A Most Elegant Equestrian Walking Stick Cum Dandy Cane

Finely carved handle of a horses hoof and fetlock. The stick is a superb close grain hardwood. Overall in super condition. Every other portrait of a Georgian, Victorian, or Edwardian gentleman, shows some nattily dressed fellow with a walking stick pegged jauntily into the ground or a slim baton negligently tucked under the elbow. The dress cane was the quintessential mark of the dandy for three centuries, part fashion accessory, part aid to communication, part weapon, and of course, a walking aid. A dandy, historically, is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain.

Previous manifestations of the petit-maitre (French for "small master") and the Muscadin have been noted by John C. Prevost, but the modern practice of dandyism first appeared in the revolutionary 1790s, both in London and in Paris. The dandy cultivated cynical reserve, yet to such extremes that novelist George Meredith, himself no dandy, once defined cynicism as "intellectual dandyism". Some took a more benign view; Thomas Carlyle wrote in Sartor Resartus that a dandy was no more than "a clothes-wearing man". Honore De Balzac introduced the perfectly worldly and unmoved Henri de Marsay in La fille aux yeux d'or (1835), a part of La Comedie Humaine, who fulfils at first the model of a perfect dandy, until an obsessive love-pursuit unravels him in passionate and murderous jealousy.

Charles Baudelaire defined the dandy, in the later "metaphysical" phase of dandyism, as one who elevates esthetics to a living religion, that the dandy's mere existence reproaches the responsible citizen of the middle class: "Dandyism in certain respects comes close to spirituality and to stoicism" and "These beings have no other status, but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons, of satisfying their passions, of feeling and thinking Dandyism is a form of Romanticism. Contrary to what many thoughtless people seem to believe, dandyism is not even an excessive delight in clothes and material elegance. For the perfect dandy, these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of mind."

The linkage of clothing with political protest had become a particularly English characteristic during the 18th century. Given these connotations, dandyism can be seen as a political protest against the levelling effect of egalitarian principles, often including nostalgic adherence to feudal or pre-industrial values, such as the ideals of "the perfect gentleman" or "the autonomous aristocrat". Paradoxically, the dandy required an audience, as Susann Schmid observed in examining the "successfully marketed lives" of Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron, who exemplify the dandy's roles in the public sphere, both as writers and as personae providing sources of gossip and scandal. Nigel Rodgers in The Dandy: Peacock or Enigma? Questions Wilde's status as a genuine dandy, seeing him as someone who only assumed a dandified stance in passing, not a man dedicated to the exacting ideals of dandyism. 36.5 inches long  read more

Code: 23211

A Super Balinese Carved Wooden 'Demon Kris Stand Probably Representing One of the Vanaras, Forest Dweller Human-Ape Like Demi-God Warriors That Helped Rama Defeat Ravana

Possibly representing Hanuman, or Anoman, one of the Vanara human-apes of Ramayana epic. In Hindu mythology, Vanara forest-dwellers, either refers to the monkeys or a race of forest dwelling people. In the epic the Ramayana and its various versions, the Vanaras help Rama defeat Ravana. They are generally depicted as humanoid apes or monkeys. Vanaras are created by Brahma to help Rama in battle against Ravana. They are powerful and have many godly traits. Taking Brahma's orders, the gods began to parent sons in the zion of Kishkindha (identified with parts of present-day Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra). Rama first met them in Dandaka Forest, during his search for Sita. An army of Vanaras helped Rama in his search for Sita, and also in battle against Ravana, Sita's abductor. Nala and Nila built a bridge over the ocean so that Rama and the army could cross to Lanka. As described in the epic, the characteristics of the Vanara include being amusing, childish, mildly irritating, badgering, hyperactive, adventurous, bluntly honest, loyal, courageous, and kind

