A Very Powerful and Substantial Viking Chiefs Guard's Spear. Around 1200 Years Old. Used From The Time of The Seige of Paris on The Seine in 845, By Viking Chieftain Ragnar in Command of His 120 Longships

A heavy grade spear made between the 9th and 11th Centuries, very likely used by a senior man of a Viking chiefs guard. Thus around 1200 years old, from the peak of the era of the great seafaring Scandinavian Viking conquerers.
Between 1000 and 1200 years old, From the time of the Viking siege of Paris.

The siege of Paris of 845 was the culmination of a Viking invasion of West Francia. The Viking forces were led by a Norse chieftain named "Reginherus", or Ragnar, who tentatively has been identified with the legendary saga character Ragnar Lodbrok. Reginherus's fleet of 120 Viking ships, carrying thousands of warriors, entered the Seine in March and sailed up the river.

Ragnar's Vikings raided Rouen on their way up the Seine in 845 and in response to the invasion, determined not to let the royal Abbey of Saint-Denis (near Paris) be destroyed, Charles assembled an army which he divided into two parts, one for each side of the river. Ragnar attacked and defeated one of the divisions of the smaller Frankish army, took 111 of their men as prisoners and hanged them on an island on the Seine to honour the Norse god Odin, as well as to incite terror in the remaining Frankish forces.

The Vikings reached Paris at the end of the month, during Easter. They plundered and occupied the city, withdrawing after Charles the Bald paid a ransom of 7,000 French livres 2,570 kg (83,000 ozt) in gold and silver.
Ragnar's fleet made it back to his overlord, the Danish King Horik I, but Ragnar soon died from a violent illness that also spread in Denmark

With an octagonal form socket and two holes for affixing it to its haft with a square section rivet. Formerly the property of an English gentleman, from his collection orginally acquired from the 1940's. In chapter 55 of Laxdæla saga, Helgi had a spear with a blade one ell long (about 50cm, or 20in). He thrust the blade through Bolli's shield, and through Bolli. In chapter 8 of Króka-Refs saga, Refur made a spear for himself which could be used for cutting, thrusting, or hewing. Refur split Þorgils in two down to his shoulders with the spear. The spearheads were made of iron, and, like sword blades, were made using pattern welding techniques (described in the article on swords) during the early part of the Viking era . They could be decorated with inlays of precious metals or with scribed geometric patterns
After forming the head, the smith flattened and drew out material to form the socket . This material was formed around a mandrel and usually was welded to form a solid socket. In some cases, the overlapping portions were left unwelded. Spear heads were fixed to wooden shafts using a rivet. The sockets on the surviving spear heads suggest that the shafts were typically round, with a diameter of 2-3cm (about one inch).

However, there is little evidence that tells us the length of the shaft. The archaeological evidence is negligible, and the sagas are, for the most part, silent. Chapter 6 of Gísla saga tells of a spear so long-shafted that a man's outstretched arm could touch the rivet. The language used suggests that such a long shaft was uncommon.

Perhaps the best guess we can make is that the combined length of shaft and head of Viking age spears was 2 to 3m (7-10ft) long, although one can make arguments for the use of spears having both longer and shorter shafts. A strong, straight-grained wood such as ash was used. Many people think of the spear as a throwing weapon. One of the Norse myths tells the story of the first battle in the world, in which Oðin, the highest of the gods, threw a spear over the heads of the opposing combatants as a prelude to the fight. The sagas say that spears were also thrown in this manner when men, rather than gods, fought. At the battle at Geirvör described in chapter 44 of Eyrbyggja saga, the saga author says that Steinþórr threw a spear over the heads of Snorri goði and his men for good luck, according to the old custom. More commonly, the spear was used as a thrusting weapon. The sagas tell us thrusting was the most common attack in melees and one-on-one fighting, and this capability was used to advantage in mass battles. In a mass battle, men lined up, shoulder to shoulder, with shields overlapping. After all the preliminaries, which included rock throwing, name calling, the trading of insults, and shouting a war cry (æpa heróp), the two lines advanced towards each other. When the lines met, the battle was begun. Behind the wall of shields, each line was well protected. Once a line was broken, and one side could pass through the line of the other side, the battle broke down into armed melees between small groups of men.

