A1|1|1|Mail (from the Latin macula, meaning ‘web’ or ‘net’) was one of the most important armour materials available in pre-modern Europe. It may have been known to the ancient Celts as early as the third century B.C., and was later adopted by the Romans. By the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D., mail was a standard form of armour throughout Europe, for those who could afford it. It remained an integral aspect of most forms of armour until the 17th century.
Contrary to popular belief, mail was never replaced by plate armour. Rather the protection it provided was augmented and built upon with layers of plate and padded textile. The comparatively large, heavy construction of the links that make up this mail shirt suggest that it is reasonably early in date, that is, not later than the beginning of the 15th century. Beyond that point, it appears that newly-made mail was increasingly constructed using smaller, finer links. However, it is perfectly reasonable to suggest that a late medieval mail shirt like this one might have remained in service for quite a long time. Mail was worn not just by fully armoured knights, but also by archers, gunners, and lower-ranking infantrymen. A good coat of mail could thus have been handed down from its original owner, changing hands many times and continuing to be worn as long as it was thought useful. A3|1|1|Mail shirts with long sleeves like this one were more difficult to construct than those with short or elbow-length sleeves. A long sleeve had to be tapered down to the wrist, so that the wearer was carrying no more weight than was absolutely necessary. Such a tapered sleeve also had to have a built-in, shaped elbow, without which the arm inside would not be able to bend.
This fine shirt demonstrates who such skilful tailoring was accomplished, by adding or dropping the number of links in a particular row, the mail could be made to expand or contract in its form. Also built into this example is a standing collar, closed with a metal hook, so that the garment also protects the vulnerable throat.
Long-sleeve mail shirts such as this one could be worn under the plate armour of the knight or man-at-arms, a practice more common through the first half of the fifteenth century, or on their own by more lightly armed troops. As late as the end of the sixteenth century, certain classes of light cavalrymen were still wearing mail shirts like this as a standard part of their equipment. While it could not protect its wearer from the firearms which had been becoming more and more common since the early fifteenth century, mail continued, as it always had done, to be an effective counter to attacks delivered with bladed weapons.
Interestingly, the maker of this mail shirt, built it using low-carbon steel links, which he then attempted to harden by heating and quenching the piece after construction. A8|1|1|The origins and precise purpose of this unusual cap of mail are uncertain. Although hood of mail were a standard part of knightly equipment up until the middle of the fourteenth century, this piece does not appear to be part of such a hood. It appears to be constructed of one or more scrap pieces of mail, cut into four triangular pieces which were then joined to create a semi-spherical form. While the links which make up the triangular sections are of a consistent form, those which form the ‘seams’ are different, being round in cross-section rather than flattened.
In its overall form this piece resembles the steel skull-caps often worn by infantrymen in the 15th and 16th centuries. Such skull caps were sometimes made out of other armour materials, such as hardened leather or scale armour. Perhaps this piece represents an attempt to make such a cap out of finely-woven mail. Alternatively it could have been made as a protective interlining for a hat. A20|1|1|A20 COMPOSITE FIELD ARMOUR

This armour is typical of display composites put together in the nineteenth century by dealers for collectors who wished to possess a complete late medieval armour, when originals are rare in the extreme. Its components are very mixed. The sallet is Flemish, the sabatons Italian of the 15th century (both elements are very rare). The bevor, the breastplate, the right spaudler with integral upper cannon, and the right couter are all South German, of the same period; the other parts of the present arm and shoulder plates, including the besagews were made in the nineteenth century, as was the backplate, to complete the armour. The gauntlets carry the mark of the Treytz workshop at Innsbruck, and were probably made there in the 1480s. The leg defences are later, dating from the early years of the sixteenth century; the greaves have been modified by the nineteenth-century restorer to give them a fifteenth-century form at the ankles. The visor and mail valances below the knees, present until the early twentieth century, have been removed. A pair of fluted tassets once associated with this armour were later found to belong to the parts of an Italian jousting armour in the Collection (A 61), to which they have been restored.

The armour is composed of:

SALLET, with a strong central ridge of keel form cut with a key-hole slot for a helmet ornament and a row of flush-headed rivets for the lining; a pair of holes on either side for a chin strap and at the back. The lower edges have been turned inwards in the welted style typical of Flemish sallets made in the last two decades of the fifteenth century (see Capwell 2021). At the back is an armourer's mark of a crowned orb and cross, belonging to a Brussels master, probably Anthonis Ghindertaelen or his father Lancelot (see Terjanian 2019). This helmet was originally intended to be worn open-faced; the visor holes, and the associated visor (now removed) are modern. One of the soldiers in The Unjust Judge by Gerard David in the Groeningemuseum, Bruges, of about 1448, shows just such a sallet in wear without a visor, while, closer in date to the present sallet, a number are illustrated in the Beauchamp Pageant in the British Library, illustrated by a Flemish artist working in England in the early 1480s.

BEVOR, quite heavy, with one falling plate kept in position by a spring catch, the upper edge strongly turned; the lower part shaped to the chin with a single curved flute on either side below, and a row of round-headed rivets for the lining; stamped twice in front with an armourer's mark.

BREASTPLATE made in two parts, an upper breastplate and the lower plackart. The former has sliding gussets at the sides and these are accompanied by two curved flutes, the upper edge slightly ridged. Three large holes in the centre (arranged vertically) for fixing the plackart. The plackart, secured to the upper breastplate with a screw, has a slight central ridge, is doubly fluted on either side and rises to a shaped finial in the middle of the breast; a skirt of three lames hangs from the lower edge of the plackart.

BACKPLATE (modern), composed of six lames with deep rear skirt of four lames, the edges V-shaped and beveled, decorated with double rows of shallow fluting in the form of a cross.

ARM-DEFENCES consisting of SPAUDLERS with integral REREBRACES (upper cannons), each assembly composed of seven lames in total, the edges cusped; large COUTERS pierced with five holes for attachment by means of arming points, and VAMBRACES (lower cannons), each of one plate covering the dorsal side of the forearm only. The whole of the left arm and the lower vambrace of the right are modern.

MITTEN GAUNTLETS with pointed cuffs. Four metacarpal plates (the first embossed for the ulna); three ridged finger plates and thumb-piece of four scales. The thumb plates are modern restorations. The right gauntlet bears the clover-leaf mark of the Treytz family, armourers of Innsbruck, and there are traces of the same mark on the left gauntlet.

RONDELS or BESAGEWS of oval form decorated with hollow radiating fluting, both modern.

CUISSES built of five plates, the chief one having its upper edge strongly ridged to a triangular section, the top lames work on sliding rivets of unusual length; they are extended round the thigh by additional plates on the outer sides. POLEYNS of five lames, the top one has a sunk border running horizontally across the thigh, the side-wing is kidney-shaped. The lower lames have been pierced with small holes for the attachment of a fringe of mail in modern times (now removed).

GREAVES hinged and fastening on studs, dating from the early sixteenth century. They did not originally fully encircle the legs. They have been enlarged by the insertion of longitudinal additions down each side; they are fastened to the poleyns by turning pins.

SABATONS of twelve lames with pointed toes and stamped at the sides with the sacred monogram I H S and the word U R B A N, apparently an armourer’s mark. Two plates above the instep and a heel-plate (hinged), with a similar extension at the back. Italian sabatons of plate of this date are of great rarity; the only other known pair of Italian fifteenth-century sabatons to survive are those from the collection of Sir Edward Barry now in the Royal Armouries (III.1384).

For the MAIL exhibited with this armour, see A6.

Comprehensively 1470-1520.

Laking, European Armour vol. II, pp. 3, 216, 218, Fig. 77.
Edge and Williams, ‘A Suit of Armour Produced by Five Workshops’ (2014).

Böheim's attribution (copied from Martinez del Romero's Cat. del Real Armeria de Madrid, 1849) of the mark of a crowned orb to one, Jacques de Voys of Brussels, is incorrect; the mark belongs to a different Brussels master, probably Anthonis Ghindertaelen or his father Lancelot (see Terjanian 2019). This mark occurs on a helm and arm-piece in the Musée de l’Armée, Brussels (II 39, 40); on the armour of Philip the Handsome at Madrid (A 11), which is known to have come from Flanders; on a sallet, ibid., D 16; on a left arm in the Czartoriski Museum in Cracow (Zygulski, Arsenal I, 1, 195); on the polder-mitten of a jousting armour in the Scott Collection (ex-Zouche), now in Glasgow Museums, and twice on one of the helms in St. George's Chapel at Windsor (Blair, The Connoisseur, May 1961).