Carved in one piece of wood vividly decorated in polychrome colours, approx 18 inches high, 9 inches deep.
The respect with which krises were always treated extended to the careful attention given to them even when they were not being worn. The weapons were stored in fitted bags, custom-made boxes and chests, and on wall-mounted display boards, as well as in kris stands. The use of three-dimensional sculptures as kris stands, however, was limited to the islands of Bali and Lombok. Not including the kris as shown. The kris or kêrìs "to slice"; is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (pamor). While most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia the kris is also indigenous to Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and the Philippines where it is known as kalis with variants existing as a sword rather than a dagger. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although many have straight blades as well. Kris have been produced in many regions of Indonesia for centuries, but nowhere—although the island of Bali comes close—is the kris so embedded in a mutually-connected whole of ritual prescriptions and acts, ceremonies, mythical backgrounds and epic poetry as in Central Java. As a result, in Indonesia the kris is commonly associated with Javanese culture, although other ethnicities are familiar with the weapon as part of their culture, such as the Balinese, Malays, Sundanese, Madurese, Banjar, Thais, Bugis, Makassar, and Filipinos. Kris history is generally traced through the study of carvings and bas-relief panels found in Southeast Asia. It is believed that the earliest kris prototype can be traced to Dongson bronze culture in Vietnam circa 300 BC that spread to other parts of Southeast Asia. Another theory is that the kris was based on daggers from India.[7] Some of the most famous renderings of a kris appear on the bas-reliefs of Borobudur (825) and Prambanan temple (850).
However, Raffles' (1817) study of the Candi Sukuh states that the kris recognized today came into existence around 1361 AD in the kingdom of Majapahit, East Java. The scene in bas relief of Sukuh Temple in Central Java, dated from 15th century Majapahit era, shows the workshop of a Javanese keris blacksmith. The scene depicted Bhima as the blacksmith on the left forging the metal, Ganesha in the center, and Arjuna on the right operating the piston bellows to blow air into the furnace. The wall behind the blacksmith displays various items manufactured in the forge, including kris. These representations of the kris in the Candi Sukuh established the fact that by the year 1437 the kris had already gained an important place within Javanese culture. The best material for creating kris pamor, was acquired in a quite unusual way, as it is made from rare meteorite iron. Traditionally the pamor material for the kris smiths connected with the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta originates from an iron meteorite that fell to earth at the end of 18th century in the neighborhood of the Prambanan temple complex. The meteorite was excavated and transported to the keraton of Surakarta; from that time on the smiths of Vorstenlanden (the Royal territories) used small pieces of meteoric iron to produce pamor patterns in their kris, pikes, and other status weapons. After etching the blade with acidic substances, it is the small percentage of nickel present in meteoric iron that creates the distinctive silvery patterns that faintly light up against the dark background of iron or steel that become darkened by the effect of the acids  read more

Code: 24195

A Scarce Original WW2 British '37 Pattern Commando Officer's 9mm Browning Hi-power Holster, Ammunition Pouch & Waistbelt 1942/3 in Excellent Plus Condition

This 3 commando holster set was acquired with a German Luftwaffe officers PPK holster but sold seperately. After WW2 the officer kept his Browning and the Walther PPK as souvenirs, but surrendered his Browning and the Walther to the police in the 1960's. We acquired both holsters from his grandson

The 9mm automatic holster was easily identifiable by its level top edge almost all revolver holsters being angled upwards. With top hooks to connect underneath an ammunition pouch as an option. The neat ammunition pouch could accommodate two 12 round packets, a fabric strip went over the brace adaptor and a fabric loop fitted at the bottom accepted the top hook of a holster. dated 42/43.

No. 3 Commando was a battalion-sized Commando unit raised by the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in July 1940 from volunteers for special service, it was the first such unit to carry the title of "Commando". Shortly afterwards the unit was involved in a largely unsuccessful raid upon the German-occupied Channel Island of Guernsey.

In 1941 they were involved in successful raids on the Lofoten Islands and Vaagso, in Norway, before taking part in the costly Dieppe raid in August 1942, where the unit was tasked with knocking out a German coastal artillery battery on the eastern flank of the main landings, although due to a chance encounter in the Channel with a German convoy, a large majority of the unit failed to make it ashore.

In early 1943, the unit was sent to Gibraltar before moving to North Africa in April from where they were involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily and operations in Italy prior to being withdrawn to Britain to prepare for Operation Overlord. On D-Day they went ashore on 6 June 1944 as part of the 1st Special Service Brigade tasked with linking up with the 6th Airborne Division on the eastern flank of Sword before being withdrawn. Later they took part in the Allied counterattack during the Ardennes Offensive in early 1945 before taking part in the advance into Germany as part of Operation Plunder.

