Arms, Armour & Militaria

On the day that the Bastille was stormed Louis XVI famously recorded “rien” (nothing) in his game book.

A rare and early combination of a war hammer and pistol was a highlight of the Bonhams (25/12.5% buyer’s premium) sale in Knightsbridge on May 23, selling for £24,000.

The top lot at Bonhams (25/12.5% buyer’s premium) in San Francisco on June 19 was an exceptional cased example of a specially engraved Colt 1851 percussion revolver with shoulder stock.

Signed in gold to the 10in (25cm) damascus barrels Manton London, the best-known name among London gunsmiths, a cased pair of 25-bore flintlock duelling pistols led the specialist arms and armour sale held by Antony Cribb (22% buyer’s premium) at Abingdon on July 24.

The classic English sporting gun is a sidelock, but for many the ‘round-action’ shotguns perfected by John Dickson of Edinburgh in the 1870s are the most elegant of all.

It took a bid of €60,000 (£53,100) to secure a pair of flintlock pistols of c.1730 from the armoury of the Princes of Lobkowitz at Hermann Historica (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich in May.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Edged weapons from the East dominated the summer sale at Thomas Del Mar (24% buyer’s premium) in London on June 27 and it was an old collection of Indian dress daggers that produced the highest prices.

It has not been a vintage season for armour in the saleroom, but some of the recent highlights from London and Munich are shown here.

Among the thousands of lots in Hermann Historica’s (25% buyer’s premium) May sales series in Munich, one of the highlights was this gold inlaid karud from Turkestan which sold at €29,000 (£25,665).

A famous royal regiment was remembered at the Peter Francis (20% buyer’s premium) auction in Carmarthen.

It was not only in London that Eastern daggers made a big impression in UK auctions this summer.

An update to the offensive weapons bill (2017-19) could have a negative impact on the shipping of antique swords and knives.

London saleroom Dix Noonan Webb has bought the 'Britannia Medal Fair' “to ensure that it can remain at the Victory Services Club”, the central London venue where it has attracted dealers and collectors for more than 30 years.

A hairwork bracelet offered at auction was inscribed to a gold mount: From the Mane of the Charger Copenhagen which carried the Duke of Wellington 18 successive hours on the 18th June 1815, The Battle of Waterloo.

A Lesser George sash badge of The Most Noble Order of the Garter was the stand-out lot in a dedicated auction of honours that once belonged to the last Duke of Cambridge to have held that title before Prince William in the present day.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.