Brian Wolfe

It may take a while for the right member to see these. I looked through the few books I have and cannot help you, sorry.

Regards

Brian

Most of your observations both pro and con I can see and agree with however, sadly, you only need to visit my shop to answer your question as to why would anyone take so long to create something that looks period for such small profit.

Not being an expert on antiquities, especially of the age this one represents I must go by my posket book. Would I purchase this item as an original? No. However, I could every well be walking away from an extremely valuable artifact, on the other hand I could be dodging a bullet. I can't tell if this is made from one piece of wood or from plywood as the skins cover that detail. I can't tell and I have been a cabinet maker for several more decades than I care to remember. Plywood has been around for centuries, not that I am suggesting that it was used in this case or even in the area where this drum would have been made. I can say that there were trees wide enough to have provided the wood needed to have been bent to serve as the outer shell a century ago. Steam bending of wood also goes back for centuries. While the drum skin looks to be old I do not agree that the ropes are original nor the material used to tighten these ropes strong enough to do the job properly. I do like the rope that runs along the bottom of the drum which no doubt would add a snare drum sound to this instument; a detail I would expect to be missing if this were an out and out fake. Having said that and at one time having been a semt-professional drummer I think this would be a detail I personally would not have missed if I were making a copy of an original.

Reputable auction houses and dealers? After the scandal involving two very well known auction houses a number of years back I think the words "reputable" and "dealer" need to be carefully ued especially within the same sentence. A pound of square cut nails for every so called expert dealer or auction house who has been fooled by a clever copy. Profit often clouds minds even to the point of the risk of sacrificing reputations.

I say this not to further an opinion but to add to the information contained here within.

I do hope this posts garthers more opinions as it is good to see lively discussion. I doubt this drum was beaten as much as the discussion here as to it's originality.

Thanks for posting this Keven and well done gents on this interesting discussion.

Regards

Brian

The membership are not obligated to reply to anyone. I should have made it clear that I was talking about the Moderators -

who do have a reponsibility to see that questions are answered to the best of our ability. Mervyn

Just to add to Mervyn's statement, in agreement, it is indeed a responsibility for Mederators to respond when they can but of course it is not necessarily manditory.

There is little worse than posting a question and being ignored, it has happened to all of us from time to time. Additng to this, if you feel a member is just "using" the forum and the membership, the best way to send a message is to not respond to the post.

As several members, including me, have expressed their opposition to giving a valuation, I think that the best manner of providing a market value is through a PM and not on the general forum. This keeps the opinion private and will not be seen as an appraisal but the GMIC as an organization, especially when provided by a moderator.

A value serves no purpose when it comes to historic value and if one is collecting for profit, or collecting even as an investmen, it is a business venture. Sending a PM is not like asking for an email to be sent; the sender need not know any further information about the person being reponded to than is offered through the forum. For the most part a little investigation by the owner of the item on the internet should provide the market value information being asked for.

Regards

Brian

Welcome to the forum and thank you for starting off your membership with a mystery for us.

The meaning of "RVP" will be running in my mind, much like the song "It's a Small World After All" has a habbit of doing; however, you "RVP" is a welcomed puzzel.

Your suggestion that it might be Indian is an intertesting one and broadens the field of possibilities. It certainly looks old and most interesting...for a fiver you say. Well done.

Regards

Brian

As Mervyn has stated, and in agreement with my earlier statement, if members are not comfortable in responding to Kevin's posts then the best avenue for them to take is to not simply respond to his posts.

"Drumhead courtmarshal", I hope that was a joke as it did make me laugh, good one. I would suggest, Kevin, that if you are posting an item for general interest for the membership that you don't word it as if you are the one in need of infoemation or valuation. A simple, "Thought this might be interesting" would be much better then stating that you need information on the item.

I do not see where any level of membership, gold or other wise, obligates any member to respond, however, I do see your point Mervyn.