Following the end of the war, No. 3 Commando carried out occupation duties in Germany before it was disbanded on 4 January 1946.  read more

Code: 25143

A Very Good, Antique, Edo Period 1700's, Wakazashi Maru Gata Heianjo Tsuba

Antique Japanese Edo period tsuba for wakizashi sword or large o-tanto
Fine engraved with gold and high quality brass inlay Heianjo-style that was established in Yamashiro (Kyoto Pref. today). It was inspired by the Ounin-style.
Heianjo tsuba are elaborate and most decorative. It is mainly iron tsuba, of circular shape with brass inlay. Its designs were simply family crests, or arabesque patterns in the beginning. However, as time past they made different shapes of tsuba and started using gold, silver, or copper for inlaying.

The tsuba, is a fundamental element in the mounting of the Japanese sword, it is the guard, the most important element of the fittings, and has two main functions: the first to protect the hand against the slashes and lunges of an opposing sword; the second is to prevent that the hand ends up directly on the cutting edge of the blade. Over the course of more than ten centuries of history, the tsuba has undergone a number of important changes, as regards the materials used for its manufacture and its appearance.

During the centuries of wars that characterised Japan until the advent of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the first half of the 17th century, the tsuba was essentially made of iron or steel. From the mid-17th century onwards the tsuba became a real work of art, with the use of soft metals used in various ways, with engravings, incrustations; well made tsuba were the pride of hundreds of craftsmen’s schools whose value sometimes exceeded that of the same blades of the mounting where tsuba was part of.
66mm across.  read more

Code: 24166

A Rare Victorian 2nd Regiment NSW Volunteer Infantry Helmet Badge Circa

Circa 1878. Silvered brass hat badge with centrally mounted Maltese cross featuring a number '2' within a circle in the centre. The cross is surmounted by a large Kings Crown and surrounded by a wreath of waratahs with intertwined scrolls. The scroll on the left reads 'NUMERO SECUNDUS' and the right scroll reads 'NULLI SECUNDUS'. Beneath the cross on a central scroll is 'VIRTUTE' and 'SECOND REGT INFANTRY'. The back of the badge has three lugs for attaching it to the hat. They have a near identical example in the Australian War Memorial Collection that may be associated with the Ferguson family from Goulburn as it was found in the personal affects of 9146 Gunner Leopold Ferguson who was killed on 9 June 1917 while serving with the Australian Imperial Force.  read more

Code: 18628

Mauvillon, Jacob - Essai Sur L’Influence de la Poudre a Canon dans L’Art de la Guerre Moderne.Used By All the French Artillery Officers from the Revolution to Waterloo

Ex libris Henry B.H .Beaufoy F.R.S. (1785–1851) with bookplate to front pastedown. & large folded plates.

'The' French manual on the use of artillery cannon in warfare from before the French Revolution and right through all of Napoleon's campaigns from Egypt to Spain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Belgium etc.

In better condition we have sold these books up to £700, so this original historical manual on artillery is very inexpensive, due to its external condition. However, internally is has all the same information and certainly its historical context, it is just the same as a fine example.

Ex libris: A Latin phrase meaning "from the library of," used to indicate former or current ownership of a book.

Henry B.H. Beaufoy F.R.S. (1785–1851): The book's previous owner. The "F.R.S." suffix denotes his status as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Beaufoy inherited a wealthy family vinegar distillery in Lambeth, served as an MP, and built an extensive library containing over 25,000 volumes. His collection famously included the first four Folio editions of Shakespeare.

In the antiquarian book market, a bookplate from the Beaufoy Library acts as a verified badge of historical pedigree. Because his substantial library was systematically dispersed at major auctions (such as Christie's in 1909 and 1912), his distinctive armorial bookplates continue to surface in rare collections globally.  read more

Code: 26390

Incredibly Rare Collectors Item. A Nuclear Warden's Helmet 1950-55. Named For "Area 13" in the Central Government War Headquarters Bunker, Codename 'Turnstile', 120 feet Underground In Wiltshire, A Complex Housing 4,000 People Incl. 60 Miles Of Roads

We first starting buying WW2 Tommy Helmets within a year of the wars end, and Cold War Civil Defence kit since the 1970's, yet this is the very first Nuclear Warden's helmet we have ever seen outside of a museum.

