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Sword

Swords and edged weapons are a popular collecting category within the antique arms and armour market.

Dating back to ancient times, swords have a long history of production with fine decorative or ceremonial examples and items linked to notable historical figures and events often commanding the most attention.


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Weapon owned by tragic 1912 Antarctic explorer makes eight-times estimate in Kent

24 January 2022

A sword sold at Kent auction house C&T (22% buyer’s premium) belonged to a British Antarctic explorer who died in 1912 – but not with Robert Falcon Scott.

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Swords of honour: a presentation trio

24 January 2022

A Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund sword of £100 value took the honours at a Bonhams’ (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) sale of arms and armour.

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Napoleon weapons garniture sells for $2.5m in Illinois

13 December 2021

A remarkable garniture of weapons including the sword Napoleon is believed to have carried when he seized power in 1799 sold at an Illinois auction house.

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Sword soars to £8200 at Dawsons

22 November 2021

Estimated at £200-300, this kaskara sold for £8200 at Dawsons (23% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead on October 28.

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Classic country house offering brings spectacular selection of lots

04 October 2021

Irish castle home of earls about to be turned into hotel and spa furnishes a remarkable sale

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Sought-after Colt now on way home to US

19 July 2021

The outstanding lot in the arms and armour sale held in London on June 30 by Thomas Del Mar (25% buyer’s premium) was the £96,000 16th century Augsburg close helmet illustrated on the front page of last week’s ATG (No 2501).

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Ottoman sword is swell buy in Munich

19 July 2021

The prize lot sold at a recent Hermann Historica (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Munich was this 19th century Ottoman kilij of characteristic form with a curved blade swelling towards the tip.

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Russian ambassador’s Japanese swords

03 May 2021

On May 18 Paris auction firm Tessier Sarrou is selling the first part of a collection of Japanese swords.

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Parts add up to high value

01 February 2021

Even the composite parts of weapons now long lost have a value at auction.

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‘Father of the RAF’ swords

05 October 2020

Lawrences’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Crewkerne on September 10 featured three swords that came to auction from the family of the ‘Father of the RAF’: Viscount Trenchard GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO (1873-1956).

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Erskine Childers’ sword sells in Irish auction

17 August 2020

This Royal Navy Reserve officer’s sword owned by Robert Erskine Childers was estimated at €3000-5000 in a recent auction by Mullen’s (20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in Bray, Co Dublin. The scabbard throat of the Victorian 1827-pattern sword is engraved 'RE Childers'.

Robert Erskine Childers' sword

Irish writer and nationalist Erskine Childers’ sword stars in our pick of five auction highlights this week

17 July 2020

ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a Victorian 1827-pattern officer’s sword owned by Robert Erskine Childers that sold above estimate in Co Dublin.

First Empire small sword

Légion d'honneur sword and early ventriloquist's doll are among five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes

08 May 2020

ATG’s selection of hammer highlights this week includes a rare French First Empire sword for a Légion d'honneur recipient that made over 35-times estimate.

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Sharp eyes spot top blade at Grantham auction

27 April 2020

Ken tanto, distinguished by double-edged blades, are one of the rarer styles of Japanese sword. Most were made as Buddhist ritual implements rather than weapons and are decorated accordingly.

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Present arms for an £11,000 result

13 April 2020

Among the highlights of Antony Cribb’s Spring Virtual Arms and Armour sale was a collection of presentation swords.

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Second chance for works from Spetchley Park offered at Chorley’s

02 March 2020

Second-dibs sales at regional salerooms – those that follow after a major London auctioneer has cherry-picked the contents of a stately country house – can sometimes acquire the slighting epithet of ‘crumbs from a rich man’s table’.

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Pick of the week: Rusty Scottish Highland sword makes £30,000

27 January 2020

Claymores (the word comes from the Scottish Gaelic claidheamh-mor meaning ‘great sword’) were the weapon of choice in the ongoing warfare between Highland clans and border skirmishes with the English from c.1400-1700.

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Five examples showing how exotic Eastern blades remain a key fixture at auction

20 January 2020

Edged weapons from the East continue to feature regularly among the top lots in auctions across the world. Awareness of the rich array of culturally-significant weapons to be found in Western collections has grown as internet technology reaches a new international audience.

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Sabres suggest the swashbuckling world of Hornblower

20 January 2020

Two spectacular early-19th century British presentation sabres have turned up in the salerooms recently, one in London and the other in Munich.

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Sikh tulwar in Italian saleroom

12 August 2019

Edged weapons from the East were also an important part of the sale held by Czerny (20% buyer’s premium) in Sarzano, Italy, on June 16.