The mark of crossed sceptres in a shield on the bevor occurs on a German breastplate in Brussels (II, 2), on the left gauntlet of a composite 'gothic' armour in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, and on the gauntlets of another composite German armour at Windsor Castle.

For the clover-leaf mark of the Treytz family working at Innsbruck in the 15th and early 16th centuries, which is stamped on the gauntlets, cf. the instances at Churburg (cat. nos. 24, 25, 27 and 30), Bern, and the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Catalogue of Innsbruck Armour, 1954, Nos. 1-4, Konrad Treytz, and 16, Jörg or Adrian Treytz).

The mark on the sabatons probably identifies them with a pair in a sale by George Robins on 10 June, 1833, lot 63, and there described as 'brought from Rome'. Furthermore, the mark also identifies these sabatons as the pair exhibited at the Oplotheca in both 1816 and 1817 as no. 199, and in 1818 as no. 1-6 1, and in the 'Gothic Hall', Pall Mall, in 1819, as no. 170, when they were first said to have come from Rome. At the exhibition known as ‘The Royal Armoury, Haymarket’ (after 1820), they were shown as no. 181. A22|1|1|A22 FIELD ARMOUR

Very few of the full armours in modern museum collections are complete. Either they are missing key elements, or they are ‘composite’ in their construction, meaning they have been made up, often in the 19th or 20th centuries, using parts which once belonged to several different armours. It is extremely unusual to encounter an armour which retains its original appearance, and which thus remains faithful to the artistic and technical intensions of the maker.

Apart from the greaves and sabatons and some pieces of the gauntlets, which are 19th-century restorations, the rest of the armour is complete and homogeneous. It is also in remarkably good condition. It is a field armour, for war rather than jousts or tournaments, representing very well the kind of armour worn by knights and men-at-arms during the Italian Wars, especially the second, third and fourth (1499-1526), and in conflicts between the Renaissance rulers of Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

The armour is composed of:

ARMET, having a ridged SKULL with single crest hole, rondel (modern) at the back; VISOR in one piece, two horizontal slits for sights, twenty-six holes and four horizontal slits on each side for breathing, fastened by a spring-catch to the right cheek-piece. The two CHEEK-PIECES are hinged to the skull and secured at the chin by means of a turning-pin, pierced on each side with a circle of ear-holes; the lower edge, like the lower edge of the skull, is hollowed to fit over the top plate of the gorget; border of round-headed rivets for the lining band.

GORGET of three plates in front and three at the rear, fastening at the side with a stud and key-hole slot; the upper edge of the top plate is turned over to form a sharp circular flange, the edges of the plates are shaped and bevelled; spring pins (hinged and pivoted) on either side are provided for the attachment of the pauldrons.

BREASTPLATE of a deeply rounded or ‘globose’ form, with gussets at the arm-pits strongly ridged at the top by a very strong turn; the flange is hollow and of triangular section; lance-rest hinged to turn upwards; separate waist-plate at the bottom to support the skirt. The breast is etched with leaves and intertwined branches winding around the arm-holes, and prominently in the centre with a crowned W monogram, with a hand pointing inwards and a scroll bearing the letters:–

G . I . G . M . E

Beneath, the inscription:

. I H E S V S . N A Z A R E N V S . R E X . I V D E O RV

BACKPLATE, with a rear skirt of two plates, the edges shaped and bevelled. The sunken borders are etched with scrolled foliage; the letters and inscription on the breastplate are repeated with two variations– the Z in NAZARENVS is replaced by an S, and the word IVDEORVM is given in full. Two steel shoulder straps (modern) join breastplate and backplate.

FRONT SKIRT of four lames with TASSETS of the same number; the edges shaped and bevelled, the sliding rivets giving great freedom of movement; the lower borders turned under to a plain triangular section; the skirt is fastened to the breastplate with turning pins.

The breast and back, which overlap the waist-plates, are held together by a small steel pin at each side of the backplate which fits into one of the three holes on each side of the breastplate, thus allowing for growth or for various, thicknesses of arming jackets.

PAULDRONS encircling the shoulders, each with a vertical haute-piece (upright neck-guard) forged from one of the upper lames, comprising six plates in all, the upper plate pierced to fit over the spring-pin on the gorget, the upper and lower borders turned under to a plain triangular section.

VAMBRACES comprised of enclosed upper cannons of two lames each with a turning joint, large COUTERS, with side-wings, the borders sunken, and enclosed lower cannons of two parts each, hinged and fastening over a stud.

MITTEN GAUNTLETS, each with a ridged cuff embossed for the ulna, five metacarpal and five finger plates with knuckle-guard and thumb-piece of three scales; all the edges are shaped and bevelled. The right gauntlet shows traces of roping on the cuff, which precludes its having belonged to this armour which otherwise has plain borders, and part of the left-hand gauntlet has been restored.

Right BESAGEW, circular, the centre raised into a blunt spike (modern).

CUISSES of simple form, with slits for the strap-ends, and ridged upper borders. POLEYNS articulated with one lame above and two below, and large kidney-shaped side-wings. GREAVES, (modern) slightly embossed for the ankle bone. Square-toed SABATONS (modern) of six lames and a toe-cap.

South German (probably Nuremberg), c. 1510.

Provenance: comte de Belleval – there is a photograph of a line drawing of this armour in the MS. copy of Belleval's La Panoplie in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, p. 187, where it is annotated 'anc. collect de I'auteur'; E. Juste (Armure maximilienne avec armoirie et inscription gravées sur la cuirasse, 7,750 fr.; Receipted Bill, 1 October, 1869); comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The late Dr. Walther Rose has suggested that the initials G. I. G. M. E. may indicate one of the following mottoes: Gott Ist Ganz Mein Eigen ('God is wholly mine'), Gott Ist Gnaedig Mir Elenden ('God is merciful to me, poor sinner') or Gott Ist Gewisslich Mein Erloeser ('God is surely my Redeemer'). However, the ‘Gs’ may in fact be reversed letter Ds; see also A449.

The crowned W monogram is that of King Wladislas II of Bohemia, Croatia and Hungary (d. 1516). His daughter, Anna, married the Emperor Ferdinand I in 1521. This armour may thus have belonged to a nobleman in his service.

This armour was in the collection of the comte (later marquis) de Belleval, and is described in his book La Panoplie, 1873, no. 1, and referred to on p. 125, ibid. It must have left his hands some time before the date of publication, as the description in the comte de Nieuwerkerke's receipt of 1869 can refer only to this armour in the collection.

A22 bears no marks, but its style and construction suggest that it was made in the great armour-making city of Nuremberg. It has been compared with the armour of Obers von Barfus, formerly in the Morgan-Williams and Kienbusch collections, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (see Terjanian 2011).

This armour has received a number of small but skilful restorations, and has been completed below the knees by a modem pair of greaves and sabatons. A23|1|1|A23 JOUSTING ARMOUR

Designed for the German joust of peace (Deutsches Gestech), run in the open field without a tilt, in heavy armour characterised by a distinctive form of ‘frog-mouthed’ helm. The object of the course was to strike the opponent accurately, but most importantly, as strongly and powerfully as possible. Leg armour was not worn, the legs being instead protected by enlarged bow-plates on the saddle. Riders were frequently unhorsed, and it was not unknown for rider and horse to be thrown to the ground together by a powerful impact. The German joust of peace was run with lances tipped with multi-pointed coronels; the deep cuts and grooves visible on this armour were caused by the coronel striking at an angle, so that only one or two of the tynes made contact.