Before either line broke, while the two lines were going at each other hammer and tongs, the spear offered some real advantages. A fighter in the second rank could use his spear to reach over the heads of his comrades in the first rank and attack the opposing line. Konungs skuggsjá (King’s Mirror), a 13th century Norwegian manual for men of the king, says that in the battle line, a spear is more effective than two swords. As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity. 13.75 inches long.

Before either line broke, while the two lines were going at each other hammer and tongs, the spear offered some real advantages. A fighter in the second rank could use his spear to reach over the heads of his comrades in the first rank and attack the opposing line. Konungs skuggsj (King’s Mirror), a 13th century Norwegian manual for men of the king, says that in the battle line, a spear is more effective than two swords.

As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity. 13.75 inches long.  read more

Code: 22090

A Wonderful and Highly Desirable Original Antique Pistol Flask Shaped in the Form of a Rifle Butt

An absolute gem for even the most discerning of pistol flask collectors.

The 'butt stock' type are very rare indeed, and the smaller type, like this, are certainly the most desirable of all.

Overall in very nice condition indeed with very fine patination. This is one of the most desirable and highly sought types of pistol flask for casing with tools for rare Colt revolvers and fine British pistols.

This superb flask would compliment any fine cased pistol or pistols, from flintlocks to revolvers.

5 inches long 2.25 inches wide at widest. Small denting at the base and spout.  read more

Code: 22790

A Most Fine Antique, Fijian Ula Drisia South Seas Island Warrior’s Throwing Club

Superbly patinated root ball with geometrically carved handle. The ula was the most personal weapon of the Fijian warrior and was inserted into a man's fibre girdle sometimes in pairs like pistols. The throwing of the ula was achieved with great skill, precision and speed. It was often carried in conjunction with a heavier full length club or spear which served to finish an opponent after initially being disabled by a blow from the ula. Was made by a specialist from a variety of uprooted bushes or shrubs. Across 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from east to west, Fiji has been a nation of many languages. Fiji's history was one of settlement but also of mobility. Over the centuries, a unique Fijian culture developed. Constant warfare and cannibalism between warring tribes were quite rampant and very much part of everyday life. During the 19th century, Ratu Udre Udre is said to have consumed 872 people and to have made a pile of stones to record his achievement."Ceremonial occasions saw freshly killed corpses piled up for eating. 'Eat me!' was a proper ritual greeting from a commoner to a chief. The posts that supported the chief's house or the priest's temple would have sacrificed bodies buried underneath them, with the rationale that the spirit of the ritually sacrificed person would invoke the gods to help support the structure, and "men were sacrificed whenever posts had to be renewed" . Also, when a new boat, or drua, was launched, if it was not hauled over men as rollers, crushing them to death, "it would not be expected to float long" . Fijians today regard those times as "na gauna ni tevoro" (time of the devil). The ferocity of the cannibal lifestyle deterred European sailors from going near Fijian waters, giving Fiji the name Cannibal Isles; as a result, Fiji remained unknown to the rest of the world. The handle has a natural age split at the base.  read more

Code: 20896

Important & Historical Letter From Vice Admiral Hood Aboard HMS Victory. HMS Victory Became Nelson's Flagship at The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805

