Weapons from Holstein collection

Jim McDougall · 6th June 2017, 11:51 PM

To me it is a true conquest to just own a copy of this rare catalog!!! let alone a weapon from within it!!!

As Jens has pointed out, not all weapons illustrated in such a work are necessarily the property of the author.

Personally even when I still collected, I would not have bought a weapon outside my areas of interest just because it was presumably from a renowned collection. As an arms historian, what is most important to me is the weapon itself, and often even if in rugged condition, it conveys many important clues on its form and perhaps even stages of its working life.

I have certainly acquired arms which I paid too much for, but in later years discovered they often were of very rare forms or circumstances. This often gave them an inherent value in different dimension as a viable antiquity with unique character and sometimes compelling provenance.

I recall in California some years ago, when I still lived there, some of the older movie studios cleared out their warehouses of old props, costumes etc. Apparently, there were numbers of old weapons which were true antiques among the prop items used in old films, and some collectors and dealers had a field day!!!

Actually the famed actor Rudolph Valentino was a sword collector, and had gathered some prime examples himself in the early days.

I wonder how many of these are still around and so classified or identified?

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6th June 2017, 11:51 PM	#8
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,282	To me it is a true conquest to just own a copy of this rare catalog!!! let alone a weapon from within it!!! As Jens has pointed out, not all weapons illustrated in such a work are necessarily the property of the author. Personally even when I still collected, I would not have bought a weapon outside my areas of interest just because it was presumably from a renowned collection. As an arms historian, what is most important to me is the weapon itself, and often even if in rugged condition, it conveys many important clues on its form and perhaps even stages of its working life. I have certainly acquired arms which I paid too much for, but in later years discovered they often were of very rare forms or circumstances. This often gave them an inherent value in different dimension as a viable antiquity with unique character and sometimes compelling provenance. I recall in California some years ago, when I still lived there, some of the older movie studios cleared out their warehouses of old props, costumes etc. Apparently, there were numbers of old weapons which were true antiques among the prop items used in old films, and some collectors and dealers had a field day!!! Actually the famed actor Rudolph Valentino was a sword collector, and had gathered some prime examples himself in the early days. I wonder how many of these are still around and so classified or identified?