The apparent violence of this version of the joust did not however bring with it an equally high level of risk to the participants. Here injury or death was to be avoided at all costs. The design of the armour therefore strongly prioritised protection over mobility. The protection was also directed entirely against one threat only- the single oncoming lance of the individual opponent, whereas a war armour had to account for a multiplicity of possible dangers and balance that against the need for good mobility. In the joust, the lance almost always struck the left side of the head or body, so these areas have been very heavily reinforced. Even though it does not protect the legs (in this form of the joust the rider’s legs were protected by the saddle and the thickly padded horse armour, which extended around the sides of the horse’s chest), this armour is still twice the weight of a complete armour for war. The face plate of the helm is an impressive 6mm thick, with most of the the other elements being between 2 and 5mm thick, all contributing to a massive total weight of nearly 41 kg. Inside, the jouster would have found his mobility, and his senses of sight, hearing and touch, to be significantly limited. But he was safe. In an armour like this, accidental injury was almost impossible.

This particular armour for the Deutsches Gestech belongs to a large series of armours from the old civic armoury (Zeughaus) of the city of Nuremberg. This group of Gestech armours were maintained in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for the annual Gesellenstechen, or ‘bachelors jousts’, in which the older sons of the rich merchant families of the city competed against each other in the manner of knights, even though they were not nobles themselves. As a free city ruled by the middle classes, Nuremberg was often in conflict with the aristocratic rulers of neighbouring regions. The bachelors jousts were one way in which the affluent, upwardly mobile middle classes in Germany appropriated the trappings of nobility, much to the annoyance of the real knightly class.

The armour (or ‘Stechzeug’) consists of:

HELM, composed of three main plates: (1) the SKULL, centrally ridged, the rear fluted; a domed screw is provided for the attachment of the crest in the centre; three pairs of large holes for the cords or leather laces used to keep the torse (a wreath or twisted scarf beneath the crest) in position. The edge is bevelled and bordered with half-round, brass-capped rivets which secure it to the other plates; average thickness about 4mm, at the peak 6mm. (2) REAR PLATE with flat central ridge and splayed fluting in the upper part above a ridge curving in a point; descending to the neck and extending over the back, the lower edge being slightly scalloped and furnished with a large hinge (or ‘charnel’) pierced for screwing to the backplate. Above this, a little to the left, is a buckle to which the small shield (Stechtarsche) was attached. On either side are four vertical apertures, barred, with four circular holes (fitted with brass eyelets) which were used for securing the quilted and padded lining worn inside. It is engraved with a foliated cinquefoil decoration on either side, a row of brass-capped rivets for the attachment of the lining and four holes on the border, average thickness 3mm. (3) FRONT- or FACE-PLATE strongly ridged down the middle, the upper edge boldly turned over; at the sides it is flanged and riveted to the skull, in front the turn serves to reinforce the edge; the space between this and the skull plate forms the sight. This has a width in front of 50mm. Shaped and bevelled lower edge pierced with three pairs of large, round holes (diam. 15mm) for screwing the helm to the breastplate. The edges of the sides are slightly scalloped, overlapping and riveted to the back-piece with brass-headed rivets. Three holes on the left border. The lining band is not riveted through, but is attached to a steel plate fastened at the ends. The surface is deeply cut and marked by lance impacts, many of which are square in shape. Average thickness about 4mm, at the sight aperture 13mm.

BREASTPLATE, prominently boxed on the right side, the edges at the arm-holes are turned to a triangular section; a heavy lance-rest is fixed in the most prominent area. It takes the form of a bracket forged in one piece and is secured by a large screw and two studs; the arm of the lance-rest is supported by a moulded brace. The breast is attached to the backplate over the shoulders by means of heavy steel shoulder-straps, pierced with five holes and a slot to fit over the bolts of the backplate; broad steel straps provide the side fastenings under the arms. These are also pierced with five holes for similar fastenings. On the left of the breastplate are two large circular holes, through which passed the plaited cord of flax, provided for securing the shield. The lower edge is pierced with one hole for the attachment of the small plackart, and four large, round holes, tapped for screws, probably provided for the attachment of the original waistplate. The surface, like that of the helm, is pitted with several square lance-marks. The interior shows traces of adaptation, including blocked holes in the centre, probably made when the armour was in use. The thickness of the plate varies from 3mm to 7mm.

QUEUE for supporting the rear end of the lance, consisting of a straight, flat bar, turned over at the end in a curve to hold down the butt-end of the lance. It is fixed to the breastplate beneath the lance-rest, and passed under the arm; it has a longitudinal groove on one side, possibly to lessen its weight, and is attached to the breastplate by a stud and two heavy screws; there are three holes for the front screw, thus allowing three alternative positions. Entirely a nineteenth-century reconstruction.

PLACKART and FRONT SKIRT; the upper edge of the pointed and cusped plackart is bevelled and toothed at the top. Skirt of four bevelled plates (with V-shaped nicks in the centre) and four straps for the tassets.

TASSETS, each comprised of a single plate, almost certainly later additions. The inner edges curved and turned under to a strong hollow flange of triangular section; embossed ridge down the middle, incised obliquely as a roped pattern. Each tasset carries two buckles secured by brass, rosette-headed rivets.

The present waistplate and skirt which do not fit accurately may come from another armour of the series, but the large shield-shaped tassets are almost certainly later additions. None of the Nuremberg series is fitted with them, although tassets of this type were worn with German joust armour occasionally, as in the Gestech im Beinharnisch. Two Stechzeuge with comparable tassets are in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (nos. G. 162-3; Niox, 1917, pI. 3).

BACKPLATE, a later association, from an armour for the Rennen (Rennzeug), rather than for the Deutsches Gestech. It is built in three parts: the upper divides into two V-shaped branches and is secured by two screws to the middle plate, which is also of V-shape but reversed (the two parts together thus taking the form of a saltire); there are four holes for each screw and by this means the length of the backplate could be varied, to adapt the armour to different users. At the ends of both Vs are bolts for the attachment of the breastplate. The lowest plate (almost wholly concealed behind the upper plates and the rear skirt) is wedge-shaped at the top and there attached to the middle V-plate by five flush-headed rivets and a screw; it widens towards the base, the lower edge being pierced with a row of small countersunk holes. Riveted to the sides are portions of the original leathers pierced for lacing.

This style of X-shaped backplate is found only on armours for the Rennen. They appear to derive from the crossed leather straps of the fifteenth-century light-cavalry breastplate as used in the German Lands. In this case, the top plate is of quite a different colour and has a different internal surface to the lower one and may be a later replacement. Both are stamped inside with the figure 8.

REAR SKIRT of three plates decorated with fan-shaped fluting, entirely a nineteenth-century restoration. In this area there should be a vertical plate to which were riveted the leathers which were laced tightly round the hips to prevent a heavy fall from breaking the pelvis.

On the waist-plate this is continued as engraved lines, the lowest plate is the largest; the upper edges are scalloped and bevelled. It covers almost the whole of the lowest plate of the backplate, to which it is attached by a single screw.

ARM DEFENCES, the left arm genuine throughout, the right arm is a restoration except for one genuine part of the poldermitton.

PAULDRONS, each built of five plates in all, the main one decorated at the back with radiating fluting and ending in an escalloped edge; the edge of the narrow topmost plate is strongly flanged, and fitted on the inside with a small stud for which a hole is provided in the steel shoulder-strap; the main shoulder-plate bears a turning-pin for the besagews, and a projecting sprocket of diamond section with square bevelled top (round which the tails of the lambrequin or mantling could be twisted). The scalloped borders at the back are pierced with small holes for the lining. The left COUTER of four lames, the middle one, which covers the cubitus, is articulated with one upper and two lower lames and is brought to a point; upper cannon for the arm of one gutter-shaped plate.

The left pauldron is a nineteenth-century reconstruction to match the right one. The top lame of the right pauldron has been much altered and extended by means of a patch on its top edge. The projecting peg on the top lame of each pauldron should only be fitted on the right-shoulder. This is shown, for instance, by a glass painting of St. George by Hans Baldung Grien (H. Mohle 'Hans Baldung Grien zur 450. Wiederkehr seines Geburtsjahres', Pantheon, XV, 1935, p. 6). In the Imperial Armoury in Vienna are two joust armours of this type attributed to Konrad Poler of Nuremberg, each of which has a peg on the right shoulder only (inv. nos. S XVIII, BI 9, and S XVII, B90). The peg was presumably to prevent the lance from sliding off the shoulder when carried at the slope, as shown on several pages of The Triumph of Maximilian.

