There are 1533 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribeA pair of late 19th/early 20th century bronze figures modelled as a classically bearded man carrying a crossbow and quiver of quarrels in pantaloons and leather jerkin with plumed hat, the other with flint lock musket and knife raised on circular black slate plinth bases, height 24cm respectively, unsigned
CONTINENTAL TARGET CROSSBOW CIRCA 1700 with set trigger and adjustable sights and fitted with a sprung arm to hold the quarrel in place, large brass trigger plate and brass butt plate, pale wood tiller (wormed), with patch box containing its original iron counter balance weight 34in. (86cm) long, bow span 14in. (35cm)
GERMAN TARGET CROSSBOW CIRCA 1790 the hard wood tiller with adjustable sight, characteristic hand rest below and forward of the nut and set trigger, slender steel prod the a large brass trigger guard and set trigger, very early bow cord, carved foliate decoration to the cheek piece and the side of the tiller 27in. (68cm) long, bow span 14in. (35cm)
Four various Staffordshire groups, the first attributed to the Parr factory and depicting a lady playing a mandolin to a gentleman standing by a tree trunk spill vase, 27cm (10.5in) high, the second a man dancing, 20.5cm (8in) high, the third a lady with a crossbow, 24cm (9.5in) high and the last of a lady holding a parrot with another beside her, 14.5cm (5.75in) high (4) (D)
An unusual elastic powered “pistol” c 1830, 17” overall, with dark rosewood stock having two brass lined holes at the front to take the elastic, flat steel slide and projectile carrier on the top which engages a crossbow type scear, conventional iron trigger guard and trigger, the butt with carved bulbous finial. GC (no elastic). Plate 11
A FINE PAIR OF 28 BORE FRENCH D.B. FLINTLOCK PISTOLS BY BLETTERIE A PARIS, CIRCA 1740. with lightly swamped barrels, decorated with bands of gold pellets at the muzzles, sprays of foliage and trophies, signed on the rib, fitted with silver fore-sights and decorated with further scrollwork and acanthus against a punched ground at the breeches (the goldwork extensively rubbed and with losses), grooved barrel tangs chiselled with trophies against a gilt fishroe ground, signed engraved stepped bevelled locks decorated with differing martial trophies and border ornament, the tails chiselled and gilt with trophies en suite, chiselled cocks decorated with foliage against a gilt ground, the steel faces chiselled with demon masks (the engraving worn, the cocks and steels with restorations), highly figured walnut full stocks carved with Green man masks issuant with foliage behind the rear ramrod-pipes and with foliage about the tangs (the fore-ends with minor repairs), inlaid with silver wire scrollwork over the fore-ends and the butts, full parcel-gilt silver mounts cast and chased in low relief, comprising trigger-guards with acanthus finials rising from demi-demon masks, the bows decorated with foliate central panes against a finely gilt fishroe ground, spurred trigger-guards decorated with differing trophies-of-hunting on each side within a rococo scrollwork frame accompanied by cornucopia, the butt-caps decorated with a laurel frame filled with portrait profiles of a nobleman and woman against a gilt fishroe ground respectively, oval escutcheons carried on trophies and engraved with the owner`s crest beneath a count`s coronet, a pair of faceted ramrod-pipes decorated en suite with the trigger-guards, blued trigger-plates, and each with its horn-tipped baleen ramrod. 42cm; 16 1/2in. (2). The arms, and almost certainly the portrait profiles on the pommels, are those of Count Jan-Karol Mniszech and his wife Countess Katarzyna (née Zamoyska) of Poland who married in 1741. Mniszech was Lieutenant General of the Crown, Great Chamberlain, Governor of Galicia and Huntsman of the Crown. The silver mounts are of exceptional quality. François Ovide Bletry (also Bletterie and Blettery) is recorded in Paris 1706-38 at Rue des Mauvais Garcons. During the period 1720-35 he had the title `arquebusier et archer du roy`. A gun and a crossbow signed by him are preserved in the Historisches Museum Dresden. See T. Lenk 1965, pp.113-4 and J. Sensfelder 2007, p. 305. It would appear that few other pieces by him are extant.
An English crossbow, 18th century, with robust recurved steel bow, fitted with later string of bound cord, figured walnut tiller, with turned knop-shaped finial, encased with large brass shaped plaques over the sides, a pair of lugs for a cranequin and lever trigger with spirally moulded finial, 89cm long. Provenance: The Estate of the late Professor Rupert Hall and Mrs Hall. Visit www.dnfa.com for condition reports.