Dated 3rd October 1793. by Horatio Nelson's commanding officer at the Siege of Toulon, where Napoleon was commanding the French Artillery before he became the leader of France . This is a historically important letter for several reasons. It is signed and dated by one of England's greatest admirals, it was written and sent from the British flagship HMS. Victory, Horatio Nelson was there at the time under the command of Hood on his ship, and Napoleon Bonaparte was commanding the French artillery there against Hood and Nelson at the time of writing. It would look simply amazing if bespoke framed with fine mounting and possibly complete with a fine print of HMS Victory or Admiral Hood. Regarding the Siege of Toulon just weeks before it fell. Two pages of foolscap, written on three sides, on correct 18th century Admiralty paper bearing Brittannia watermark, with date, location, name position and signature of Admiral Lord Hood. Personally hand written and signed aboard HMS Victory, by Admiral Lord Hood, addressed to Philip Stephens, First Secretary of the Admiralty [and great friend of Capt. James Cook], to present to the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty, his congratulations on a most Brilliant and complete Victory over the troops of General Carteaux Commander-in-chief of the Army before Toulon. It was at this engagement, part of the Siege of Toulon, that a young Corsican, a captain in command of artillery, Napoleon Buonaprte gained huge success, and the praises of the Generals, Committee of Public Safety, Augustin Robespierre and Antoine Christophe Saliceti, and thus his eventual promotion to Brigadier -General for his skill in his command of the batteries during the siege. The young artillery captain, Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed as Carteaux's new artillery commander. With the backing of the all-powerful Robespierre and Saliceti, the dynamic Bonaparte quickly devised a plan for the capture of the forts l'Eguillette and Balaguier. Bonaparte correctly surmised that the capture of these would allow accurate fire to be brought to bear on the Anglo-Neapolitan fleet and force it to abandon Toulon just after this letter was written. From this very siege Napoleon gained the influence and power that eventually changed the history of Europe forever. The significance of this event, it's highly important connecting points of the three great heroes, Hood, Napoleon and Bonaparte cannot be underestimated in it's position in world history. On 28 August, Admiral Sir Samuel Hood of the Royal Navy and Admiral Juan de Longara of the Spanish Navy, committed a force of 13,000 British, Spanish, Neapolitan and Piedmontese troops to the French royalists' cause. This was a serious blow to the arms of the republic, as it was a key naval arsenal of the country, with 26 ships of the line based there at the time (about one third of the total available to the French Navy). If France were to lose this port, there was no hope for her naval ambitions. Which would mean by proxy that any ambition to challenge the Allies, and specifically the British, for control of the seas would be out of the question. Not only that, but its loss could set a dangerous precedent for other areas that menaced the republic with revolt. The survival of the Republic was at stake. On 1 October, Baron d'Imbert proclaimed the young Louis XVII to be king of France, and hoisted the French royalist flag of the fleur de lys, delivering the town of Toulon to the British navy. It was not until 1793 that Napoleon was first able to demonstrate his ability to grasp the significant moment, to devise the successful strategy, to lead from the front and by example. In this year the year in which Louis XVI had been guillotined, at the beginning of what was to become The Terror Napoleon, now a twenty-four-year-old artillery captain, was given the opportunity to take control of artillery for the siege of Toulon.

At this time, there were still significant pockets of royalist insurrection against the revolution throughout the provinces, especially in the western Vendee region and in the South East. When royalist Marseille was retaken in August by the Jacobins, with appalling reprisals, the counter-revolutionaries holding Toulon called on the British Royal Navy to help them, along with their Spanish and other allies. Britain had been at war with France since the formation of the First Coalition of European allies against revolutionary France, formed earlier that year after the execution of Louis XVI.