MANIFER, protecting the bridle hand and forearm, extends from the left elbow to the fingers, where it is grooved; it has been lengthened by an addition. A reinforcing piece for the elbow, decorated with radiating fluting, protects the bend of the arm; the upper edge turned over and roped, the lower one escalloped, it is fastened to the manifer by two screws. The finger plate bears the Augsburg guild mark, and five other armourers' marks (the first of which being the Imperial Bindenschild (cf. gorget of tilt armour, A46). The reinforcing plate bears an S fermée and another mark (?Augsburg). Compare the manifer A279.

VAMBRACE for the right arm has an upper demi-cannon above the elbow, of two lames, COUTER of three, the central plate over the cubitus being brought to a point like the left and is articulated with one upper and two lower lames, the last with dentated edge. Lower (double) cannon hinged and fastening with a buckle and strap. To this is riveted the POLDER-MITTON (a defence for the inner band of the right arm), which is decorated with elegant fluting, the inner edge is slightly roped, it bears the Augsburg guild mark and another (? the S fermée). There is no gauntlet for the right hand, which would be protected by the vamplate on the lance, and no other armourers' marks except those appearing upon the manifer.

The manifer is genuine but the hole on the fore-arm for the ring by which it was supported from the lower part of the breast has been blocked. The wing of the left elbow is considerably later if not actually of the nineteenth century. It has three holes for bolts to attach it, but the manifer has only two. Of the right arm only the poldermitton wing is genuine.

BESAGEWS, large and circular. That for the right shoulder is flat with a protrusion in the centre. It has a piece cut from the lower part of the circumference to accommodate the lance. That on the left has the rim slightly raised giving it a saucer-shaped section. They are each hung on leather straps from sprockets on the pauldrons. These are fastened inside the besagews by lynch-pins which engage with the shank of the bolt through the centre. At this point on the inner side each besagew has attached to it a metal tongue which is designed to act as a spring and ease the contact of the besagew with the breastplate when struck. Both besagews are scarred by many lance-blows.

SHIELD (Stechtarsche) of oak about 28mm thick; covered with leather, coated with gesso and painted in oils. In the centre is a shield of arms argent, an eagle displayed or, within a border gobony of or and gules, surmounted by a helm with a crest of peacock's feathers and mantling; a broad band painted with conventional foliage runs around the edge. It is pierced with two holes for the plaited cord of flax for attachment to the breastplate, and is furnished with a strap for attachment to the helm. CT scanning has revealed an older coat of arms, with the device of a chevron surmounted by a fleur du lys, beneath the external paint layer.

The arms on the shield appear to be a variant of Schlanderspach of Nuremberg: azure, an eagle displayed or, within a border gobony gules and argent; crest: a Peacock's tail.

The original arms on the targe, which are just visible under the present crudely painted arms, were a fleur-de-lys or, with the same as a crest. At the Nuremberg tournament of 1561 Balthasar Christoph Gugel wore 'Blau mit gelben Lilien eingemalet, vnnd führet auff dem Helm eine Lilien', which he took from his family arms. Unfortunately the painting by Jost Amman illustrating this tournament shows Gugel's shield charged with a single lily but with no helm painted on it (K. Pilz, Z.H. W.K., XIII, pp. 74-80.)

South German (Nuremberg with some Augsburg additions), c. 1500-1520.

De Beaumont Catalogue, pl. 9; Laking, European Armour II, pp. 119-26, fig. 461; Clephan, Tournament, pl. IX, pp. 94-5; Gazette des Beaux-Arts, l' ère, XXV, 1868, pl. facing p. 382.

Provenance: Louis Carrand (?) (une armure de Joûte dite de plançon, 12,000 fr. [with sword A711] and two other pieces]; receipted bill, 16 July, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The largest group of these sturdy jousting armours designed for the German joust of peace, is in Vienna, where there are fifteen made for the Imperial court of the Emperor Maximilian I. At Nuremberg there is another group of seven (nos. WI 312, 1313, 1314, 1315, 1316, 1317, and 1318), reacquired by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum after the dispersal of the Nuremberg Zeughaus. These are in many respects closely similar in construction to A23. There are four at Paris (Robert, G 162-5; Musée de I' Armée, P. III), one in Brussels, and one, formerly in the collection of the Duc de Dino, is now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. A very similar one was in the Erbach collection, afterwards in that of Clarence Mackay, and now in the J. W. Higgins collection at Worcester, Massachusetts; one in the Army Museum at Warsaw by V. Siebenberger; one in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg; one is in the Schulthess collection at Zurich, formerly in the Berlin Zeughaus, another is in the collection of Viscount Astor at Hever; and an incomplete one is in the Scott Collection, now Glasgow Museums. The helm closely resembles those drawn with great detail by Albrecht Dürer about 1498. Three sketches of helms by that artist, now in the Louvre, Paris, probably represent two of the Nuremberg series (F. Winkler, Die Zeichnungen Albrecht Dürers, 4 vols., 1936-39, no. 177; A. V. B. Norman, Apollo, 1971, pp. 36-37).

All of the Nuremberg Zeughaus armours were modernised to a greater or lesser degree by Valentin Siebenbürger and others about 1535, when they also added several more complete armours to the series. An example of one of the additional armours is in the Army Museum, Warsaw (Zlygulski, 1982, pl. 131). At that time, they were all given fluted pauldrons and arms in the so-called 'Maximilian' style. These armours were used throughout the sixteenth century for burgher jousts, like that illustrated by Jost Amman in his Das Gesellenstechen in Nürnberg am 3. März 1561, now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (no. 49.43).

Only one of the series still has a pair of what are probably the original arms. This is the armour now in the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts (no. 2580), which is said to have come from the Nuremberg Zeughaus via the collection of Graf Conrad zu Erbach (Grancsay, Catalogue, 1961, p. 59). Another helm of the series in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, also came from the Erbach collection (no. 29.156.67).
It is possible that Wallace Collection A279 is a manifer made for one of these armours in their first form.

For a list of surviving armours of this type see F. Sciballo, Studia do Dziejów Wawelu, III, Cracow 1968, pp. 335-61. C. Blair (April 1970) reported yet another in the Museum at Sibiu (formerly Hermannstadt) in Romania, stamped with the arms of the town of Sibiu. A32|1|1|A32 PARTS OF A FIELD ARMOUR
Consisting of:

BREASTPLATE, short-waisted, globose, with central ridge and flanged and roped upper edge and gussets, hinged lance-rest, two shoulder buckles and a staple to hold a fixed buff (see A195 and A196) in the centre near the neck. The breastplate was not originally intended to have a lance-rest. Two of the bosses beneath it have had to be hammered flat to allow the base-plate to lie flush on the breastplate. The present lance-rest is an associated German example, made c. 1520. The V-shaped frieze along the top and the borders of the armpits are decorated with round bosses. The broad band of etching down the middle contains a male and female satyr confronting each other and terminating in foliage, and below them two dolphins affronted. A waist-plate with notched upper edge is riveted to the lower edge of the breastplate, from which hangs the FRONT SKIRT of two plates, the edges shaped and bevelled and the lower edge turned over and roped, indicating that it could be worn without the tassets if desired. The longitudinal etched bands have been continued down onto the skirt from the breastplate.

TASSETS of nine lames attached by buckles and straps, the edges notched and bevelled, the lowest one in each case turned over to a hollow section and roped. The etched borders are decorated with bosses like the rest. These, being long, would not be worn with the leg-harness.

Large BACKPLATE, with a REAR SKIRT of two plates, all decorated to match the front plates.

SPAUDLERS of five lames, etched and shaped to match the rest.

COUTERS, each made in one piece, heart-shaped in outline, the borders with round bosses, and bands of roping along the cubitus. The upper and lower cannons of the vambraces are missing.

BESAGEW, circular. Meyrick mentions two (see below), but only one is now present. It has a spike ending in an acorn in the centre.

Parts now disassociated:
GREAVES shaped to the leg, the front and back portions hinged internally, the outer sides fastened by hooks-and-eyes. There is in each case an alternative hole for adjustment. There is a hook at the back to take the strap of the poleyn, the bottom edges are turned under and roped.

SABATONS of ten lames, four overlapping downwards and five, including the toe-cap, upwards; etched with narrow bands of scrolled foliage incorporating monsters at the toes. Cuisses and poleyns are absent.

