussion of this sword type see Anthony D Darling, Swords for the Highland Regiments 1757 – 1784, Mowbray Incorporated, 1988. For other examples see Cyril Mazansky, British Basket-Hilted Swords, Boydell Press / Royal Armouries, 2005, pages 129 to 130. And John Wallace, Scottish Swords and Dirks, Arms and Armour Press, 1970, fig 42, for a sword now in the National Museums of Scotland, collection reference LA 27.