As far as offending anyone, Kevin, I don't believe you have done so and if you did I am confident that it was unintentional. Many members are quite sensitive to dealers using the forum to further their own financial gain, without pointing a finger at you as that is not my intention, this practice is not acceptable in their eyes. We are indeed, as you correctly pointed out, a forum the exists to further the knowledge in military subjects and share our knowledge. Within those parameters and conditions you are more than welcomed to participate in conversations and exchange of knowledge on this forum.

Here's looking forward to a clearer understanding between all parties.

Regards

Brian

i thought the idea of forums is to share knowlege,

Kevin, please don't go down that road, or at least until you purchase a dictionary and look up the word "share". The issue some members have with you is that it seems that it is always one sided when it comes to your posts. This, I have it on good account, is a problem you have had on other forums. Two points come to mind in this regard. First, if a member is not happy with you asking for opinons then the solution is simple, just don't respond. Secondly, if you take the last two items you have posted, the smatchet and the drum, as examples, where is one to find out information on such items. If you didn't know the fighting knife was callled a smatchet then where would you turn but to the collectors on forums such as this one. These knives certainly don't grow on trees. In the case of the drum I would think it even harder to find out anything about them; I understand that "Drums R us" closed several years ago. I am sure that if another member, in the future, were to ask what a smatchet was I would hope that you would be quick to respond, since you now have that knowledge.

As far as giving valuations, it is no secret that I am against this policy. Why? Members, even Senior Moderators cannot, by law, bind the forum by anything they do. However, giving a valuation can have solcial repercussions if that valuation "kills" a sale of a purchase. My opinion on this is that if a member wants to offer a valuation then do so through either a PM or by email and not on the public forum. I probably stand alone on this issue but I do indeed "stand". Here's my advice to you or any anyone. If you are a dealer then purchse the item at a cost that allows at least a 100% mark up, unless it is jewelry then it is 200+%. Anyone in business knows why this is, overhead and length of time your money will be tied up. If you are a collector/dealer then shoot for a 50 to 60% mark up and if you are a collector then just be content to recover your purchase price.

As far as the drum is concerned, if the smatchet were offered and I collected British edged weapons I would consider it, however I would not want the drum in my collection at any price. Is that saying the drum is not authentic? No, it's just that I would not take a risk on purchasing it based on my gut feeling. Regarding "gut feelings" check out the book "Blink".

Now, of course, you have a couple of different opinions and must make the discission as to purchase or walk away (walk away, walk away whispered in the back ground).

Now, as to listening to experts. I have handled firearms since I was still in grade school, a total of well over 60 years, so some might mistake me for an expert in firearms. I would go as far as to say that I do think I know quite a bit about them. Having said that, I am now in the process of rebuilding a German MP40 that I purchased two months ago as an original. I missed a couple of details and ended up purchasing what amounted to some good original parts with matching serial numbers. I was lucky that I didn't pay a lot more than I should have for the parts I am now working with but still I missed the small points that should have told me it was not 100% original. So I am saying that anyone can make a mistake, however I was actually handling the MP40 and the members here are only going by a small single photo of the drum. If you think that a so called expert is only as good as his last evaluation then I am vindicated because just before Christmas I managed to purchase a Mk 5 Sten Gun that I have wanted for some time and it is 100% genuine.

Good luck on the drum Kevin, if you make the purchase I will be most happy to be wrong about it.

Regards

Brian

I am sorry I am a hot head or a twat at times and I am sure most of you would all rather I just turned to the right and moved on as it is uncomfortable when you confront issues rather than ignore them.

Hi Jock,

Don't beat yourself up, I've never found your opinion or your mannerisms to be less than welcomed here. An opinion was asked for and given, Kevin is a big boy (meaning mature not necessarily of large stature) and I'm sure he realizes everyone has and is welcomed to an opinion.

I tend to be a bit too diplomatic at times, I suppose but as long as I don't give away someone else's country (a Chamberlain comment) Mervyn will forgive me.

Regards

Brian

Hi Stuart,

I do hope that the membership can help with this.

While my library is "light" on information when it comes to headgear I can find nothing to help in the books I do have .