DECORATION
The matching homogeneous parts (cuirass, tassets, spaudlers, besagew and couters) are decorated with broad bands of etching enhanced by sunken borders and rows of embossed knobs about 0.625 inches (16 mm) in diameter. The sunken bands have V-shaped indentations on waist, back and tassets, and are bordered with narrow bands filled with small undulating ribands. The etching of the broad bands includes lion's masks, monsters, rosettes, shields, floral scrolls, etc., on a granular ground.
Skelton I, pI. XXI; Mann, Proceedings of British Academy, XXVII (1942), pI. XII.

North German (perhaps Brunswick), c. 1540
Provenance: Ernst, Duke of Brunswick; Sir S. R. Meyrick.

Meyrick stated that this armour had belonged to Ernest the Pious, Duke of Brunswick, and its style and decoration show that the tradition is well-founded. The Prince of Hanover still possesses a considerable number of harnesses etched in the same manner (See the Duke of Brunswick exhibition, Tower of London, 1952-4), formerly kept in his castle of Blankenburg in the Harz, and since 1945 at Marienburg, near Hanover (described by Bohlmann in Z.H.W.K., VI, pp. 335-8). The narrow bands of undulating ribands and the embossed knobs are typical. The workmanship resembles the armour of Joachim of Brandenburg, in the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, which is ascribed to Peter von Speyer of Annaberg, court armourer to the Elector of Saxony. It bears the initials P.V.S. There are numerous armours of the same group in existence, for example another once in the Meyrick Collection (Skelton, pl. XXIII) and now in the Kienbusch collection in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Kienbusch cat. no. 13; the same collection also includes two North German wedding armours, Kienbusch cat. nos. 24 and 25); one in the Royal Armouries (inv. no. II.29); one in the Musée de l' Armée (G 52); and one at Windsor Castle (Laking, pl. 14, no. 111, who incorrectly refuted the Brunswick tradition). This last example is dated 1563; in the MS. catalogue of the Prince Regent's armoury at Carlton House (Royal Archives, Windsor) this is no. 1989 and is described as being 'sent from the Free Mason's Lodge at Hanover'. It was delivered on 10 October 1820. None of these armours bears a city guild mark, which suggests that they were made in a court workshop where guild control did not apply. The close-helmet A168 is also a Brunswick piece, but a little later in date.

Exhibited: South Kensington, 1869, no. 270 (Illustrated London News, LIV, 1869, illus. on p. 344, no. 10). A38|1|1|A38 PARTS OF A GARNITURE FOR THE FIELD, JOUST AND TOURNAMENT

Polished bright and decorated with finely etched bands of arabesque strapwork on a black ground with roped borders, and rows of brass-headed rivets. This garniture, now dispersed, was characterised by having certain elements etched with arabesques overall, rather than contained purely within the strapwork. On the Wallace Collection elements this characteristic can be observed on the main poleyn plates and on the main knuckle-plate of the gauntlet.

Consisting of :

PAULDRONS, for the joust, of six plates, the upper three small in front and spreading behind. The right is fitted with a reinforcing piece at the front, located by means of a short stud and attached with a slotted screw, the plate of the pauldron underneath being tapped to receive it. The jousting pauldron of A59 has a similar over-plate for the lance arm. The left pauldron does not protect the front of the shoulder because it is designed to fit under a Stechtartsche bolted to the cuirass and jousting buff.
Long TASSETS with poleyns, for the field, designed to be worn in three different ways as needed. Each tasset is composed of fourteen lames, complete in themselves and capable of being worn without the poleyns or greaves; the bottom lame has its own roped edge. The removeable poleyn then attached over the lowermost tasset lame by means of a turning lock-pin and a keyhole slot. The lower half of each tasset, fitted with a strap and brass buckle for fastening around the thigh, can be detached at the fifth lame (which also has its own turned and roped edge underneath). This function allows the tassets to be shortened so that the wearer may use them in concert with separate cuisses if desired. The POLEYNS each consist of a central knee-plate articulated by one narrow lame above and two below. In this system, each tasset and poleyn assembly could be attached to its greave by means of a key-hole slot at the centre of the lower edge, in a combination variously described as Feldküriss and Fussküriss (‘field armour’ and ‘foot armour’) by the etcher Jörg Sorg in his illustrated album (see Gamber, Livrustkammaren, VII, pp. 58-9 and figs. 8 and 9). The whole of the knee-defence is covered with etched strapwork arabesques, including the heart-shaped side-wings; the lower plate fitted with a keyhole slot for attachment to the greaves. Each with a strap and brass buckle.
MITTEN GAUNTLET, for the right hand, with pointed cuff, two metacarpal plates, nine lames shaped to the fingers, the alternate ones have narrow etched borders, and a knuckle-guard is embossed to form low gadlings; thumb-piece of five scales; the leather lining glove remains. The mitten plates have been sculpted to simulate separate fingers, while the plate covering the tip of the thumb extends to envelope the whole area of the distal phalange. These features, taken together, identify this gauntlet as a specialised piece intended for the free tourney or Freiturnier.

J.F. Hayward has demonstrated that A38 comprises parts of a garniture originally in the Imperial Armoury at Vienna (J.A.A.S., I, p. 40). Unfortunately, the original owner has not yet been identified. Additional pieces still in Vienna are two vamplates, a manifer, and a shaffron (inv. nos. A925, A1118, B126, and A2259), while a pair of vambraces and pauldrons, a gorget, and a left gauntlet are now in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (nos. G62 and 63).

A poll-plate from a shaffron is in the Royal Armouries (inv. no. VI.62). A demi-shaffron from the Hearst collection was sold by Fischer’s, Lucerne, on 10 May 1939, lot 57; C. O. von Kienbusch had a second demi-shaffron, lacking its poll-plate, which also came from the Hearst collection (sold Sotheby’s, 15 April 1957, lot 129, pI. III) and a close-helmet for the field with attached gorget-plates (Mantelhelm). The visor is of the type used for the joust however, and has etching of a somewhat different character to that on the remainder of the armour. This helmet was bought at Fischer’s, Lucerne, 22-26 July 1965, lot 51). Now both are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (helmet inv. no. 1977-167-106).

The complete legs for the Stechküriss are in the Museum Narodowe, Cracow (Zygulski, 1982, pl. 136). In the John Woodman Higgins Armory, Worcester, Massachusetts, there are a pair of pauldrons and vambraces, a gorget, breastplate and backplate (inv. no. 2587; S. V. Grancsay, Catalogue, 1961, pp. 64-5). The left pauldron and couter are both pierced with threaded holes for reinforces. This pauldron was therefore for use in the Freirennen, or mock joust of war in the open field, while the vambrace was intended for use in both the Freirennen and Gestech (joust of peace). The right pauldron at Worcester is shaped at the front to allow the lance to be couched, and therefore was made for the field and the Freiturnier. The right couter is not pierced for a reinforce and could be used for all combinations, although some garnitures are fitted with a reinforce on this side, apparently for use in the Freiturnier (Gamber, op. cit., p. 70, fig. 14). The breastplate has a turned edge at the neck and is pierced for a folding lance-rest. It is therefore also for the field and the Freiturnier. Holes in the top lame of the Wallace Collection tassets fit holes in the bottom edge of the Higgins breastplate almost exactly. This breast bears the mark of Wolfgang Grosschedel and the Landshut town mark. The gorget, pauldrons, and the left gauntlet in Paris are all that remain of the armour for tournament combat on foot (Norman, J.A.A.S., VII, pl. XLVII). The lowest lame of a right articulated tasset in the Musée de l’Armée (inv. no. G.Po. 12803) is also decorated with this pattern.

There is a history of widespread confusion in regard to the interpretation of strapwork decoration of armour. It has been frequently said that the type used on A38 was a standard, generic pattern found on many different armours. In fact, as Hayward realised, it is perfectly possible to distinguish between the many versions of the pattern. The pieces listed above are decorated with exactly the same design and among the surviving pieces there is no duplication to suggest that more than one garniture is involved. Note that none of the pieces referred to by Mann as being comparable to A38 – in the 1962 Wallace Collection Catalogue – actually belong to this garniture.