A Flemish Target crossbow, 18th century, with robust steel bow, fitted with later string, bolt rail of bone or stag horn, figured walnut tiller with shaped iron plaques each side of the bone nut, steel stirrup and set trigger with iron guard, lacking its windlass, 92cm long. Provenance: The Estate of the late Professor Rupert Hall and Mrs Hall. Visit www.dnfa.com for condition reports.
Mortimer (J.R.) Forty Years` Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, 1905, small folio. frontis, folding plan, plates, quarter morocco, (spine worn, upper board detached); Payne-Gallwey (Ralph), The Crossbow .., 1958, dust wrapper; Clark (J.D.G.), Excavations at Star Carr, 1978, dust wrapper; with a large quantity of others (qty)
**A FLEMISH TARGET CROSSBOW AND WINDLASS, MID-18TH CENTURY, with robust steel bow stamped with a mark `N.D.` on the inside, fitted with an early string of twisted cord and retained by a pair of irons, figured walnut tiller applied with a large pierced iron plaque on each side of the nut cavity (the nut missing), the underside with rest of characteristic form, fitted with steel stirrup, folding back-sight and trigger, moulded brass trigger-guard and butt-cap with folding support, and complete with its steel windlass formed of a pair of wheels with hooks for attaching to the string, near rectangular cover pierced with tracery to fit over the tiller, dated on a panel above, and a pair of writhen steel arms with turned wooden handles for winding, 89.5cm; 35 1/4in tiller, (2)
A Zulu knobkerry, 26" overall, with large spherical head, the haft decorated with bands of woven iron and brass wire (some wear); the wooden stock and trigger action only of a native crossbow; a curious African pipe with bamboo stem and wire bound decoration; the long wooden stem of another pipe; and a reproduction iron axe head on a later wooden haft. Average GC (5)
A CRANEQUIN FOR A CROSSBOW, LATE 16TH CENTURY, with circular gearbox engraved with the initials 'LFH' on one side and stamped with the maker's mark (perhaps Neue Støckel 3168) beneath, the ratchet bar engraved with the letter 'H' at the top, scrolling winder with turned wooden handle, pierced belt hook, and the inside fitted with a cord loop, 35.5cm; 14in
A FINELY DECORATED GERMAN SPORTING CROSSBOW, 16TH CENTURY AND LATER, with heavy steel bow stamped on the inside with a mark, a rondel filled with three crescents, retained by gold-painted strings and with a series of black-and-white pom-poms, the tiller inlaid with staghorn plaques top and bottom finely engraved with foliage, mannerist masks and caryatids, the sides veneered with a chequerboard pattern of minute black and white staghorn plaques, fitted with bone nut, horn bolt clip, long steel lever trigger, steel stirrup, and a pair of lugs for a cranequin, 75cm; 29 1/2in tiller, It would appear that this bow was extensively decorated in the 19th Century
A GERMAN SPORTING CROSSBOW DATED 1612, with associated recurved steel bow, walnut tiller decorated with engraved staghorn plaques including an escutcheon decorated with a pair of crossed keys and the date on the left of the cheek-piece and with patchbox with sliding cover on the right, fitted with steel nut, steel bolt clip, standing back-sight, double set trigger (incomplete), and trigger-guard shaped for the fingers (worn, areas of worm damage, restorations), 68cm; 26 3/4in tiller
A Wood Self Bow, with diaper incised decoration to the borders of the slightly splayed and flattened limbs, with cylindrical handle, 173cm, possibly Indonesian; a smaller Self Bow, with plaited wicker bound decoration, 116cm; a Primitively Made Wood Crossbow, with bone trigger and latch; a Bundle of Sixteen Wood Arrows, with palm leaf flights (4)
ARMS AND ARMOUR SOCIETY VOLUME 1; The Art of the Armourer (1963); AZIZ, ABDUL: Arms & Jewellery of the Indian Moghuls (1948); CIMARELLI, ALDO: Arms & Armour (1973); CREPIN & LEBLOND: Les Couteaux de Jet (1978); GRUND: Encyclopedie des Armes (1993); HELD, R. A Review of 162 Antique Arms and Pertinent Objects (1976); HELD, ROBERT: Arms and Armor Annual; HUBER (PUBLISHER): Hand und Faust-feuer-waffen, Schweizerische Ordonnanz 1817-1975 (1971); KOSAR, FRANZ: A Pocket History of Artillery Light Fieldguns (1974); NICKEL, HELMUT (INTRODUCTION): The Art of Chivalry; OGAWA, MORIHIRO: Japanese Master Swordsmiths: The Gassan Tradition (1989); PAYNE-GALLWEY, SIR RALPH: The Crossbow (1986); PITOUS, J.-P. & CREPIN-LEBLOND: Le tir aux armes anciennes (1979); SARGEAUNT,B.E: Weapons (1908); TARASSUK, LEONID & BLAIR (ed): The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms & Weapons (1982); THE SCOTTISH ART REVIEW: Scottish Weapons (1963); VENNER, DOMINIQUE: Les Armes de Cavalerie (1977)