As can be plainly seen, this is a simple and purely functional helmet, with no elaborate decor or attractiveness at all, but, that was the very point, it was simply supplied to the wardens, with hand painted area designation, for an effective purpose, and without any frills or fancy badging required, or even used. Similar as to how camouflage was applied German combat helmets in WW1 and WW2

A WW2 manufactured, Tommy Helmet, aka the MKII Brodie pattern. Maker stamped dated 1939 Mk II maker stamped JSS. During World War II, the stamp J.S.S. stood for Joseph Sankey & Sons Ltd, a major metal-press and automotive parts manufacturer based at the Albert Street Works in Bilston, Staffordshire, England from 1938 to 1941. Re-purposed in 1950 for the Cold War, British, Nuclear Bunker Government Headquarters.

Original British Army green paint, with original, hand painted, naming of Nuclear Warden and Area 13 on the rear. Area 13 was the section for power and agricultural supply within the bunker complex.

The Civil Defence Corps (Established 1948)
Following the Civil Defence Act of 1948, the British government established the Civil Defence Corps to prepare for potential future conflicts, including the threat of nuclear attacks.
Volunteers were organized into localized sections, including a Warden Section.
These wardens were not divided into nationwide "nuclear warden areas" only the underground headquarters 'Turnstile, aka, Burlington', likely due to its massive size. Instead, they were organized locally by individual county and borough councils across the UK,

The massive underground complex was located 120 feet underground at Spring Quarry in Corsham, Wiltshire, known by codenames Burlington, Turnstile, or Chanticleer—was designed to act as the UK's emergency shadow government headquarters during a nuclear war.
While the quarry was used as an aircraft engine factory during World War II, the Cabinet Office did not take it over for nuclear civil defence planning until around 1950, with official commissioning happening in 1955. Within this underground city, Area 13 was a specific corridor inside the bunker that housed the power rooms and the agricultural supplies.

The history of 'Burlington' & 'Turnstile'

The Quarrying Era (19th Century)
The complex originated as a series of deep underground mines for Bath stone (Oolite limestone). The industry boomed in the 1840s following the construction of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s famous Box Tunnel for the Great Western Railway. Quarrying excavated vast, pillar-supported subterranean chambers roughly 80 to 120 feet underground.
Beginning in 1938, sites like Tunnel Quarry were converted into the largest ammunition dump in the world , the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD). At its peak, it spanned 125 acres, stored 300,000 tonnes of munitions, and featured its own underground railway platform linked directly to the main line

As the threat of aerial bombardment escalated in the late 1930s, the British government requisitioned the quarries. They were developed into two distinct, massive wartime installations:

In 1940, the Ministry of Aircraft Production took over the 35-acre Spring Quarry. It was retrofitted into a bomb-proof, air-conditioned factory where the Bristol Aeroplane Company manufactured Centaurus aircraft engines safe from Luftwaffe raids

In 1954, following the dawn of the thermonuclear age, the government purchased Spring Quarry to build a hardened, secret bunker code-named Burlington (also known as Turnstile or Site 3). Commissioned under Prime Minister Anthony Eden
Built to operate in total isolation for up to three months, the grid-mapped bunker included 60 miles of underground roads, a hospital, industrial kitchens, water treatment facilities supplied by an underground lake, and a massive telephone exchange. It even featured a fully equipped BBC broadcasting studio to address the surviving population

The Subterranean City: The complex was designed to relocate 4,000 central government personnel, including the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Office, and an army of civil servants  read more

Code: 26384

An Important Volume From The Library of The Women's Retreat of Dr Octavia Wilberforce, Wilberforce Library, Backsettown. Dear Friend to Virginia Wolf, and Friend of The Bloomsbury Group, & Companion to American Actress Suffragette Elizabeth Robins.

