Confessions of a Collector of Armour and Awkwardness

?Have you ever found yourself polishing a cuirass at midnight while pretending it’s just a decorative bowl?

Confessions of a Collector of Armour and Awkwardness

You are reading a title that sounds like a diary entry because, in truth, you keep one — only you call it an inventory and label it in a ledger that makes you feel both historical and slightly criminal. You love metal things that once had a job and now have become conversation hazards in your living room.

A Long History: Christie’s and Arms, Armour and Sporting Guns

You should know that auction houses have been playing matchmaker between metal and obsessives for centuries. Christie’s began selling firearms at James Christie’s first auction in 1766, and since then has handled many landmark consignments such as the Zschille sale in 1897, Sir Guy Francis Laking in 1920, and the W. Keith Neal Collection in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This institutional memory can make you feel both validated and small: validated because there is a market for what you love, and small because those catalogues are full of people who spent larger fortunes and had better lighting in their armories.

You can find arms and armour spread through Christie’s Decorative Arts sales across London, New York and Paris, and this dispersal can be comforting: your obsession will not be judged in just one city. Right now there may be no upcoming Arms, Armour and Sporting Guns sales scheduled, but you can browse past auctions and contemplate the way other people’s collections reflect their vanities and good taste. If you want a valuation, Christie’s offers online tools and specialist consultations, which is a polite way of saying you can get someone to tell you whether your rusty halberd is a find or simply a prop from a bad period film.

Why You Collect: The Pull of Metal and Myth

You collect because objects feel like personalities in your life. Armour does not just occupy space; it pronounces things aloud. A helmet sits like a stoic guest at your dinner table and a sword leans against a wall with the quiet menace of a roommate who never washes dishes. You imagine the past as a series of sharp-edged stories, and each piece lets you live in that story for a little while.

Your reasons are not purely romantic. You like the weight of something real when everything else is intangible — a password, a subscription number, a calendar invite. There is an appealing mathematical certainty to iron and leather that the modern world repeatedly refuses to provide. You might also like the theatricality: the way a pauldron catches light or the way a pair of gauntlets look in a photograph. You buy it for history, then keep it because it makes you feel like a person worth having in a room.

The Awkwardness: Family, Friends, and Tiny Apartment Problems

You will have to accept that most social interactions will be slightly skewed. Guests will either pretend nothing is wrong with the spear in the hallway or will ask practical questions about the centuries-old splinter hazard it presents. Family members will refer to your collection in tones ranging from tolerant pity to thinly veiled alarm. When relatives describe your hobby they will inevitably use words like “phase” and “interest” as if hoping you will grow out of it like a rash.

You will also experience logistic awkwardness. That suit of armour will not fit under your bed. The wall where you want to hang a sword might be load-bearing enough, but you will end up rehearsing explanations for why the plaster fell down and how that happened while nobody was home. You will lie awake considering the consequences of an unsecured helmet committing a slow-motion descent during cocktail hour.

What Sells: From Medieval Swords to Sporting Firearms

You should know the market. Christie’s shows a wide span: from medieval swords and renaissance armour to antique and modern sporting firearms. Different types of items attract different buyers and different prices.

• Medieval weapons and armor: prized for rarity and sculptural quality.
• Renaissance and high-status parade armour: sought after for craftsmanship and provenance.
• Sporting firearms: have a modern collector base, tied to makers and condition.
• Military helmets and insignia: affordable entry points and strong sentimental markets.

Table: Typical Auction Categories and What You Should Expect

You will notice that the rarer and more well-documented the piece, the less likely it is to end up in a box under a bed.

Provenance, Rarity, and the Stories That Sell

You must accept that stories sell. A sword with a neat label that says “From the Raglan Collection (2014)” or a rifle once owned by someone famous will suddenly be animated by biography. Christie’s has sold objects from massive named collections — the Rothschild Collection in 1999, the W. Keith Neal Collection, the Raglan Collection, among others — and each of those labels is like perfume. The scent attracts bidders.

You will be responsible for documenting anything you buy if you intend to sell later. Photographs, receipts, previous catalog references, and even the faintest family legend about where an item came from can become gold. You will find yourself in libraries, reading hand-written inventories from a century ago, and you will enjoy this more than you should.

How to Get an Estimate: Online Tools and Specialist Consultations

You can request a complimentary valuation with three simple steps via Christie’s online estimate tool. The platform will ask for images, measurements, provenance, and descriptions. Once you submit, a specialist will typically follow up to ask questions and possibly invite you to bring an object to a saleroom for an in-person assessment.

You will learn that initial valuations are just that — initial. A valuation can change significantly once an object has been examined physically. You will begin to appreciate conservators’ eyes: the way a microfracture or a replaced screw can change an object’s marketability.