In the design related most closely to that on A38, the strapwork is separated from the edge of the decorated band by a figure resembling roping. Two pieces of this garniture were formerly in the collection of S. V. Grancsay (exhibited Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1964, no. 72); a right cuisse lacking its top two lames, and the upper cannon of the left arm lacking the couter. A backplate decorated with this design is in the Harding collection in the Art Institute of Chicago (inv. no. 2609). A gauntlet matching these pieces in the Museo Stibbert, Florence (1917-18 cat. no. 2553), is marked on the cuff with the Augsburg town mark.

For a note on Wolfgang Grosschedel see A34. A69|1|1|Helmets of this dramatic form were used throughout Europe in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. The distinctive muzzle provided an excellent ‘glancing surface’, the pointed form making it difficult for incoming weapons to gain purchase. A problem with the design is that the field of view from inside is poor- the vision slits or ‘sights’ are quite far away from the face. Therefore the visor can be easily removed by pulling out the pins holding it in place, so that with the visor off, the wearer could see and breath much more easily. The visor might be worn early in a battle, when the wearer was more likely to be hit by fast-moving threats like arrows and javelins, but for close hand-to-hand combat vision and ventilation became more important, and the open-faced configuration more preferable.
This helmet is the only piece from Sir Richard Wallace’s arms and armour collection that has ever been lent to an outside exhibition. In Sir Richard’s lifetime it formed part of the historic ‘Helmets and Mail’ exhibition, curated by Charles Alexander, Baron de Cosson and held at the Royal Archaeological Institute in London in 1880. The exhibition’s catalogue features one the of the earliest images of the Wallace helmet, a line-drawing showing it without its present mail aventail, a patchwork of different mail fragments which was added by Sir Guy Laking in the first decade of the twentieth century.
Two types of visor were worn on bascinets during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. One form, often referred to generally by the wonderfully onomatopoetic German term Klappvisier, involved the visor being attached to the bascinet skull by means of a single pivot set centrally on the brow. In the second form, the visor moved up and down on a pair of pivots, one on either side of the skull. A hole in the brow of the Wallace Collection bascinet, filled with an old rivet, indicates that when this helmet was new, it carried a Klappvisier, and was later converted, undoubtedly during its working lifetime, into its present, side-pivoting form. A70|1|1|Evolving from the bascinet of the late fourteenth century, the sallet had by the middle of the fifteenth century become the most popular helmet everywhere in Europe for all classes of fighting man. Worn by the high nobility and common soldiery alike, sallets were produced in a number of regional styles according to local demand. They are characterised by a gracefully rounded skull following closely the contours of the head, and a recurved neck guard, sweeping out below the nape. Beyond these common features, they can vary enormously. Italian sallets, or celati, seem to have been direct descendants of the type of Mediterranean bascinet called a barbuta (Wallace Collection A74 is a typical example).
Three holes on the brow, forming an isosceles triangle, indicates that this fairly typical Italian sallet once included a hinged nasal, an iron or steel bar extending down to protect the middle of the face to the level of the mouth. Although quite narrow, such a nasal provided surprisingly effective protection for the face against the cutting blows of edged weapons. A71|1|1|While the sallets made in Italy for most of the fifteenth century extended almost to the shoulders and had only a very subtle tail at the back, by the 1490s German fashion was influencing Italian design, so that Italian sallets began to be given longer, articulated tails and brow reinforces, like their North European counterparts. This helmet is a very fine example of this late form. It bears an armourer’s mark of a castle with two towers, attributed to the da Castello family of armourers of Brescia. This helmet was perhaps made by or under Pietro Giacomo de Castillo, active in the last decade of the fifteenth century and whose other marked works include one of the armours from the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Curtatone near Mantua (c. 1490-1500; inv. B5, Museo Diocesano, Mantua). A72|1|1|For most of its history, the visored sallet had only partially protected the face, generally extending to just below the nose. When full facial protection was required, the sallet was worn with a bevor, which covered the neck and lower face and which was overlapped by the sallet’s lower edge. The bevor was however somewhat restrictive, of both head movement and respiration, and therefore was often left off. This was the sallet’s essential weakness- although in many respects it was a versatile, all-purpose helmet, it could not offer fully reliable facial defence. Even when worn with a bevor, a critical point of weakness yet remained along the juncture between the upper edge of the bevor and the lower edge of the sallet. Even a moderately powerful thrust, delivered with any sort of stabbing weapon, could push through the gap between the plates to pierce the face of the man inside.
It was not until the last decade of the fifteenth century that sallet visors began to be extended to cover the whole face with a single metal plate. Italian armourers followed this trend, making sallets with full visors for a short period in the early sixteenth century. This helmet is one of the best surviving examples, remaining complete with its distinctive ‘bellows’ visor. It compares very well to one depicted in a portrait (c. 1505-10; Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Inv. 1890 no. 911) probably of Bartolomeo d’Alviano, a Venetian military commander who defeated the forces of the Emperor Maximilian at the Battle of Cadore (1508); the portrait also includes the subject’s squire, who wears the bevor belonging with his master’s helmet. Like the German versions, this late bevor is cut high at the sides, but lower around the base of the chin. A73|1|1|In its shape and proportions this Italian sallet shows foreign stylistic influence. Throughout the 15th century Italian sallets had been drawn down to almost touch the shoulders of the wearer, and had only a very subtle recurving tail at the nape of the neck. West European and German sallets in contrast only extended to the level of the jaw and included a longer swept tail. As noted in reference to Wallace Collection A71 and A72, by the last decade of the 15th century Italian armourers had adopted the foreign style and created their own distinctive interpretations of it. This example is quite typical, having a one-piece pivoted tail and narrow, oblong brow reinforce. It appears to one have had some kind of a visor, since the sides of the skull are pierced for visor pivots, and the tail-plate exhibits a shaped recess on both sides to receive the lower corners of the visor, in a similar manner as that exemplified by A72.
A crucial new aspect of this sallet, however, an aspect not observed on Italian helmets before 1500 is the fluting and etching. The fluting of the skull, like the basic form, is the result of foreign (in this case specifically Germanic) influence. Armour of the so-called 'Maximilian' style, characterised by dense groups of parallel flutes, was quickly becoming the prevailing fashion throughout the German Empire and interest in the new designs extended well beyond its borders. The fact that this helmet almost certainly dates from the first decade of the 16th century also makes it a very early instance of acid-etched decoration, here in the form of bands filled with scrolling foliage against a hatched ground. A74|1|1|The term barbuta (Eng. ‘barbut’; Fr. ‘barbute’) is found in Italian documents as early as the middle of the fourteenth century. It seems initially to have referred sometimes to a piece of mail armour, while in other instances it clearly indicates a particular species of bascinet. The idea of a mail ‘beard’ (It. barba; barbute: ‘bearded’) agrees very well with the image of the fourteenth-century bascinet with its long mail aventail hanging, beard-like, over the chin and throat. Whatever its origins, the barbut had become a common helmet for men-at-arms in Italy by the late 1300s, to the extent that the term came to be used to refer to the man-at-arms himself, as well as his helmet.
With its graceful, rounded skull, swept gently into the nape of the neck, it is easy to see the barbut as the immediate precursor to the sallets of the fifteenth century, in fact it is quite difficult (and perhaps unnecessary) to determine where the bascinet/barbut ends and the sallet begins. A comparatively large group of these helmets, among some two hundred and fifty pieces of armour, was found in 1840 during building work at the medieval fortress at Chalcis (Gr. Chalkida) on the island of Euboea in Greece. Chalcis was a key point in the strategic containment by Christian forces of Turkish expansion during the fifteenth century, and the principle Aegean base held by the Republic of Venice, until its capture by Mohammed II in 1470. The armour found at Chalcis dates from the late fourteenth century to the time of the Turkish conquest. Several of the Chalcis barbuts have longer neck guards, making them look even more like sallets than does the Wallace Collection example. One of the Chalcis finds, now in the Archaeological Museum, Athens (B1), has a pair of studs on the brow as does the Wallace Collection barbut. These studs are clear evidence for both helmets once having been worn with a small ‘Klappvisier’. Barbut visors seems to have been of a very particular form, for the most part narrower than the bascinet klappvisiers worn in Germany and elsewhere. One such visor is today in the Museo Stibbert, Florence (Inv. 3575) while another, formerly in the Gwynn Collection, retains its hinged pivot, pierced with two slots designed to engage with the brow staples of the barbuta to which it belonged. A75|1|1|Sallet or ‘barbute’, Forged from one piece of low-carbon steel, closely resembling the Corinthian helmet of classical antiquity and probably suggested by it. A finely formed medial ridge divides the skull, while the face-opening is very narrow, with two oval holes for the eyes, separated by a nasal, and a long vertical gap below. The edges are not turned and there is no reinforcing band round the face-opening. Set at regular intervals around the skull is a row of fourteen small, rosette-headed rivets for the attachment of a canvas lining band, part of which remains. Below these rivets, on either side, are a pair of rivets for the attachment of a chin-strap. The back of the skull is struck with an armourer's mark comprised of a letter P within the split foot of a cross, thrice repeated; another mark on the right cheek represents the Lion of St. Mark. Compare the sallets A76 and A78.
