Firearms & Edged Weapons | Internet Antique Gazette

Solingen Steel

For centuries, this small town in Germany has been turning out the highest quality knives and cutlery. Some time in the 16th century, artisans in this small German town began creating high quality blades. Four hundred years later, he name Solingen stamped on a blade is still the mark of a quality product.

Solingen- A Short History of a Small Town Solingen was first chartered in 1374, but has been an [...] Click here to continue reading.

Bakelite

Scandal & the Story of Bakelite Bakelite hit the market in 1907, heralding the arrival of the modern plastics industry. Bakelite was the first completely man made plastic, as until then, plastics such as celluloid, casein, and Gutta-Percha all had as a base a natural material. It was developed by Belgian-born chemist Dr. Leo Hendrick Baekeland who started his firm General Bakelite Company to produce the phenolic resin type plastic. Bakelite was inexpensive [...] Click here to continue reading.

Target Balls

Glass Target Balls

Modern day skeet target shooting, in which the shooter uses a shotgun to attempt to hit a clay disk (a pigeon) launched into the air at some distance, has its origins in the late nineteenth century. Prior to that time these events used thousands and thousands of live birds, usually pigeons, for their targets. Beginning in about 1876 a scarcity of birds and a growing social sense that this type of [...] Click here to continue reading.

Mallard, A Chapter in the Legend

A Chapter in the Mallard Legend: The Family Offers His Personal Possessions at Auction

Families that inherit historical artifacts related to their famous or infamous ancestors often possess both a blessing and a burden. So it was for the descendants of Prudent Mallard (1809 to 1879), the renowned New Orleans 19th century merchant and probable cabinetmaker.

When Mallard’s widow, Augustine, died in 1889 (ten years after Prudent) her will contained instructions for the division [...] Click here to continue reading.

Mallard, Prudent – New Orleans Furniture

The Prudent Mallard Legend

Prudent Mallard (1809 to 1879) was a renowned New Orleans nineteenth century merchant and probable cabinetmaker. Many collectors and experts consider Mallard to be the leading, even iconic, figure in nineteenth century furniture in the lower South. Tom Halverson, Director of American Furniture and Decorative Arts for the New Orleans Auction Galleries believes that Mallard’s fame was well deserved. “I believe that by the middle of the nineteenth century the [...] Click here to continue reading.

Sgian Dubh dirk

Sgian Dubh

The Sgian Dubh is the traditional Scottish dirk used for centuries as a weapon and known to non-Scots as the dirk worn with highland dress. It is pronounced (Skeen’ Doo) which is the source of an occasionally seen spelling variant, skean-dhu.

The Sgian Dubh began life as a short utility knife but gained cultural importance when the English proscribed Scots from carrying weapons and wearing the kilt. Sgian is the Gaelic word [...] Click here to continue reading.

Winchester Model 1886 Rifle

The Winchester Model 1886

The Winchester 1886 rifle was produced from 1886 to 1935. Those with serial numbers under 119,000 were made prior to 1899.

The rifle was made in a number of caliber, including 33 W.C.F., 45-70, 45-90 and 50-100. Its serial number is found on the lower tang with “Model 1886″ on the upper tang. The 1886 has a total of about ten chamberings and a tubular magazine below its barrel. The [...] Click here to continue reading.

Williams, David Marshal (Carbine Williams) – Gun Maker

David Marshal “Carbine” Williams

A North Carolinian, universally known as “Carbine”, was born in 1900, Marsh Williams. Declining higher education and in 1921, he chose to operate a whiskey still around the Godwin area in the lowlands near Fayetteville, NC. Deputy Sheriff Al Pate led a raid on Williams’ still and was slain during the gun battle that raged at the still. Williams was tried and the jury was hung. He was tried a [...] Click here to continue reading.

Spiller & Burr Revolvres

Spiller & Burr Civil War Confederate Revolvers

Courtesy of James Julia Auction Company, presented in conjunction with the sale of Spiller & Burr revolver, serial number 129 (p4A item # D9737705)

David J. Burr, of Richmond, Virginia, was an enterprising gentleman whose company had built a locomotive (1836) and a steam packet named, “The Gov. McDowell”, which navigated the James River and the Kanawha Canal (1842). In 1860, he is listed in the [...] Click here to continue reading.

Ralph Raby Collection – Provenance

The Ralph Raby Collection

Ralph Raby is a direct descendant of the Chicago retail shoe magnates George and Joseph Bullock. The Bullocks were typical upper-class Victorians, with a sophisticated eye for fine furniture, art and decorations who traveled extensively throughout Europe. The majority of the Raby collection was assembled by the brothers and their wives in the 1870′s and 1880′s.

Their travels and philosophy were described by Mr. Raby for a 1984 Chicago Tribune [...] Click here to continue reading.

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