Buying at Christie’s: Live Auctions, Online Bidding and Private Sales

You can buy in person at a sale, through telephone bidding, online at Christie’s live bidding platform, or via Christie’s Private Sales where objects are sold directly. Each route has its own etiquette and required paperwork.

When you bid live, you will feel the old-world thrill of raising your paddle and sensing your heartbeat beat in time with the auctioneer. When you bid online, you will have the advantage of pre-setting a maximum, but you will lose the dramatic adrenaline that feels almost like sin. Private Sales are quieter; they remove the public spectacle and often suit pieces that require discretion. You will learn to appreciate the different pleasures and stresses each method provides.

Selling at Christie’s: How to Prepare Your Lot

You will find that preparation is everything. A clear, well-written description, high-quality photography, careful packing, and accurate dimensions will make your life easier. Christie’s specialists can advise on presentation and whether your piece should be considered for a dedicated arms and armour sale or placed within a decorative arts sale.

Condition reporting is a formal part of selling. You will need to disclose repairs, replacements, and damage — the market hates surprises. If you try to hide a repair with a dramatic backstory, the conservators will find it, and your sale will become an awkward conversation about ethics and carbon dating.

Condition and Photographs: What to Show, What to Hide

You must be honest. Show the good angles and the bad ones. Photographs should include close-ups of maker’s marks, hallmarks, corrosion, repairs, and any inscriptions. Christie’s will want to see the piece lit correctly and shown against neutral backgrounds. Professional photography can be expensive but is often reflected in price achieved.

You should avoid the temptation to stage your object with props that make it look like a romantic relic. A sword posed on a velvet cushion is charming, but buyers want clarity more than atmosphere. This is not a costume drama; it is a market.

Legalities: Firearms Regulations and International Shipping

You will need to respect the law. Firearms, even antique ones, are regulated in most countries. Export licences, import restrictions, and national firearm laws will govern what can move across borders. Christie’s has experience with this and can guide you, but you must be prepared to produce the necessary paperwork.

If you are selling internationally, you will also need to understand cultural-property rules: some countries consider certain antiquities to be national heritage and restrict their export. This can surprise and anger you, especially when you were imagining the dramatic arrival of a 16th-century breastplate in your hallway.

Care and Conservation: How to Store, Clean, and Display Armour

You will learn that rust is not romantic; it is procrastination. Basic care will preserve value and beauty. Here are practical tips that you can follow without becoming a conservator overnight:

• Keep items in stable climate conditions: avoid extreme humidity or heat.
• Wear gloves when handling to avoid oils from your skin.
• Use soft brushes and microfibre cloths for dusting.
• Avoid aggressive cleaning; test solvents on hidden areas and never grind at verdigris with a screwdriver of resentment.
• Consult a professional conservator for significant pieces or any structural issues.

Table: Basic Care Checklist for Arms and Armour

You may develop a ritual around this care, which will terrify your non-collecting friends but make you sleep better.

Storage and Display Considerations

You will confront spatial decisions: whether to put the armour on a stand in a living room or tuck it into a closet like a skeleton with good posture. A stand costs money and space, but it shows the piece to its advantage and reduces stress on joints. Displaying armour on a mannequin can produce comical results; people will expect your habitation to sound like a medieval reenactment at odd hours.

When hanging weapons on walls, ensure proper fixings and consideration for humidity. A dropped sword is not a metaphor when it happens to your foot. Use specialist hangers or custom mounts recommended by conservators.

Provenance Research: The Detective Work You Will Secretly Enjoy

You will find that researching provenance turns collecting into archaeology without the dirt. Old auction catalogues, estate papers, library archives, and inscriptions are your clues. Christie’s has its own archives and has handled sales from important collections; referencing previous sales is a key way to build provenance.

If your piece can be linked to a notable collection — the Raglan, the Rothschilds, or W. Keith Neal — its value and charisma increase. You will take small pleasures in finding a catalogue reference for an item that you discovered on the second shelf of a thrift store.

Auction Etiquette: How to Behave in the Saleroom

You will learn that the saleroom is both a theatre and a church. Dress smartly but not ostentatiously; leave the parka in the car and the sword in a case. Be punctual: arriving late is rude and reduces your chances of claiming your lot. When you bid, raise your paddle with careful decisiveness and try to avoid the hand signal that looks like you are swatting a fly.

You will discover that the auctioneer speaks in a made-up dialect that is at once musical and impenetrable. Do not take this personally; your confusion is universal. If you are nervous, phone bids or online bids are perfectly respectable.

Bidding Strategy: Practical Tips

You must decide your maximum before the auction begins. Emotional bidding leads to overpaying; channels of logic and practical limits protect your wallet and your marriage. Watch for buyer’s premium and VAT; these can add significantly to the hammer price.