Strickland's, Lives Of The Queens Of England, Volume II, Published in 1875. With Dr Octavia Wilberforce's, bookplate of her Wilberforce Library, Backsettown. Octavia's women's retreat near Henfield, Sussex. Virginia Woolf was driven to Brighton to visit Octavia just the day before her suicide in 1941. She put heavy stones in her pockets, and drowned herself in the River Ouse in Sussex. The River Ouse runs through the partners farm near Lewes.

An opportunity to own a volume from Dr Octavia Wilberforces library is a most rare event, as they appear very infrequently, and are incredibly sought after by followers and collectors, in regards to Virginia Woolf, the Bloomsbury Group and the earliest members of Womens Suffrage. Just the thought of who may have studied and enjoyed this historical volume at Backsettown, on early English Queens, is incredibly fascinating and most intriguing. See below for just a few of these incredible women

The Wilberforce Library was established by Dr. Octavia Wilberforce (1888–1963)—a pioneering English physician, close friend, and medical attendant to Virginia Woolf who famously advised rest shortly before Woolf's suicide in 1941.

About the Wilberforce Library

Founded by Dr. Octavia Wilberforce, who defied her parents to qualify as a doctor at the London School of Medicine for Women and practiced medicine in Brighton for decades.

Housed at Backsettown, a women's health convalescent home and retreat near Henfield, Sussex, which Dr. Wilberforce ran alongside her companion, the American actress and suffragette Elizabeth Robins. The American-born actress, playwright, and suffragist, lived much of her life in England, where she and Woolf developed a deep friendship during the interwar period
The library preserved rare and antiquarian volumes—such as historical essays on English songwriting and literature—some of which descended through historical estate provenances like Lavington House and were integrated into the intellectual and community life of Backsettown.

Dr. Wilberforce's extensive correspondence with Virginia Woolf (spanning 1940–1941) and Leonard Woolf (spanning 1941–1963) is preserved within the University of Sussex Library Special Collections

Octavia Wilberforce (1888–1963) was an English physician who made a medical career despite opposition from her parents, with support from Elizabeth Robins. She was in general practice in Brighton, and ran a women's shelter near Henfield. She treated Virginia Woolf's mental illness in the final years of Woolf's life. She was also friends with multiple members of the Bloomsbury Group.

Octavia Margaret Wilberforce was the daughter and eighth child of Reginald Garton Wilberforce (1838–1914), son of Samuel Wilberforce, and his wife, Anna Maria Denman (died 1938), daughter of Richard Denman; her great-grandfather was Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman. She was born at Lavington House, Petworth, Sussex, and had little formal education. She came out as a débutante in 1907

Wilberforce met world famous stage actress, and suffraget Elizabeth Robins in 1909. In 1910 she took one of the family's maids to hospital, and met Louisa Martindale, an influential contact. Her parents planned for her to marry Charles Buxton, son of Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, but the match was against her wishes and she refused him. Instead, she entered the London School of Medicine for Women in 1913, beginning seven years of study and qualifying in 1920.

With her father refusing her financial support and disinheriting her, Wilberforce relied mainly on Robins and Lord Buxton. Upon qualifying, she worked as house physician to Wilfred Harris at St Mary's Hospital, London.

From 1923 Wilberforce was in general practice in Brighton, retiring in 1954.
Robins met Leonard and Virginia Woolf in 1928, at the award ceremony for the Femina - Vie Heureuse Prize, she had known Leslie Stephen, Virginia's father.
The Woolfs came to know Wilberforce, who lived with Robins in Brighton, on a social basis at this point.

A social call for tea by Wilberforce to the Woolfs at Monk's House, Rodmell on 9 December 1940 became a consultation when Leonard Woolf involved Wilberforce in her professional capacity. Wilberforce subsequently advised Virginia on the lines of her treatment of exhausted women at Backsettown, a farmhouse belonging to Robins.

On 27 March 1941 Leonard drove Virginia to consult Wilberforce in Brighton; she advised complete rest on the basis of a physical examination. Virginia Woolf died by suicide the following day.

