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LOT 1129
Saw-Butted Percussion Pistol
19TH CENTURY A.D.
10 in. (1.1 kg, 35.5 cm).
With wood butt and silvered butt cap, sideplate, fore-end and trigger guard, fitted with steel ramrod and an octagonal lined sighted barrel with foliate engraved percussion lock signed 'HENRY CLARKE' (lacking hammer retaining screw). [No Reserve]
ProvenanceProperty of a Luton, UK gentleman, by inheritance.
FootnotesThe Clarkes were a Midlands, UK gunsmithing family.
Sold as an exempt item under Section 58 (2) of the Firearms Act, 1968, to be held as a curiosity or ornament. No license required but buyer must be over 18 years of age. Overseas bidders should note that, due to UK regulations governing export of all firearms, overseas buyers will need to make arrangements for shipping this lot out of the UK directly, by air freight, with a specialist company or agent.
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AUCTIONS:
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Luristan Bronze Short Sword Blade
Early 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Triangular with thick rectangular-section midrib, rounded shoulders, narrow tip, short tang with inserted fixing pin for the organic grip. 472 grams, 42.2 cm
Ex German collection, Cologne, 1980-1990s.
This tanged bronze blade from Luristan belongs to a category of Luristan swords still in use in Achaemenid Period, as proved from a blade with a perished handle (probably bone or wood) of the same type, in the National Museum of Iran (2694/15633). Examples without inscriptions like our model have been classified by Grotkamp-Schepers in the Solingen Museum as pieces from Luristan. -
Roman Marble Ballista Catapult Shot
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Suitable for use with an onager or other catapult-type siege weapon; with smooth finished surface. 3 kg, 13 cm
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector.
The operation of the onager (Latin for 'wild ass') is first mentioned in 353 A.D. by Ammianus Marcellinus in his Res Gestae and more fully in Vegetius's Epitoma Rei Militaris probably written in the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (378-395 A.D.). -
Volga Silver-Gilt Sword Belt Mount Group
11th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
Comprising: two matching ogival plates with pellet borders; a trefoil plate with border of radiating lines framing three concentric circle and oval motifs; a plate with five lobes decorated with dashed lines and six concentric oval motifs at the centre; ogival plate with scalloped border, trefoil motif at centre; ogival plate with pellet border divided into three 'petals' by larger single pellets, scrolling vegetal motif; a floral style plate composed of discoid dimples; irregular hexagonal plate, the shape repeated at the centre, pellet border; trilobate plate with three single pellets to the perimeter and pellet border; ogival plate with expanded waist, raised 'wings' and rounded lozenge against a background of radiating lines; nine with three attachment lugs to reverse, one with two lugs. 31.8 grams total, 17-26 mm
Fine condition.
Acquired in the 1980s-1990s. Ex an important central London gallery, London W1.
The belt fittings find various comparisons with non-ferrous belt appliqués found in the territories of the Volga Bulgars, like specimens from the Semenovsky village. These items were parts of long warrior belts, the leather surfaces decorated all over with such bronze and silver appliqués. Symbols of ranks and elite warrior aristocracy, these belts also served a utilitarian purpose of suspending weapons such as a bow, quiver or a sabre.
