Arms, Armour & Militaria

A gold sword that belonged to the bodyguard of Empress Catherine II of Russia is estimated at £40,000-60,000 in Thomas Del Mar’s December 5 Antique Arms, Armour and Militaria sale in West Kensington, London.

Spink are to offer the Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross awarded to Sergeant Major (later Lieutenant) Peter Gill of the Loodiana Regiment for saving the life of an officer and his family at Benares and seeing off 27 mutinous Sepoys with only his sergeant’s sword, on June 4, 1857.

This DFC medal group of a British Spitfire pilot who survived the war despite crashing and being given up for dead by his colleagues has an estimate of £8000-10,000 in Plymouth Auction Rooms’ November 21 sale.

Nantwich, Cheshire auctioneers Peter Wilson are selling this item, believed to be from the engine of a fighter plan which was steered away from houses in the town into the River Weaver by a heroic American pilot.

Fine and unusual English guns made for Indian princes formed the most lucrative sub-section of Holt’s latest London sale.

This Russian military medal demolished an estimate of £10,000-15,000 at a recent sale held at Bonhams Knightsbridge.

Medals awarded to one of Britain’s greatest military heroes are still missing after being stolen from the Redoubt Fortress and Military Museum in Eastbourne.

One of the noted rarities among 19th century American firearms will be on offer in Lancashire on August 30 when Silverwoods of Clitheroe sell this John Walch Navy Model 12-shot percussion revolver.

An interesting sporting gun found its way into Wallis & Wallis’s (17.5% buyer's premium) predominantly militaria sale in Lewes on June 12.

To most people air guns are the low-powered toys that little boys play about with in the back garden, but the air rifle has a surprisingly long history and at one time they were among the most feared weapons on the battlefield.

A remarkable survivor from a landmark battle in British military history is coming up for sale at Thomas Del Mar in West Kensington on June 27.

A UNIQUE Falklands War medal marking the ‘phenomenally brave’ work of a bomb disposal expert has sold for what is believed to be a record price at auction.

WHEN the Royal Navy seized an enemy patrol boat in the Falklands War the name of it must have given particular satisfaction at the capture.

FRESH from their multi-million dollar Prospero triumph in New York, Baldwin’s are preparing to offer an outstanding selection of Islamic rarities as part of London Islamic Week in April.

THE two Tiffany works of art that gave strong performances within days of each other in recent US sales were not the usual lamps, glassware or table silver.

ON April 30, Philadelphia auctioneers Freeman’s will sell flags from the U.S. Navy’s most revered ship, the Constitution.

Old collections are the lifeblood of the arms and armour market, bringing carefully selected items with cast-iron provenance back to the market.

A SILVER medal awarded to the Master of Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, who was at the ship's helm throughout the Battle of Trafalgar is to be sold by Nantwich, Cheshire, auctioneers Peter Wilson.

A GOLD button which links the two most significant military figures in the foundation of the United States of America – George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette – will be sold in Leicestershire on November 1.

A SCULPTURE has been returned to its former home more than 70 years after it was looted during the Blitz from a bombed London church.