A SAXON SLURBOW, BY JOHANN GEORG ERTTEL, DRESDEN, DATED 1753 with blued steel bow decorated with a gilt band top and bottom on each side, fitted with an early string, retained by gilt cords and with its green pom-poms, fruitwood tiller fitted an additional bar above and with bone bolt channel (very light worm damage), engraved with the date ahead of the string release, inlaid with engraved staghorn segmental lines and plaques including panels of rococo foliage inhabited by hounds on each side of the mechanism, a doe and a stag pursued by a hound in a rococo landscape on the left of the cheek-piece and further decorated panels on top including a scalloped hollow for the thumb, steel string release, double set trigger, steel trigger-guard, and bone butt-plate engraved with the number '1' and the maker's full initials 'I. G. E' and surname 'Ertell' 67cm; 27 3/8in This was converted for use as a slurbo in its early working life. Two gunmakers of this name, a father and son, are recorded circa 1700-63 and 1728-94 respectively. A number of firearms by them are preserved in the Electoral Gunrooms, Dresden though neither is recorded as a crossbow maker. It is likely that this is the work of the father as the son is recorded as in Amsterdam as both Burgher and Master the year the present bow was manufactured. See D. Schaal, 1975.
A GERMAN SPORTING CROSSBOW, LATE 16TH CENTURY with 19th century robust steel bow stamped with the maker's initials 'J. H. & S.' on the inside, fitted with string of twisted cord and retained by further cords, ebonised hardwood tiller swelling about the nut, veneered with a staghorn plaque top and bottom and engraved with scrolls of foliage (areas of wear), inlaid with staghorn rosettes and a pair of segmental lines on each side(small chips and losses), fitted with bone nut, a pair of iron lugs, retaining a portion of its trigger mechanism, and pierced with a hole for a loading rod on the underside 71cm; 28in tiller
A RARE SPANISH CROSSBOW, MID-16TH CENTURY with robust short steel bow stamped with an arrangement of marks on the left and right along the top edge, the lower case letter 'B' in a pearled circle struck three times and divided twice by the sacred trigram IHS, the inner face of the bow also struck left and right with a triangular arrangement of the circular B mark, fitted with a later string of bound and twisted cords, retained by a pair of moulded shaped irons, highly figured slender walnut tiller very slightly arched for the grip, bolt channel inlaid with bone lines on each side, the tiller with small decorative brass plaques of shaped outline and plain brass panels encasing the front and the rear, the nut and the goat's foot lugs with additional reinforces (some small brass plaques and the staghorn lines replaced), bone nut, a pair of slender iron lugs, long slender iron trigger, slender iron belt hook, and painted with an early red inventory number 81.5cm; 32in bow This bow is of similar construction to an example owned by the Emperor Charles V (d. 1558) signed by Juan de la Fuente, preserved in the Armeria Real, Madrid (inv. No. J.18). See V. de Don Juan 1898, fig.236.
A RARE BOHEMIAN PISTOL CROSSBOW BY DIWISCH IN BRUNN, FIRST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with slender blued steel bow retained by a central thumb-screw, octagonal sighted rifled bolt channel fitted with back-sight of two folding leaves, signed on an engraved panel at the lower end of the bolt channel over the action, engraved action cover, double set trigger, figured walnut tiller with chequered pistol grip, engraved steel side-plates, spurred trigger-guard and butt-cap, vacant German silver escutcheon, and retaining some blued finish throughout 38cm; 15in tiller This maker is recorded in Brunn circa 1800-30.