The English fleet anchored in the harbour at Toulon was commanded by Rear Admiral Hood. Captain Horatio Nelson was with Hood's fleet, in command of the 64-gun third-rater Agamemnon. Britain's renewed conflict with France in 1793 meant officers of Nelson?s experience were required. He was given command of HMS Agamemnon on 30 January 1793. Nelson sailed to the Mediterranean in May 1793, joining Lord Hood's fleet blockading the French fleet in Toulon. Josiah, his stepson, accompanied him. His wife, Fanny, was left to worry about the dangers they faced. Nelson's letters to her at this time showed signs that their relationship was under strain. Hood ordered Nelson to Naples to seek King Ferdinand IV's help in defending Toulon against French republicans. Nelson made this request through Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), the British envoy, at the Palazzo Sessa. It was here in September 1793 that he met Emma Hamilton, the envoy's second wife, aged 28, who was reputed to be one of the most beautiful women of her time. Nelson informed Fanny that Lady Hamilton has been wonderfully kind and good to Josiah She is a young woman of amiable manners?who does honour to the station to which she is raised? (Nicolas, Volume 1, page 326). Having negotiated a promise of 6,000 troops for the siege of Toulon, Nelson returned there to be ordered to join Commodore Robert Linzee's squadron in Tunis. Linzee was in negotiation with the Bey to hand over a French squadron under his protection. En route, on 22 October 1793, Nelson fell in with some French frigates and engaged the Melpomone, but his ship was beaten off by superior forces. The diplomatic mission to Tunis proved unsuccessful. Nelson considered Linzee's approach too cautious, I should have taken every Frenchman here without negotiating; even had the negotiations taken place, I would have had the French men-of-war and believe that the people of England will never blame an officer for taking a French line of Battle ships
The Hood family, from 1st Viscount Hood down was a lineage that has produced some of the greatest fighting men to serve in the Royal Navy. Battle Cruiser H.M.S. Hood (1920-1941) Named in honour of the 1st Viscount Admiral Hood was the third and most famous ship to bear the name, the legendary battle cruiser that during her 21 year long career, she, more than any other ship, would stand as the ultimate symbol of the Empire's might. Of all the vessels to bear the name, she was the most important, most memorable and most loved. She was lost with all hands bar three in her catastrophic engagement with the German Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen and the German Battleship Bismarck at the Battle of Denmark Strait 24th May 1941. Original letter shown with a newly typed version for reading assistance.  read more

Code: 22821

A Most Beautiful Original Edo Period Shinto Samurai Wakizashi by Echizen ju Kozuke no Kami Fujiwara Kanesada, A Sword Maker Deemed Saijō Ō Wazamono (Supreme Grade), Ō Wazamono (Excellent), Yoki (Ryō) Wazamono (Very Good)

Signed over both sides of the nakago, Echizen ju Kozuke no Kami Fujiwara Kanesada 1680.

If you only had a single Japanese samurai short sword in your collection you would have to go a very long way to find a better example than this beauty. Bearing in mind it's beautifully signed, of stunning quality, in amazing condition, and, its almost 350 years old.

A good and rated sword smith. A swordsmith, Kozuke no Kami Fujiwara Kanesada is listed as one of just 65 Swordmakers that produced a swords of three of the high grades of quality blades, ōwazamono, ryōwazamono, or wazamono. Excellent, very good and good. Wazamono is a classification of Japanese swords and swordsmiths used in Japan to identify historic blades of exceptional quality. According to the first edition of Kaiho Kenjaku (懐宝剣尺) published in 1797, There are 163 Wazamono swords in total, grouped into four categories based on their quality. Twelve swords are classified as Saijō Ō Wazamono (Supreme Grade), twenty-one swords are classified as Ō Wazamono (Excellent), fifty swords are classified as Yoki (Ryō) Wazamono (Very Good), and eighty swords are classified as Wazamono (Good).

This rating is based on a book compiled by Yamada Asaemon V (山田浅右衛門吉睦), an official sword cutting ability examiner and executioner of the Tokugawa shogunate, and is an authoritative index of cutting ability of Japanese swords. The list of ratings concerning swordsmithing differs between Kaiho Kenjaku (懐宝剣尺) published in 1797 and the reprinted edition published in 1805, and the major revised edition of Kokon Kajibiko (古今鍛冶備考) published in 1830. Add up the number of sword smiths in each edition: Saijo Ō Wazamono 15, Ō Wazamono 21, Yoki Wazamono 58, Wazamono 93, and 3 grades mixed 65. The list of swordsmiths described below is the swordsmiths described in the first edition of Kaiho Kenjaku. The blade of shinogi-zukuri form, slightly undulating suguba of nioi with pronounced nie, indistinct tight mokumehada, the ubu nakago with kiri yasurime and one mekugi-ana, signed Echizen no ju Kozuke no kami Fujiwara Kanesada; koshira-e: the saya (scabbard) of roiro lacquer; ovoid iron stuba , shakudo fuchigashira with geese and reeds in gilt metal relief. The blade is in very good polish, the lacquer on the saya also very good and the original. Superb condition tsukaito silk hilt wrap .
Blade 48.5cm (19 1/8in) from tsuba to tip .  read more