I'll "pin" this in this section for a while to give it as much exposure as possible.

Regards

Brian

I’m on the “fence” on this one Mervyn. Certainly if it were made as a stage prop it would not have the look of age as they are usually trying to make the item look the same period as the play. The other thing that makes me think it is not a prop is that the detail on the coat of arms is too accurate, yet not as accurate or clear as to have been made for television of the movie industry.

The ropes don’t have “age”; however, one would expect that the ropes could have been replaced, though why they would be is a mystery. I’ve seen some good reproductions coming out of India and China lately and this may (note “may”) be one of them. Lately we’ve had a number of powder kegs and wooden water bottles from the Napoleonic and Crimean War periods surface at shows, all reproductions; I think made for the re-enactor enthusiasts. None of these “new” antiques have been made to look old as they need to fit in with the period in which the enactors are portraying. Even the keg rings are correct, being made of wood and not iron which might have cause a spark in the past.

Overall I think this is too good to be an original and just antiqued enough to be a decor item. It is my opinion that there has been an effort to make it look like an item of antiquity yet it fails to demonstrate the damage one would expect from something that would have been moved about from time to time and handled over a two hundred plus time span. It would be interesting to be able to touch the drum heads to see if they are pliable or stiff due to drying out over the years.

If I were looking at adding this to the collection I would have to really think seriously about laying out any cash. So, Kevin, I’ve written a lot and given you no help what-so-ever. Sorry, but they do pay me by the word.

Regards

Brian

Thanks for posting your collection Mike, I believe your collection of tins is the best I've ever seen, well done.

Regards

Brian

Hi Jeff,

I just read something about this and according to that account there was small limited truces along the French/German lines as well. If I can locate the passage I'll post it, as for now you'll have to trust my memory (perhaps yuor first big mistake )

Regards

Brian

Hi Ralph,

I agree with you that it is most likely a reproduction. The colours are too crisp and vibrant and the tassel ends too even and consistant for something that has been around for 70 some odd years.

As you are probably aware this style was used on both shin and kai-gunto swords.

Reproduction or not this is a nice looking speciment and would look great on any Japanese of the Second World period.

Regards

Brian

Merry Christmas Jerry and thanks for the seasonal post.

Regards

Brian

That's a great idea, thanks for sharing your idea.

Regards

Brian

Very good idea Chris.

Thanks for sharing this with the members, perhaps other will follow suit.

Regards

Brian

Hi Patrick

A thing of beauty, the helmet that is, just to be clear. Congratulations on a great addition to your collection and thanks for posting this one, I'm sure Stuart will be interested.

Regards

Brian

Interesting, I've never seen anyone do this, thanks for the post.

Regards

Brian

MP's? Do you mean Members of Parliment? They don't drink, they're all on drugs.

Brian

Well I supopose it means that there will be a lot less "practise" stearing in an evasive and erratic manner.

Regards

Brian

Hello Matt,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for posting your collection. Please continue to keep us posted as your collection grows, as it surely will. Any chance of you displaying your uniform and equipment collection as well? I am sure the members would like to see it, I know I would.

Regards

Brian

Very nice find Chris.

Regards

Brian

Hi Bill,

Thanks for providing your first name, it makes it a lot more friendly not to mention easier to use first names. My best CGSM find a number of years ago was to a soldier from Perth Ontario, but not the Pert Regiment of course but the Perth I. Co.. The great thing about this medal is that the soldier was from my wife's home town of Perth and came with a photo of him in full uniform with him holding his rifle, probably a Snider Enfield.

Regards

Brian

Excellent find, well done. We live just 20 minutes East of Stratford (New Hamburg) and a CGSM form the Stratford Inf. Coy. always makes me sit up and take note.

Congratulations.

Regards

Brian

Welcome to the forum PerthRegiment. It's always good to see fellow Canadians joining.

Congratulations on a very nice collection, thank you for posting it.

Regards

Brian

WWII for sure.

Regards

Brian