A FLEMISH CROSSBOW IN 17TH CENTURY STYLE, MODERN with robust steel bow fitted with string of twisted cord and retained by a pair of irons, hardwood tiller inlaid with brass plaques, the underside with characteristic scrolling rest, fitted with steel stirrup, nut and trigger, brass bolt channel and trigger-guard, and complete with its steel windlass; and with six crossbow bolts 99cm; 39in tiller (8)
BRITAINS SWOPPETS KNIGHTS War of the Roses, Mounted: one attacking with sword, boxed; 2 charging with lances, with boxes but no longer in their boxes; attacking with sword and another charging with lance (lacks lance). On Foot: 2 standard bearers, 3 with swords, 2 with pole arms, longbow and crossbow ++generally good, some pieces missing, boxes worn
The Companion of Honour group of three awarded to Harold Arthur, Viscount Dillon, first Curator of the Tower of London Armouries, Chairman of the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, President of the Royal Archaeological Institute and of the Society of Antiquaries, Trustee of the British Museum and of the Wallace Collection, a leading authority on the history of arms and armour and medieval costume the Order of the Companions of Honour, G.V.R., neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, the reverse inscribed ‘Harold Arthur Viscount Dillon 1921’, with length of neck ribbon; Jubilee 1897 (Harold Arthur Viscount Dillon PSA, PRIA); Coronation 1911, unnamed as issued, good very fine (3) £2500-3000 Ex Hayward’s Gazette, December 1975. harold Arthur Lee Dillon was born on 24 January 1844, and was educated at a private school at Eltham, Kent, and at Bonn University. He joined the Rifle Brigade in 1862, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1866, and served in India and Canada during the Fenian troubles of 1868-71. He left the regular army in 1874, but was promoted to Captain in the Oxfordshire Militia and eventually retired with the rank of Major in 1891. In the following year he succeeded his father as the 17th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen. on leaving the army Dillon became interested in modern military subjects such as equipment and dress, which eventually led him to the history of arms and armour and medieval costume. Dillon traced hundreds of illuminated manuscripts and illustrated works and made a series of brass rubbings. When he would enter a gallery he would focus only on those paintings with military themes, concentrating on sword hilts, armour and horse trappings, and skillfully copied them. his first works were published shortly after he left the army. These articles related to his home, Ditchley in Oxfordshire and described flint tools excavated from the area and objects from the collections in the house. He published many articles on the subjects of arms and armour and military history which appeared in academic journals such as the Archaeological Journal and Archaeologia as well as journals of popular and military general interest such as Antiquary and Colburne's United Service Magazine. He would also write on the subjects of arms and armour in pictures, on monuments and in Shakespeare, on tournaments, military equipment, soldier's arms, equipment and life. His first major undertaking was a revised edition of F. W. Fairholt's two volume Costume in England, published in 1885. Three years later he published a paper on the sections of the great 1547 Inventory of the possessions of Henry VIII. In his writings Dillon focused on the defensive and offensive characters of armour rather than as a work of art. many of his articles appeared under his own name, but he would sometimes use the pseudonym 'Armadillo.' The animal was so closely linked with Lord Dillon that the designer of a commemorative medal produced for the National Portrait Gallery used an image of an armadillo for the reverse of a medal bearing the portrait of Lord Dillon. although Dillon was associated with the Tower of London Armouries from 1892, serving as the consultant scientific expert, he was not officially appointed curator of the Armoury until 1895. He was tasked with producing an accurate and up to date catalogue of the collection. As curator he was able to reduce historic inaccuracies that had built up over the previous years. In 1827 Samuel Meyrick had brought expert knowledge to the collection, but it had then fallen into the hands of the War Office storekeepers and unfortunately most his work was lost. Labels were misplaced, and suits wrongly mounted and erroneous traditions had been established for public amusement. his research led him through the State Papers, especially those of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, in which he discovered interesting and valuable details about the making and issue of arms and armour. Dillon dismantled nearly every piece of armour in the collection to see how it was worn and the reason for certain constructional details. Most of the pieces were those of Henry VIII. Dillon even tried them on himself to see how the rivets and the joints of the harness worked and discovered that many of the suits had been wrongly assembled This exercise enabled him to rectify countless inaccuracies. He also examined the internal mechanisms of the crossbow, pistol and gunlocks. in 1910 Dillon's Illustrated Guide to the Armouries was published, being a summary catalogue of the arms and armour as he had arranged and exhibited them, and the various manuscript inventories of the collection. Dillon