Collectables

London coins and medals specialist Dix Noonan Webb is changing its management structure.

Focus on lots coming up in sales at four auction houses, two from the UK and two from the US.

The latest recent arms and armour sales on both sides of the Atlantic serves only to reinforce the impression that pistols remain a huge favourite with collectors in this field.

Author and dealer in memorabilia ready for busy year which is centenary of landmark act that gave women in the UK the vote for the first time

The same French collection that brought the fine pair of Boutet pistols to the Thomas Del Mar Sale on December 6 also included a number of later Continental pistols that were rare and certainly unfamiliar to most British collectors.

As winter moves into spring, London will host two major events for arms and armour enthusiasts.

Hermann Historica (23% buyer’s premium) of Munich mounted its customary assault on the arms and armour market with no fewer than seven catalogues covering more than 6000 objects, ranging from ancient Greek helmets to military and other vehicles.

Catalogued as “fresh and beautifully preserved”, a broadside printing of America’s Declaration of Independence authorised by the colony that had led the struggle against British rule, Massachusetts, was the star turn of the first major Americana auction of the year.

The New Year is traditionally quiet in the salerooms but the 1800-lot Cheetham collection generated some real excitement at Adam Partridge (18% buyer’s premium) in Macclesfield.

Holt’s (25/20% buyer’s premium) sale in London on December 14 included two prime examples of weapons designed to get their owners out of a tight corner.

The American West was the theme of a 43-lot, single-owner collection offered as part of the January 17 sale held by Sotheby’s New York.

Russian America and polar exploration were the twin themes of a Christie’s New York (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) sale that offered highlights from the Martin Greene Library.

Portable lighters appeared in the early 20th century, with Dunhill being the most collectable name and watch lighters regarded as most covetable.

When the US Government invited arms manufacturers to tender designs for a new standard-issue pistol for the US Army in the early 1900s the winner was Colt, with a system devised by John Moses Browning.

Attributed to the arms manufactory at Ripoll in northern Catalonia, this pair of 18th century miquelet-lock belt pistols (below) proved the surprise lot of the sale held by Italian arms specialist Czerny (20% buyer’s premium) in Sarzana on December 9. In good condition with an overall inlay of pierced and engraved decorative steelwork, they sold for €15,500 (£13,600).

The ink and watercolour manuscript plan of New York City and the Hudson River seen here was prepared by cartographers attached to the Comte de Rochambeau’s forces during the Yorktown campaign in the American War of Independence, c.1781-82.

The American Civil War was fought during a period of rapid technical development in weaponry. While the conventional and reliable Springfield percussion rifle remained the mainstay of the infantry, many innovative firearms saw service for the first (and sometimes the last) time.