Antique arms and armour: 2003 and 2004 saw collectors and dealers acquiring good-quality material in good condition, auction houses achieving steady prices, with some surprises, and museums making carefully selected purchases

Arguing that antique arms and armour have a valid place in the fine and decorative arts is often regarded as sophistry. In the commercial arts world, arms and armour have a place less affected by fashion than other antiques. The market in 2003 and 2004 shows that certain truisms apply to arms and armour just as they do to other antiques: quality items always sell well; high quality research and cataloguing pay dividends; good condition is essential; over-hyped auctions generally fail; excessive auction estimates deter buyers; provenance is important; little escapes the internet.

In 2003-2004, the market continued steady and was largely unaffected by currency fluctuations. American arms continue to be strong sellers, with the iconic word 'Colt' still striking chords with collectors--as witness successful auction sales including Colt revolvers of rare types and in exceptional condition, by Greg Martin Auctions and Bonhams/Butterfields in San Francisco. Greg Martin Auctions dominate this market, for American weapons as well as for foreign material, achieving high prices within accurate estimates, such as the exceptional pair of German wheellock pistols attributed to Caspar Spat of Munich, c. 1640-50, ($414,400 against an estimate of $400,000-600,000; 16 June 2003: a good price for wheellocks at present). Peter Finer, of Ilmington, Warwickshire, sold well in the USA in 2004, to discerning collectors of exceptional--and mainly European--arms and armour, and reported that 60 per cent of his 2003 catalogue had sold by the end of 2004, with Americans figuring prominently among his buyers (Fig. 4).

In the USA, museums have continued actively to collect. A notable acquisition by the new Frazier Historical Arms Museum in Louisville, Kentucky--the presentation sword of Colonel Louis D. Watkins--was published by Walter J. Karcheski Jr. in this magazine in February 2004 and Erik Goldstein, curator of mechanical arts and numismatics at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, has purchased both American weapons (a Revolutionary War American cavalry sabre by Potter of New York, acc. no. 2004-15) as well as fine examples from overseas (a pair of Scottish flintlock all-metal pistols by John Campbell of Doune, c. 1750-75, acc. no. 2003-155). The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has enhanced its collection of arms and armour by purchasing a late-eighteenth-century Russian small-sword (acc. no. 2004.76) and a very important collection of designs for firearms ornamentation executed by the French master Nicolas-Noel Boutet, 1797-1805 (acc. no. 2004.101).

This latter acquisition by the Met underwrites the decorative arts aspects of arms and armour: highly-decorated arms of exceptional quality that were usually made for presentation purposes, such as those from the workshop of Boutet, continue to attract high prices worldwide. This is true wherever such items are sold, a case in point being Gorringes, Lewes, Sussex, in September 2004, where two fine British presentation swords--of the sort that might easily have been sold by any major metropolitan auction house--attracted much interest and sold for 44,000 [pounds sterling] and 23,000 [pounds sterling]; it is unlikely that they would have sold better in London. Such was not always the case however, as was indicated at Dix Noonan and Webb's sale of 'The Baird Jewels and Archive' in London in September 2003, when the presentation sabre (estimate 80,000-120,000 [pounds sterling]) awarded to General Sir David Baird in 1806 failed to attract a buyer. Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh had better luck with their sale of the 'Admiral Milne collection' in March 2003, Milne's presentation sword of 1816 selling for 70,000 [pounds sterling] against an estimate of 25,000-30,000 [pounds sterling]. Thus, quality items, when sensibly estimated and in good condition, continued to be attractive to both collectors and the trade.

In Europe, the auction scene continued much as before, with Hermann Historica in Munich and Fischer in Luzern dominating the market in the German-speaking lands. Both houses achieved good results, HH selling a Landshut iron helmet of c. 1500 for 35,000 [euro] against an estimate of 25,000 [euro] on 4-5 May 2004. The strength of the London auction world in arms and armour has continued, with Bonhams and Sotheby's wing for supremacy (Figs. 1 and 2) and Christie's in third place. By selling items from the Plaut and Beck collections in 2004, Bonhams demonstrated that high prices for quality material, irrespective of nationality, can still be achieved in London, especially when an auction house is active and competitive. Sotheby's, who now hold no arms and armour sales outside London, achieved one among many notable results in their 30 June 2004 sale when they sold a cased pair of early (1814) Wilkinson duelling pistols for 19,000 [pounds sterling] against an estimate of 910,000 [pounds sterling]. Duelling pistols, it is generally agreed, have sold well in this period, although--as always--condition and quality remain of paramount importance.