• Set a firm budget and stick to it.
• Consider absentee (leave a written bid) or online bids to avoid the theatre.
• Factor in insurance, shipping, and conservation costs.
• Keep records of your bids and receipts; it makes life easier at tax time.

Private Sales: When They Make Sense

You will find that private sales remove the spectacle and the audience, allowing negotiation behind closed doors. Christie’s Private Sales is an option when discretion is needed or when a piece might not fit comfortably into a public sale. Private sales can realize strong prices and avoid the fees and publicity of an auction, but they may also lack the competitive bidding that boosts prices unexpectedly.

Shipping and Insurance: Practicalities You Might Ignore Until It’s Too Late

You will need reputable shippers who specialize in fine art and arms. Shipping armour involves special crating; it is heavy, oddly shaped, and unforgiving. Insure transport fully and take inventory photographs pre-shipping and post arrival. You will find that insurers are very fond of documentation; if you want to make a claim, the paperwork must be impeccable.

Famous Collections and What They Teach You

There is comfort in looking at the big names: Herr Richard Zschille, Sir Guy Francis Laking, Clarence Mackay, the Rothschilds, W. Keith Neal, and the Raglan Collection. You will learn that major collections have been assembled with intention and a certain ruthlessness. They teach you about taste, about the market, and about how people arrange their lives around objects.

You will also learn that even grand collections contained mistakes and disasters. Not every helmet in a famous sale was perfect. This gives you hope: great buyers err too, and so can you with less consequence and more amusement.

Stories from the Saleroom: Small Triumphs and Embarrassments

You will have stories, and you will tell them like confession but expect grace. Perhaps you once dropped a small pistol in a saleroom and watched a hush spread like a cloth. Perhaps you negotiated for a commission on a lot, feeling like a conspirator. Perhaps you brought a family heirloom and found it catalogued under “unknown provincial maker” and your heart sank until a specialist phoned to say they recognized a maker’s mark.

These moments are where the awkwardness becomes tenderness. You will be forgiven small errors because collecting is an eccentric kindness, and the world needs more displays of devotion to things that were once used.

Dealing with the Critics: The “Isn’t That Dangerous?” Conversation

You will meet people who are concerned. You will calmly explain that the firearms are disabled, or the blades are blunt, or that the armour was more likely ceremonial than functional. You will nod politely through questions about safety and storage, and sometimes you will answer with more detail than is required because telling these stories is how you show you care.

You will also learn that talking about your collection changes relationships subtly. Some people will admire, some will tolerate, and some will come over just to see the helmet that looks like a crying owl. This variety of reactions is a delightful human market.

Financial Considerations: Value Beyond Purchase Price

You will learn that collector economics include purchase price, storage, conservation, insurance, and the social capital of owning something extraordinary. Items can appreciate, but they can also require outlays that surprise you. Budget for conservation treatments, professional mounts, and the occasional curator-worthy crate.

You will understand that the true cost of collecting is not just money; it is time, attention, and the willingness to let your apartment become an anachronism.

Quick Reference: Buying and Selling Checklist

You will come to appreciate having this chart taped to a cabinet door. It makes decisions feel like music.

If You Buy Without Knowing: Good Next Steps

If you made an impulsive purchase at a flea market or happened upon a questionable lot online, do not panic. Photograph everything, write down any inscriptions, and take it to a specialist. Christie’s offers free valuations; private experts will advise you whether you have something significant or merely charming. You will find that sometimes the thrill of the chase is its own reward, and sometimes you have a relic worth far more than you paid.

Final Confessions and Gentle Warnings

You will confess things to yourself that you will not announce at parties: you love the way a cuirass makes a room feel like a story; you have kept a sword from a period film; you once paid more for a helmet than you did for a week’s groceries. You will accept that the people who love you will occasionally roll their eyes, but they will come around when they see how the objects make you talk with a brightness you do not often access.

A gentle warning: never let collecting become a way to avoid living. Armour is wonderful, but experiences and relationships matter. If you find your days shaped only around auctions, valuations, and the fluorescent glow of catalogues, step outside and remember that human beings were the reason those objects were made.

You will continue. You will keep the ledger. You will photograph the little dents and call them character. And when you host, you will eventually learn to explain why each piece is there without sounding like someone auditioning for a period drama. You will tell the truth: that you collect because metal makes you feel less small.

If you ever feel overwhelmed, remember the available options: Christie’s specialists are there to answer questions; their online estimate tools can help you get a sense of value; and Private Sales exist for when you want discretion. In the spaces between auctions, you will read old catalogues and learn to recognize the marks of makers whose names sound like a sudden weather.

You will end up in stories — not always flattering ones — but you will be content. You will keep polishing, sometimes at midnight, sometimes with company. You will accept the awkwardness and, in doing so, turn it into a charm.