Octavia Wilberforce died on 19 December 1963

Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group formed an influential collective of early 20th-century English writers, artists, and intellectuals who radically rejected strict Victorian conventions in favor of personal freedom, aesthetic appreciation, and liberal politics.

Formed around 1904–1905, the group started when Virginia and her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, moved to 46 Gordon Square in the Bloomsbury district of London. They were joined by friends from Cambridge University, establishing regular Thursday evening salons and Friday Club discussions.

Alongside Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, prominent members included Vanessa's husband Clive Bell, writer and publisher Leonard Woolf, economist John Maynard Keynes, writer E.M. Forster, biographer Lytton Strachey, and artists Roger Fry and Duncan Grant. Heavily influenced by philosopher G.E. Moore, the collective prioritized deep personal relationships, artistic creation ("art for art's sake"), and a skeptic view of orthodox morality and religion

Heavily influenced by philosopher G.E. Moore, the collective prioritized deep personal relationships, artistic creation ("art for art's sake"), and a skeptic view of orthodox morality and religion

The Hogarth Press: Founded by Virginia and Leonard Woolf in 1917, this independent publishing house gave Virginia complete creative independence from traditional commercial publishers and printed works by modern trailblazers.

The group championed Post-Impressionism in art, pacifism and conscientious objection during wartime, and progressive ideas regarding gender equality and sexuality Members frequently split their time between London and Sussex, gathering at iconic countryside locations like Monk's House in Rodmell (the Woolfs' home) and Charleston Farmhouse in Firle (Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant's home).

Photo in the gallery of Octavia's companion Elizabeth Robins,
With pinned back chestnut hair and piercing blue-grey eyes, few could resist the intensity of the gaze - nor the personality to match - of Miss Elizabeth Robins. Actress, writer, suffragist and feminist, in her time a darling of the London literati, a friend of Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw and Henry James, she was known in this country as the 'High Priestess of Ibsen'.


Just a few of the notable women who may well have enjoyed this superb volume at Backsettown.

Vita Sackville-West. An aristocratic poet, novelist, and gardener. She and Woolf shared a passionate romantic affair and lifelong friendship; Sackville-West famously served as the inspiration for Woolf's gender-bending novel Orlando.

Vanessa Bell: Woolf’s sister and a foundational post-impressionist painter. They were core members of the avant-garde Bloomsbury Group and maintained an intense, lifelong creative alliance.
Katherine Mansfield. The prominent Modernist short-story writer. Mansfield and Woolf shared a complex "love-hate" friendship characterized by a fierce creative rivalry and a deep mutual respect for each other’s literary innovations.

Lady Ottoline Morrell. A flamboyant and influential literary hostess who patronized the Bloomsbury Group, bringing together the era's most famous writers and artists at her Garsington Manor estate.

Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. The famous mother-daughter leaders of the suffragette movement (the Women's Social and Political Union). Robins was a staunch ally, using her writing to support their cause and once even hiding a Pankhurst family member from the police at her Sussex home.

Lady Florence Bell. A prominent upper-class writer and playwright. Despite Bell being an anti-suffragist, she and Robins shared a deep creative "sisterhood," translating plays together and co-authoring the anonymous protest play Alan's Wife.

Marion Lea. An American actress who teamed up with Robins in the 1890s to break into theater management. Together, they successfully bought the rights to and produced Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in London, creating complex, realistic roles for women on stage.

Dame Sybil Thorndike. One of the most celebrated British actresses of the 20th century. She collaborated with Robins through the Actresses' Franchise League and remained a mutual friend of both Robins and the Woolfs later in life.  read more

Code: 26388

An Original, Zulu War Period, Antique Zulu King's 'Prestige Sceptre', Dating For The Reign of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War King, Cetshwayo. Said To Have Belonged To Cestshwayo. A Fabulous Carved Ubhejane Royal Sceptre Knopkerrie, Circa 1860's to 1870

A very special item indeed, hand carved from blonde rhino horn, possibly one of the most important historical pieces from the Zulu War, showing amazing age patination, beautiful golden yellow colouring, and for those with serious interest in original and unique Zulu War artefacts. One of the royal sceptres of King Cetshwayo.