carried out a complete reorganisation of the collection in preparation for the new catalogue, and made a detailed examination of all the major pieces as well as identifying a number of those with important historical associations, and corrected inaccuracies. The catalogue was more in the format of a guided tour rather than a systematic catalogue. dillon considered his task to be one of preserving and studying a closed collection rather than expanding it and spreading knowledge of it outside the Tower. His two significant acquisitions for the collection were a pistol of Prince Charles, purchased in 1898 and a part visor of King Henry VII found in St James' Palace in 1906. One of his most valuable contributions was the Armourer's Album which appeared for sale in Paris and by Dillon's efforts was purchased and preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The album contained a number of watercolour drawings of suits of armour of the Elizabethan period that were made at Greenwich, many of which were in the Tower, together with the names of the owners, which proved invaluable for establishing provenance and for identifying pieces in the Tower, Windsor and other private collections. lord Dillon contemplated retiring in 1909, but finally retired from his post of Curator in 1912, and handed the Armouries over to Charles Foulkes. Dillon left the Armouries on its way to becoming a modern museum. A catalogue had been completed, a programme of inspections of loans had been established, and regular inventory checks were carried out. Armour and weapons were displayed according to the techniques of the day, with labels and a guidebook describing the displays. he received an honourary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford and the Order of Companion of Honour by the King in 1921. Dillon served as a trustee to the British Museum, secretary to the Royal Commission on Westminster Abbey, President of the Royal Archaeological Institute of the Wallace Collection, Trustee and Chairman of the Board of the National Portrait Gallery, Honourary Member of the Armourers and Brasier's Company of London, Fellow of the British Academy and Antiquary of the Royal Academy. Harold Arthur Lee Dillon died on 18 December 1932. The group is sold with a ‘Souvenir Album of the Tower of London, with Historical and Descriptive Notes by The Viscount Dillon P.S.A.’ £2500-£3000
A RARE ENGLISH CROSSBOW FOR A CHILD, EARLY 17TH CENTURY with slender steel bow, folding fore-sight (one arm missing, incomplete), slender hardwood tiller of near square-section, retaining some engraved bone plaques on the top, the underside inlaid with twisted brass wire (extensive losses, pommel missing), and built-in steel gaffle (worn throughout) 58cm; 22 3/4in tiller Inv. no. C001
AN ENGLISH CROSSBOW, SECOND HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY with robust recurved steel bow, later string, figured walnut tiller with turned knop-shaped terminal (extensively chipped), encased with large steel plaques over the sides, brass nut, a pair of lugs for a cranequin, and lever trigger with spirally moulded pierced finial 84.7cm; 33 1/4in tiller Inv. no. C006
AN ENGLISH CROSSBOW SIGNED J. SLURMAN, BURY, SECOND HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY with robust recurved steel bow, later string, figured walnut tiller of gunstock form, encased with large steel plaques over the sides, steel nut, signed on a rectangular plaque behind and inlaid with an engraved scrolling plaque, engraved steel butt-plate, and lever trigger with moulded acorn finial 86.5cm; 34in tiller Inv. no. C003
A LARGE FLEMISH TARGET CROSSBOW, FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY with heavy steel bow retained by large moulded irons and fitted with an early string, struck with a mark (Neue Støckel 8494), fitted with modern string of twisted cords, figured walnut tiller (cracked) with large protruding bevelled rest, steel-lined bolt channel, bone nut, inlaid with a vacant heart-shaped escutcheon behind, large brass side-plates, steel stirrup, steel bar trigger, and moulded steel trigger-guard (bent) 96cm; 37 3/4in tiller Inv. no. C009
A LARGE CROSSBOW SIGNED T. PEETERS, MARIANNE, 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY FLEMISH with robust steel bow of tapering section (later string), figured walnut tiller of gun-stock form with carved bolt channel, fitted with adjustable brass bolt guide at the front and on each side of the nut, the former with a steel spike-rest beneath, the sides of the tiller encased in large steel plaques and signed on the left, brass nut, a pair of lugs for a cranequin, steel bar trigger, brass butt-plate, brass trigger plate, and steel pivot mount, and with a ratchet bar from a windlass 116.5cm; 41 7/8in tiller (2) Inv. no. C010
A GERMAN SPORTING CROSSBOW, LATE 17TH CENTURY with steel bow fitted with a later string, retained by later cords and with two pom-poms, fruitwood tiller applied with a panel of engraved staghorn on the top forming the bolt channel and with a low fore-sight, cheek-piece carved with a scroll at the front and inlaid with a star in contrasting colours of horn and bone, inlaid over the length of the tiller with further panels of engraved staghorn including ball flowers, fruit and scrolls, fitted with steel stirrup and nut, double set trigger, horn bolt clip (a working replacement), scalloped bone thumb rest, and a pair of very short lugs for a cranequin 68cm; 26 3/4in tiller
Loading...