Britain's museum collections of arms and armour, the drain in their scholarship paralleling a diminution in their purchase grants, have made only three major purchases in the period. These were a Roman gladius (a type of short sword), 1st century AD, bought by the Royal Armouries, Leeds, at Christie's, 28 April 2004, for 54,970 [pounds sterling] (including premium and VAT); an Italian culverin, 1533, bought by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, from Danny Katz Ltd. in 2003 for 45,000 [pounds sterling]; and the reinforce for a Greenwich armour's breastplate, c. 1555 (Fig. 3), bought by Glasgow Museums late in 2004 from a private source for 99,000 [pounds sterling]. Of these acquisitions, the last two were supported by Britain's unique National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund), whose Director, David Barrie, summed up the acquisitions potential of Britain's museums thus, 'a lack of adequate funding, particularly in the case of regional museums, means that acquisitions are increasingly seen as a luxury, rather than as a necessity, vital for the health and growth of our collections'. At a time when one of Britain's national museum directors, apparently unaware of the tautology, could describe curators as 'an expensive luxury', this sad position must seem unalterable.

More positively, Russian buyers remain active, if unpredictable in their tastes and lengths-of-purse, and fine-quality Islamic arms continue to attract buyers, with the market at the upper end dominated by a few individuals. 2005 will be the bicentenary of the battle of Trafalgar and few British auction houses will be without their 'Trafalgar' sales. Much may be expected from these, as well as from another sumptuous catalogue from Peter Finer, leading international dealer in arms and armour, to keep the market buoyant. Its buoyancy will be helped by two more 'Park Lane Arms Fairs' in London in February and November 2005 and the well-attended equivalents in the USA: these are the lifeblood of the trade and attract collectors of all ages, nationalities, incomes and interests.

Stephen Wood MA FSA is a researcher, consultant and broker in antique arms and armour and in naval and military history and its antiquities. www.stephenwoodresearch.com.

The Spring 2005 London Park Lane Arms Fair is at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, 27 February, 10 am-4.30 pm. The Autumn 2005 London Park Lane Arms Fair will be taking place on 13 November. Tel. +44 [0]1669 620618.

NOTABLE PRICES, 2003-2004 Antique arms and armour

A gold-topped cane made from a spear believed to be that which killed Captain James Cook, Hawaii, 1779 (Lyon and Turnbull, Edinburgh, 26 March 2003)--135,000 [pounds sterling]

A cased Colt model 1849 pocket revolver, inlaid in gold and engraved by Gustav Young (active in the USA 1852-95) (Greg Martin Auctions, San Francisco, 16 June 2003)--$828,800

A seven-barrelled flintlock pepperbox revolver by John Twigg (1732-90), c. 1785 (Bonhams, London, 24 July 2003)--26,000 [pounds sterling]

An exceptional and rare Colt 'Walker' model revolver, 1847. (Greg Martin Auctions, San Francisco, 7-8 December 2003)--$202,500

The 'Walpole/Suckling' silver-hilted hanger, hallmarked 1752-53, believed to be that carried by Captain Horatio (later Vice-Admiral Lord) Nelson (Sotheby's, London, 16 December 2003)--36,000 [pounds sterling]

A Phrygian/Chalcidian-type winged bronze helmet, 4th century BC (Christie's, London, 28 April 2004)--156,450 [pounds sterling]

A rare Commonwealth period officer's English-lock pistol, c. 1650 (Sotheby's, London, 30 June 2004)--9,500 [pounds sterling]

An exceptional pair of gold-inlaid, over-and-under flintlock pistols made for the Maharaja of Tanjore by Joseph Manton, London, c. 1822 (Bonhams, London, 29 July 2004)--42,000 [pounds sterling]

A fine Colt 'Paterson' no. 3 belt model revolver, 1836-42. (Bonhams and Butterfields, San Francisco, 7-8 December 2004)--$86,250

A cased, engraved and gold-plated Remington Smoot New Model revolver, 1874. (Bonhams and Butterfields, San Francisco, 7-8 December 2004)--$43,700

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