Wallis & Wallis

We start the sale with medals and a George V Military Cross group of four. The MC engraved ‘Captain F.A. Lott 1st Bn Welch Regt Attd MGC’, a 1914-15 Star (1778 Pte F A Lott 28 Lond. R), British War Medal and Victory Medal (Major F A Lott), in VF condition. They came with ‘Army Orders’ sheet confirming MC award, a telegraph message from Buckingham Palace requiring his attendance to receive the MC, an ‘Admit Bearer’ card to Buckingham Palace for his investiture by the King 15 March1919 and a confirmation note for the same. They sold for £875.

We now report on a number of lots related to the Long Range Desert Group. First a group of seven medals to Pte J D Bishop, including his 1939-45 Star, Africa Star with unattached 8th Army clasp, Italy Star, Defence and War Medals, Queen’s Korea Medal (6287309 Pte J D Bishop Glosters) and UN Korea Medal, all in VF and EF condition. Bidding started modestly but quickly rose, helped by interest from all quarters, with telephone, internet and commission bidders together with a number of bidders in the room. It finally came down to two room bidders who took the hammer price to a height of £4400.

Next was Bishop’s rare brass badge of the Long Range Desert Group. Bishop was a member of the Buffs and L.R.D.G and served in North Africa, the Adriatic and later with the Gloucestershire Regiment in Korea. This sold for £1150, a very good price.

Then came his pair of rare Long Range Desert Group hand- Wallis & Wallis, Arms & Militaria Auction, 25th November 2014, Sale Number 567 Auction Report embroidered slip on shoulder titles, and embroidered SAS parachute wings, removed from his uniform. They sold to the buyer of the medals for £3200.

Finally we have a WWII period album of photographs and ephemera, belonging to Private Bishop, containing numerous photographs of members of the L.R.D.G, mostly in the Adriatic, snow clad mountains, and Italy. His pay book shows him as ‘Buffs/LRDG’, Certificate of Service, ‘LRDG Association Newsletter’ (Issue No 13, 1957), and a ‘LRDG Association Nominal Roll’ in which his name appears. Bishop was evidently involved in mountain warfare as there was a fascinating and rare typed manual of the ‘Mountain Warfare Training Centre Ski Wing’, dated Winter 1942/43 together with a similar typed ‘Manual of Rock Technique and Method of Instruction’, produced by the Mountain Wing, Middle East Mountain Warfare Training Centre 1943-44. This large group of ephemera related to Bishop was also bought by the same buyer of the previous Lots, who is a collector of items related to the Special Forces. He paid £2600.

That’s Your Lot

We now move on to badges and plates with a French Napoleon I thin die struck copper shako plate of the 105th Regt, crowned eagle on torse and stencilled ‘105’ in a semi-circular wreath with lion’s heads. It had four pairs of stitching holes and was in good condition overall. It sold for £525.

Next was a senior NCO’s die struck silver shoulder belt plate of The 72nd (Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders). Hallmarked for makers J&C, Birmingham 1855, it sold for £650.

Another shoulder belt plate of The 72nd (The Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders), but this time for an officer and of applied silver plated design on a brass plate. It retained a little original gilt and was in good overall condition. It made £460.

Next we have a continental (possibly German) cavalry officer’s sword, circa 1730. The 32½-inch curved blade with back fuller and traces of etched devices and inscriptions. Brass hilt with cast double shell guard, turn down quillon, and the shells with a bear in a shield. It sold for £850.

Now we go to firearms, starting with a Marlin .32-40-inch full tube magazine underlever rifle, the 28¼-inch octagonal barrel with ratchet rearsight, the top flat bearing the maker’s name and patent dates to ‘Nov 9 1880’, number 16314. It went in the room for £675.

This good five-shot 54-bore Beaumont Adams double action percussion revolver had a 6-inch barrel, engraved on the top strap ‘Robert Adams, 76 King William Street, London’, with LAC mark and London proofs, the frame engraved ‘B20,662’ over ‘Adams’ Patent 36,432R’, the cylinder also engraved ‘36,432R’, with finely checkered walnut butt. It was in very good condition retaining 75% of original blued finish (small rammer screw missing). It came with its green baize lined fitted oak case, with trade label of R Adams and contained many accessories. It sold for £1550.

Hammer-Time

Here we have another cased pistol, this time a pepperbox revolver. It was a six-shot 60- bore self-cocking bar hammer percussion pepperbox revolver,
by Blissett. The 4-inch barrels with each breech numbered 1 to 6 and with London proofs. The scroll engraved rounded frame signed ‘J Blissett, Holborn, London’, the butt with finely chequered grips, engraved backstrap and butt cap with trap. It was in very good condition overall and came in its oak case with accessories. The hammer fell at £1450.

Next we have this six-shot .44-inch Remington New Model Army percussion revolver, number 137639, the backstrap drilled with two holes, presumably to attach a shoulder stock. It was in reasonable condition and a little worn, but still fetched £600.

The Colt Model 1862 Police percussion revolver is not commonly found these days and here we have an early example. The five-shot .36-inch revolver had a 4½-inch barrel with ‘US America’ address. It was numbered 3069, which was the first year of production, and had a brass trigger guard and backstrap and plain walnut grips. Overall it was somewhat worn and there were one or two small pieces missing, but nothing that could not be replaced. It sold to a Russian bidder for £520.

In our Spring Connoisseur Sale we sold a good Colt Single Action Army or Frontier revolver, made in 1892, in .41-inch calibre, which had only just become classed as an obsolete calibre. It made £2000. In this sale we had a version of the pistol in .45-inch calibre, which is not obsolete. There was very little difference in the two revolvers apart from the fact that this one had been deactivated (after 1995) and had been made in 1906. Like the previous SAA it was in excellent condition. It sold for £1200.

Finally in this report we have a pair of 32-bore percussion travelling or small holster pistols, by Joseph Egg, converted from flintlock with breech drums. Each with rebrowned octagonal twist 5-inch barrels engraved in gothic script ‘J. Egg, No 1 Piccadilly, London’, the flat lock with safety bolt and engraved ‘J Egg’ in gothic script, the dark walnut fullstock with rectangular silver barrel wedge plate and oval escutcheon. They were not cased and sold for £950.

The next sale at Wallis & Wallis will be at 17th March 2015, with the Connoisseur Sale following on 28th and 29th April. www.wallisandwallis.co.uk