Italian (Brescia), about 1470
De Beaumont Catalogue, pl. V; Viollet-le-Duc VI, 271-3; Laking, European Armour II, 4-5, fig. 335. Boccia, Rossi and Morin, Armi e armature Lombarde, 1980, pI. 62, who attributed it to a 'Maestro P', Lombard, about 1460.
Provenance: E. Juste (Salade vénitienne à ouverture très étroite, 1,500 fr.; Receipted Bill, 11 September, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
L. G. Boccia (Dizonari terminologici, 1982, pI. 17, fig. E) called this type of helmet ‘celata alla veneziana’ rather than ‘barbuta’, which he confined to helmets fitted with aventails, such as Wallace Collection A74. The same mark of a P within a split cross is stamped twice, in conjunction with the mark of the two-towered castle, on: a 15th-century armet in the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, near Mantua (Mann, Archæologia, vol. 87, p. 340, fig. 44); a sallet in the German Historical Museum, Berlin; and on a barbute very similar to A75 in both shape and by having similar rosette-headed rivets, inv. no. 14.25.579 in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. It is marked with a twin-towered castle and a pair of split-legged crosses each bridging a single illegible letter. The letter P under a split-legged cross occurs without any other mark on two of the armets in the Sanctury of the Madonna delle Grazie (Boccia, Le Armature del '400 a Mantova, 1982, respectively, pls. 208-11, and p. 285, mark no. 43, and pls. 212-5, and p. 287, mark no.86). Two split crosses with Ps occur under the name Paulo on a pauldron in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (inv. no. G.Po.2411; formerly in the Pauilhac Collection). The castle with one split-cross occur on an armet in the Carrand Collection in the Bargello, Florence; with two split-crosses on a sallet in the Royal Armouries, IV.18. The castle is found by itself on Wallace Collection A71; on a sallet in the Museo Civico at Venice; on a sallet from Norton Hall, now in Royal Armouries; and on an articulated 15th-century breastplate at Solothurn (Wegeli, cat. no. 1). The presence of the Lion of St. Mark suggests that this helmet at one time formed part of the armoury of the arsenal at Venice. Another barbute of this type, stamped with the winged lion, but without reinforced borders is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
F.H. Cripps Day identified the mark of the letter P under a split-legged cross, when accompanied by a second mark of a two-towered castle, as that of a Milanese armourer Giovanni da Castello, recorded 1456-68 (Fragmenta armentaria, VI, I, p.34). A. Gaibi however listed a Brescian armourer Peder da Castello, recorded in Brescia about 1450 (Armi antiche, 1961, pp. 67-93, particularly on p. 85), to whom the combined marks would be more appropriate. F. Rossi on the other hand attributes this combination to Pietro da Castello, (see A71). All this assumes that the P mark on A75 represents the same maker who elsewhere marked pieces with in addition a mark of a castle. Boccia, Rossi and Morin clearly doubt this connection.
The formal elegance and strong sculptural character of this helmet is a product both of its design as a functional object and of its status as a wearable work of art. In armour, form and function are inseparable. The iconic shape of the helmet of the Ancient Greek hoplite, from which the form of Italian Renaissance sallets or barbutes of the ‘Corinthian’ style was derived, was determined by the need to balance the protection afforded against the range of vision and degree of ventilation allowed. However, the subtleties of line and proportion far exceed what was necessary for protection, and instead were determined by the tastes and aesthetic orientation of the makers and users.
Separated from the ancient bronze helmets which inspired it by 2000 years, this helmet still bears a remarkable resemblance to its Hellenistic ancestors, and this is probably not simply the by-product of similar functional requirements. The Renaissance in Italy was defined by a deep fascination with the art and culture of the Classical world, including Greco-Roman armour and accoutrements. Indeed, ancient Bronze Age helmets are listed in a number of Italian Renaissance inventories, including those of the armouries of the Dukes of Urbino and the Grand Dukes of Tuscany at Florence. Admittedly, most of these documentary references appear to describe Roman helmets rather than Greek ones. However, it is probably significant that the fifteenth-century ‘Corinthian’ style of helmet is closely associated with Venice, which as a major imperial power in the Mediterranean ruled most of the islands in the Aegean for centuries. It is at least plausible that some ancient Greek helmets of the ‘Corinthian’ style found their way into Venetian armouries, just as Roman ones were preserved in central Italy. Certainly, the earliest examples of the re-emergent design, dating from c. 1420, come from an armour hoard found in 1840 on the site of a Venetian fortress in the Aegean, at Chalcis on the Island of Euboea. Wallace Collection A75 was probably made in Brescia, then within the Venetian dominion, by the armourer Pietro de Castello. Indeed, it carries what appears to be a Venetian arsenal mark, a stamp in the form of the winged lion of St. Mark, on the left cheek-guard. A76|1|1|Italian sallets were produced in a number of different basic designs. Wallace Collection A70 and A77 represent the typical open-faced form, while A75 and A78 illustrate the spectacled 'Corinthian' sallet or barbute, inspired by the helmets of the ancient Greek hoplite. This helmet exemplifies the third classic 15th-century type, the so-called 'T-faced' sallet or barbute, which still vaguely recalls the helmets of the Ancient Greece, but which expresses that inspiration somewhat less literally. The T-shaped face-opening is wider, allowing for better vision and ventilation, while the cheek-extensions will offer good protection. A77|1|1|In 1471, the famous Burgundian knight Olivier de la Marche sent a shipment of Italian armour to England for private sale which included a thousand sallets described specifically as being ‘for archers’. While it is difficult to be certain of the precise form of these helmets, it is possible that they were something like this example. He the right cheek extension, instead of being an integral part of the otherwise one-piece construction, is formed of a separate plate set on a hinge so that it can be raised out of the way. This would have been a useful feature on the helmet of an archer, who needed to be able to draw his bow back to his right cheek before loosing. While this helmet might be one of a special type made for archers, it is also possible that it would also have suited the needs of crossbowmen and handgunners, soldiers who needed to be able to raise the stocks of their respective ranged weapons to their right cheeks for sighting before a shot. A78|1|1|An exceptional example of the ‘Corinthian' Italian sallet form, this piece carries the famous crowned monogram and split-cross marks of the Missaglia workshop of Milan. The Missaglia were 15th-century Italy’s most successful dynasty of armourer-merchants. In 1463 Francesco Missaglia landed a shipment of armour in England which included among many other things twenty-eight sallets, including a highly decorated one for the personal use of King Edward IV.
The face-opening of this example has been made as narrow as possible to maximise protection for the face, while still offering good vision and ventilation. It has also here been strengthened by means of an applied reinforcing band of steel. The graceful raised crest in the skull offered additional stength while at the same time accentuating the sharp, sculptural form of the piece. A80|1|1|This helmet is unquestionably the finest of the 15th-century sallets in the Wallace Collection, being not only superb in its essential form and proportions, but also beautifully polished and decorated with sharp file-lines accentuating the medial ridge and sight. At some later date this sallet was modified for use in a German joust of the Rennen class, run with very large, body-formed shields which sometimes were designed to be thrown up into the air when struck. A roller has been installed on the lower edge of the helmet, probably to help ensure that the catapulted shield did not snag on the helmet as it shot skyward. It could alternatively have been intended simply to help the head move up and down behind the shield, which usually extended to the level of the eyes. A81|1|1|This helmet is the latest of the three 15th-century German sallets in the Wallace Collection and the only one to have a separate visor. It belongs to a group of inexpensive ‘munition’ helmets made for south German light cavalrymen, which today are preserved in a number of different collections around the world, including the Imperial Armoury, Vienna, and the Royal Armouries, Leeds. The helmets in these other collections retain their original painted decoration, which was used to indicate to which cavalry squadron the wearer belonged, while the Wallace Collection example does not; it would originally have been painted like the others. In keeping with its low-grade, munitions quality, this helmet has been produced with only the minimum amount of work required, since helmets of this form had to be supplied cheaply and in large numbers. Both its shape and finish are extremely rough; it has no turned edges, and the surface has been left unpolished and ‘rough from the hammer.’
