Fall 2023 Premier Firearms & Militaria Auction
November 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th, 2023
This auction will feature an outstanding collection of items spanning multiple categories including Modern, Military, Sporting, & Antique firearms & militaria! Below is just a small grouping of select highlights from the massive offering to be featured in this upcoming sale!
PRESENTATION GRADE MILITIA OFFICER’S SWORD TO CAPTAIN THOMAS POSTLEY OF THE 6th NATIONAL GUARD OF NEW YORK 1833
02-1958
Overall length: 39”. Blade length: 30 1/2″. The blade has a central narrow fuller extending 12” from the hilt. The blade is etched over its entire length with various foliate, military & patriotic motifs. The first half of the blade exhibits gold highlighted etching featuring a large American eagle with 13 stars & a ribbon above that reads “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. The opposite side has a brilliant gold highlighted spray of arms with an American shield at the center. The second half of the blade shows intense foliate motifs with a spray of arms along with a 7 1/2″ panel at the tip that reads, “PRO PATRIA ET GLORIA” on both sides. Heavily gilded cruciform style hilt boasts a guard with cannonball terminals and a central shield-shaped panel delicately engraved with an armorial shield depicting the New York seal, Stars & Stripes, a windmill, and “NYSA”. The elaborate guard also has fan-shaped languets below. The side straps are decorated with oak leaves & acorns and lead to the exuberant pommel. The amazing 4” pommel has an extraordinary rendition of a knight’s helmet with a plumed crest all topped by a diving American eagle. The chain guard has alternating round & rectangular links. The 2-piece certifiably antique ivory grip is covered in crosshatching. The heavily gilded scabbard is engraved with various foliate motifs and a diving American eagle grasping a shield. There is a 3 1/2″ panel between the suspension rings that reads, “Presented to Capt. Thos Postley, of the 6th National Guard, by the Company under his command, as a tribute of respect and esteem, New York, 1833.” We have located an interesting reference to a Captain Thomas Postley of Company F of the 10th Infantry who was killed in Camargo during the Mexican War in 1848. It is quite possible this is the same Captain Postley who, 15 years earlier while serving in the New York national Guard, received this fine sword.