Over the decades since 1921 we have had pass through our hands, hundreds of Martini Henrys and bayonets, similar numbers of Zulu spears and shields {all original Zulu war period} but in the past 20 years we have only had two carved Rhino horn 'royal sceptres', both very distingushable and naturally most similar in size and appearence, as one would expect. The first, we knew not any of its history, it just appeared one day across our threshold, and of course it was also a 19th century Zulu Kings sceptre, but without any history known at all, however, this one, we know its amazing verbal history.

The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand.

Frere, on his own initiative, sent a provocative ultimatum on 11 December 1878 to the Zulu king Cetshwayo and upon its rejection sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand.The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles see below, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, followed by the defence of Rorke's Drift by a small British force from attack by a large Zulu force. The British eventually won the war, ending Zulu dominance of the region.

Battle of Isandlwana; the battle fought on 22nd January 1879, at which the Zulus wiped out a substantial British force, including the 1st Battalion, 24th Foot and rocked Victorian society.

Battle of Rorke’s Drift; the iconic defence of the mission station in Natal on 22nd January 1879, by a small force of British and colonial troops; winning a record number of Victoria Crosses and inspiring Victorian Britain.

Battle of Khambula; the defeat by Colonel Evelyn Wood of a Zulu army on 29th March 1879, in the opening stages of the Zulu War.

Battle of Gingindlovu; the battle fought on 2nd April 1879, where Lord Chelmsford defeated a Zulu army on his route to overwhelming the Zulu nation at Ulundi.

Battle of Ulundi: The final battle of the Zulu War, fought on 4th July 1879, where Lord Chelmsford’s troops destroyed the army of the Zulu King Cetshwayo.

This fabulous sceptre would have been made only for the use of the Zulu king during the 1860’s and 1870’s, and would have been both prestigious and also powerful; the strength of the animal from which it was taken gave it enormous potency and therefore only a King, a great medicine man, could own it.

Sceptres with heads of this size were outlawed in the Victorian era by the government who passed a law stating that the diameter of the head had to be of a size small enough to fit into the owner's mouth. This one won’t fit in most mouths

Gifted to the previous current owner by a Zulu Prince in the 1960’s, probably the most significant piece from the Zulu War we have seen.
Approx 23 inches long

Sold with approval of worked item (EC Regulation 865/2006, Article 62(3) - 453-11/12. Therefore this club can be legally traded in the UK without the need for further CITES certification.

Not suitable to export outside of the UK. Worked pre-1947 rhincoceros horn does not require a CITES permit to be sold within the UK  read more

Code: 24574

Original Japanese WWII Type 93 Non-Commissioned Officer 4x10 Binoculars, with JES ねぢ Mark, Nippon Kōgyō Kikaku, in Original Leather Case & Strap, And His NCO's Service Uniform Twin Piece Interlocking Belt Buckle

These are a very nice pair of Japanese WWII Non-Commissioned Officer's (NCO) Type 93 binocular field glasses. Known in Japanese as the 93式双眼鏡 (93-Shiki sōgankyō), these were intended as a smaller more portable version of binocular field glasses that could be used by NCO's in the field. Lightweight and small, they were well designed for their task. JES Mark: Stamped on the prism plate, JES stands for Japanese Engineering Standards (Nippon Kōgyō Kikaku). This regulatory standard was formally introduced in 1939 to standardize production quality and optimize material supply lines during the war.
JES ねぢ (JES Negi / Neji): The characters immediately following "JES" read ねぢ in historical Japanese hiragana (modern: ねじ / neji), which means "screw" or "screw thread". This specifically denotes that the hardware, fittings, and threads on the optics adhere to unified standard industrial screw specifications


Field glasses have no internal prisms that can be knocked out of alignment so their main advantage is that they are durable, making them a good choice for file combat operations. These binoculars measure 3.5” L x 5” W and are marked with a magnification factor of 4x10°. The binoculars are in good shape, with both lenses clear.

The included original leather case is in great condition, with company stamp within the fine soft leather lid lining.The original carry strap is present and functional with all the rest of the leather components present.

His very scarce service issue Rising Sun uniform, cast brass, twin piece belt buckle is complete with it. It is also the pattern of buckle also used by regular officer's.  read more

Code: 26380