Code: 23481

The Lanes Armoury, Described To Us Every Day, Including, By President Ronald Reagan Over 40 Years Ago, As, Probably, The Best Shop In Britain.

Thousands of worldwide visitors to the UK come to visit us every week, and the most consistant and much appreciated comment includes they believe we are the most amazing and interesting shop in Britain, like a museum, but everything is for sale! If we were a National museum, we would likely be the smallest, but, we contain thousands upon thousands of collectables and books, ancient, antique and vintage from a 20 million year old megaladon shark's tooth, to a samurai sword made almost 800 years ago {we have at any one time, up to 350 original samurai weapons in stock to view }. From an Ancient Greek 'Wreath, or Crown Of Victory' in solid hammered gold, made around 2300 years ago from the time of Alexander the Great, to a cased sporting gun made for a prince, or a cannon of Admiral Nelson's period, from Port Royal in Jamaica, to a 'Great Gatsby' or Charles Dickens Ist Edition.

We always try to have an intriguing selection of Ist Editions, this month it's rare James Bond books, plus up to 2,000 other history based books in stock, all vintage and hardback. We stock magical and wondrous artefacts, many arcane or esoteric, such as a Dyak head-hunter shaman’s sword of Pusaka magic, or Tibetan shaman’s, ‘sky-iron’ ghost or demon killa dagger called a Phurba, and each with a history that could likely be beyond compare.

In the previous 104 years our past and present clients have included persons from all fields of interest, such as, Hollywood legends, of film and theatre, the British royalty and aristocracy, academics in all fields including curators of museums such as the British museum and Tower of London, and politicians of all types, and from all manner of countries around the world.

Our oldest regular collector is now over 102 years old, and our most regular customer has been coming to us for over 77 years! Every month over 60,000 of our regular followers around the world request our weekly stock updates by our updates email. and it is so easy to join in with them, just go to our home page, enter your regular email address in the box, and click go!. you will then get an update email every weekend, if you don't, just check your spam or junk box.

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 plus years or more of our family’s trading  read more

Code: 22898

The Lanes Armoury's Specialist Museum Grade Restoration, Cleaning & Conservation

For generations we have prided ourselves on commissioning and providing the finest quality artisan restoration and conservation services available in the UK. Sadly, over the decades, many of these, and our, genius artisans have passed away, and there are so few that have today decided to follow in their esteemed footsteps, but we still have a few. Our late gunsmith, Dennis Ottery joined us as a gun restorer after his demobilisation from the British Army 'Green Jackets' Rifles Regt. in 1946, and he was our master gunsmith for more than 55 years, till the early 2000's.

Restoration is often a vital part to saving and preserving fine, rare or even regular pieces that have been neglected or damaged over the past decades or even hundreds of years, and by doing so we have had fantastic results that are incredibly satisfying and created a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. However, these specialist arts can progress slowly, and can be expensive, and are thus time-consuming but incredibly worth the wait and effort. Thus we do not actively undertake third-party restoration at all due to the often excessive costs and considerable time involved. It is not unknown for a specialist restoration and conservation project of a single piece to take several years

Another important factor though, is that bad and poorly executed restoration can be far worse than doing nothing at all.

Restoration is a magnificent art, and often well worthwhile for important pieces when successful, but it is not to be undertaken lightly without all due consideration.
It is important to understand all factors when considering such improvements to fine antique pieces.
We were once advisers for the restoration of our magnificent 16th century 'Brussels' tapestry, that we sold to one of the great American collectors some decades ago.
You can see it in our photo gallery, photographed on display in our Prince Albert Street shop, with Judy Hawkins, Mark’s incredibly talented and beloved late wife, standing in the foreground. Another photograph is of a specialist lady restorer's hands, working upon the tapestry. The eventual restoration cost, in today’s terms, was over £600,000, and it took over 3 years to complete. A sobering sum, often outside of the deep pockets of national collections resources, but incredibly worthwhile none the less, as that tapestry would now likely be valued in the millions of pounds.

When we undertake restoration and conservation of our pieces, it will only be on items that we have decided would richly benefit from such attention, and we will also undertake this work often for posterity, in order to save, for future generations, pieces that may well might have been discarded in their poor, previously un-restored, neglected state.

We will often contribute towards, and therefore subsidise, these conservation costs ourselves, in order to save a piece of rarity, beauty, or historical significance, for this very reason. The improvement of 'value' alone is never, ever, our primary concern, and should, ideally never be the principle desire for collectors either. It should be for the preservation of fine past craftsmanship, and to restore fine cultural heirlooms for posterity, and for the benefit of all the generations to come.

If we restore an item that was acquired from us by a client, pre restoration, be they a museum, a private collector or specialist dealer, the results can be not only spectacular, but also incredibly satisfying to know that a fine piece has been saved for generations to come, and will be an ancestral heirloom for the future  read more

Code: 23682

An Absolutely Superb,& Signed, Samurai’s Large Sunobi-Tanto or Wakazashi Late Koto to Early Shinto Period. Mutsu no Kami Daido School

The blade, around 400 years old, is very wide and powerful, and has horimono carved to both sides, of ancient Buddhist ken swords, one with a varjira a Buddhist god's lightning creator and the swirling grain in the hada looks absolutely stunning, but it has to be viewed in the right light, with a typical narrow suguha hamon. Beautiful shakudo and pure gold Mino Goto school fuchigashira of takebori water dragon on a nanako ground, with an iron ground matching water dragon tsuba.

Nanako Ji: "fish roe ground" A surface decoration produced by forming very small raised bosses by a sharply struck punch or burin called 'nanako tagane'. Shakudo is the metal most often used, but copper and gold are quite often employed. The harder metals, shibuichi, silver and iron are rarely decorated in this way. The size of the dots vary from 0.04" to 0.008" (25 to 125 and inch) and the regularity of the work is marvelous as the dots must be spaced entirely by touch. The dots are usually arranged in straight lines or in lines parallel to the edge of the piece being decorated, but sometimes in more elaborate patterns. Used on guards since the Momoyama period although the technique existed since much earlier periods. Usually done by specialist 'nanako-shi', but sometimes done by the maker of the guard himself.

A pair of pure gold and shakudo flowering menuki under the tsukaito, and are of wonderful quality, and a stunning shakudo decorated kozuka utility knife with the Nabeshima clan mon of the Daki Myoga ginger plant, and the blade is also fully signed, is set within the saya pocket. The original Edo saya is fabulously decorated with kairagi polished giant rayskin. "Kairagi" means "Ume Blossom Skin".
When you polish the skin, Ume Blossom patterns will appear. Kairagi-same is very rare. The saya is polished samegawa. Polished giant ray skin, samegawa, was, at the time of the Samurai, some one of the most expensive and highly prized forms of decoration to be used on sword scabbards Saya. It was the same material as is used on sword hilts under the binding, but the large and small protruding nodules were hand polished, for hundreds of hours, to create a highly polished flat surface, that was then hand dyed and thus created a decorated scabbard with immense natural beauty, and huge expense for the time. The name Daido is most interesting, his early name is Kanemichi, and he changed to “O”Kanemichi when he received the “O” or “Dai” kanji from the Emperor Ogimachi. Later he called himself “Daido” and then received the title of “Mutsu No Kami” in Tensho 2. It is also believed that he was the personal swordsmith to Oda Nobunaga and the fact that he moved to Kyoto at the same time Nobunaga established his residence in Kyoto seems to support this idea. There are Juyo-Token by him, as well as joint effort works with Horikawa Kunihiro. The Horimono are double edged Buddhist ken straight sword, and a Bonji of 'Fudo' warrior deitie. Fudō-myōō (不動明王) is the full Japanese name for Acala-vidyaraja, or Fudō (o-Fudō-sama etc.) for short. It is the literal translation of the Sanskrit term "immovable wisdom king". The sword engraved on this sword is as a kongō-ken (金剛杵 "vajra sword"), which is descriptive of the fact that the pommel of the sword is in the shape of the talon-like kongō-sho (金剛杵 "vajra") of one type or another. It may also be referred to as "three-pronged vajra sword. The blade 17.5 inches long tsuba to tip, overall 25.5 inches long in saya  read more

Code: 24449

A Very Good & Attractive, Continental, Historical American Revolutionary War 18th Century Infantry Military Musket

The form of musket used by the Continental forces sent to fight in the American Revolutionary War, such as the Netherlander's, Hessian's and Prussians. Walnut stock with all steel furniture. A direct competitor to the English 'Brown Bess' Long Land and Short Land pattern muskets, however as it doesn’t have the fame of the Brown Bess of that period it is up to 70% less expensive today, thus makes a tremendous value collector’s piece from that era and conflict, despite actually being a rarer musket to find. The term "Hessians" refers to the approximately 30,000 German troops hired by the British to help fight during the American Revolution. They were principally drawn from the German state of Hesse-Cassel, although soldiers from other German states also saw action in America. (At the time, Germany was not a unified country but a collection of individual states that shared a language and culture.)

Hiring a foreign army was not unusual in the eighteenth century. For Hesse-Cassel, soldiers were a major export. By renting its army to the British, Hesse-Cassel took in an amount equal to about thirteen years' worth of tax revenue Life in the Hessian Army was harsh. The system aimed to instill iron discipline and the punishments could be brutal. Still, morale was generally high. Officers were well-educated, promotion was by merit, and soldiers took pride in serving their prince and their people. Furthermore, military service provided economic benefits. The families of soldiers were exempt from certain taxes, wages were higher than in farm work, and there was the promise of booty (money earned through the sale of captured military property) and plunder (property taken from civilians). In spite of such action, some 3,000 Hessians decided they liked the country well enough to make it their new home after the war, and they declined returning to Europe. In America, they lived side by side—and perhaps shared a Christmas drink—with their former foes. 44 inch long barrel, overall 60 inches long  read more

Code: 23406

A Most Rare 17th to 18th Century, Scottish Form, Ram's Horn Powder Flask Carved Geometric Design

Very much the form of geometric circular based engraving and ram's horn that was very popular in Scotland in the early Jacobite period. Rare curved square ram's horn powder flask with primitive geometric engraved decoration, inset wooden heel, with partial iron re-enforced support at the base also engraved and an engraved brass cap having side rings, long dispensing neck with pouring shut-off thumb gate, 8.5 inches tall overall. Wonderful age and use patination. Made for use with the early wheel lock muskets and earliest flintlocks. Several flasks of this form of carved horn flask travelled across the Atlantic and were used by the early colonial settlers in Pennsylvania, in fact a few American domestically made versions used into the American revolution are in museum collection in the States.

Arms and armour are rarely associated with art. However, they were influenced by the same design sources as other art forms including architecture, sculpture, goldsmiths' work, stained glass and ceramics. These sources had to be adapted to awkwardly shaped devices required to perform complicated technical functions. Armour and weapons were collected as works of art as much as military tools.

Like the pistols and guns that accompanied them, decorated flasks were costly items. Inlaid firearms and flasks reflected the owners' status and were kept as much for display as for use. Daggers, firearms, gunpowder flasks and stirrups worn with the most expensive clothing projected an image of the fashionable man-at-arms. The most finely crafted items were worn as working jewellery.  read more

Code: 22841