The line of small stitching holes running all the way around the edges of the visor probably indicate that it was once covered in leather. A82|1|1|This rough, ‘munition’ sallet was in its working lifetime a common, unremarkable object. Its uneven lines, bumpy surfaces and jagged edges testify to the fact that its maker was working quickly. His workshop was no doubt making a large number of these helmets, and they had to be cheap, had to work, but did not have to be pretty. The grinding and polishing phase of the armour-making process, so vital to the creation of the mirror-bright harnesses associated with the knightly class, was here dispensed with entirely; the surface is still covered in hammer-marks. The so-called ‘owl-faced’ visor is of the simplest form possible, a bare, curved plate cut with two slots of the eyes and two for the mouth, with five holes pierced over the nose. The design gave basic protection to the face while requiring no more of the armourer’s time than was absolutely necessary. This is not the helmet of a knight, but rather of a lower-class man-at-arms, a rank-and-file heavy infantryman, light cavalryman or mounted crossbowman. Ironically, today what were the least numerous, most expensive armours are the most common in museum collections, while munition armours, which were substantially more abundant to say the least, are now rare in the extreme.
Even rarer is munition armour that, like this helmet, retains its original painted decoration. A great deal of armour left ‘rough-from-the-hammer’ seems to have been brightly painted, with heraldic devices or livery colours. The helmets were sometimes emblazoned with monstrous, scowling faces, a fashion still popular with some modern soldiers. This one can be compared to other contemporary German helmets, also retaining decorative paintwork, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg and Glasgow Museums. Paint was an inexpensive way of decorating low-grade armour, the rough, hammered surfaces being an ideal base onto which the slow-drying, linseed oil-based paint could adhere. A painted finish was still somewhat fragile however, and only a handful of early sixteenth-century helmets survive today with their original surfaces even partially intact.
The sides of this helmet are painted with large monogram N’s, which may indicate that its owner was in the service of the city of Nuremberg.
This helmet is also noteable since it retains its original padded textile lining and the leather loops for the chin-strap. A83|1|1|The latest sallet in the Wallace Collection can be seen as a fascinating mixture of old and new styles. It dates from the time when the older fashion for plainer, smooth-surfaced armour was rapidly giving way to the new taste for the heavily fluted designs referred to collectively as the ‘Maximilian’ style. In form it is very much like the other, slightly earlier full-faced sallets in the collection, composed of a gracefully rounded skull, gently sweeping, articulated neck guard, and flattish visor cut with a pair of sights and numerous ventilation holes and slots.
Though it is conventional, even conservative in its construction, it also embraces the latest decorative fashion. Its skull is embossed with three tight groups of four flutes each, one group positioned on either side of the crest-line, while the third group runs down along it. The middle two flutes of the central group have been raised higher than the others to form a wide medial comb, additionally decorated with pairs of diagonal file-strokes. As is typical of the Maximilian style, each of the flutes is given greater definition and emphasis by framing them on either side with bold file-lines. The sights and breath slots of the visor are augmented visually in the same way. Although simple in construction, the decoration marks this work as a helmet made for someone of notable rank, perhaps an infantry sergeant or captain. It probably would have been worn with a three-quarter armour decorated to match, very similar perhaps to one depicted in one of a series of woodcuts published in the first half of the sixteenth century by David de Negker of Augsburg and Niclas Meldemann of Nuremberg. The fact that the visor of this helmet has been carefully shaped to fit around and under the chin suggests that it was intended to be worn with a gorget, as pictured in the woodcut, rather than one of the late bevors discussed above. Soon the sallet itself would follow the bevor onto the scrapheap of history, to be replaced by the morion and burgonet.
In the present day, the sallet has in a sense been reborn, in the riot-helmets employed by many police forces around the world. These modern helmets, with their rounded skulls, rear neck-guards and pivoted visors, follow precisely the same design approach which informed the creation of the early sixteenth-century sallets in the Wallace Collection. A major riot today has much in common with a pre-modern battle, so it is perhaps not very surprising that contemporary helmet designers have returned to an ancient and highly functional form, even though they are probably unaware that they have done so. A84|1|1|Several of the surviving late, full-faced sallets, dating from the early 16th century, have visors which still bear some residual resemblance to their half-visor predecessors of the 15th century. In these cases, of which this helmet is a typical example, the visor is bisected by a horizontal ridge which traces what was formerly the line of the visor’s lower edge. Above this ridge, the visor looks very much like the old sallet half-visor. Below however, the visor is now quite different, extending to envelope the chin and pierced with a variety of holes and slots. Visors of this type tend to be somewhat strange in appearance. This strangeness becomes quite pronounced in the case of the more exaggerated examples, such as one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (c. 1500-10; 29.150.4), which bulges out dramatically both above and below the horizontal ridge, which in its case has become a recessed crease.
Helmets of this type were still worn with a bevor, albeit one cut lower around the face than earlier types. Bevors of this new form are illustrated on a number of German effigies, including those of Walter von Reifenberg (d.1506) and Philipp von Kronberg (d. 1510), both at the Church of St John in Kronberg, near Frankfurt. The Wallace Collection helmet was probably worn with something similar. A85|1|1|A number of other surviving helmets were once painted, but have lost their original surfaces. This unusual sallet, its visor decorated with embossed eyes and nose, was once at least partially painted. In the middle of the 19th century it was still painted with black and yellow flames flowing over the skull from the front and the back. Two other sallets, with skulls of the same, rounded form (now in the collections at Žleby Castle in the Czech Republic and the Worcester Art Museum, USA), retain very similar paint schemes. The decorative similarity between these three helmets is especially interesting since it seems that painted sallets were often used, in the German lands at least, as a sort of proto-uniform; there is pictorial evidence that all the members of a particular fighting unit sometimes wore matching or at least similarly coloured helmets, sometimes accompanied by uniformly designed coats, hose, and other equipment. A painting (c. 1505-10) of a battle that was fought on 19 June 1502 between the forces of Nuremberg and Ansbach, in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (GM.579), shows a band of light cavalry in action dressed in matching red coats and blue hosen, with red-painted sallets on their heads, while another group is similarly attired in grey. The famous Mittelalterliches Hausbuch (c. 1480; Wolfegg Castle, Regensburg, south Germany) illustrates the same practice (fol. 22r).
There is no evidence that the visor of this helmet was ever painted, although the rudimentary embossed nose and eyes would perhaps have been more aesthetically successful had they originally been intended to augment a painted design, rather than having to stand on their own. There are however a number of other examples of this primitive early embossing, which, though far below the standards achieved by both Italian and German masters later in the sixteenth century, nevertheless exude a certain liveliness. A fragment of another sallet visor of similar form, embossed with a nose (but no eyes) has been excavated from the site of a fortified manor house in Spytkowice in Poland, while an infantry breastplate, dating from the last quarter of the fifteenth century, has had a strange, tear-drop face hammered into its middle just above the waist. A86|1|1|The war-hat was one of the most popular and successful types of head protection worn on the battlefields of Europe throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. The concept was simple- just as a brimmed hat shielded the wearer's face from the sun and rain, so did the wide brim of the war-hat intercept the downward vertical paths of hand-weapon blows and flying protectiles. Such helmets were worn throughout the Middle Ages by a wide range of different classes of fighting men- archers, crossbowmen, gunners, and general infantry. They were also sometimes worn by high-ranking warriors- knights and men-at-arms fighting in full armour.
Although this example probably dates from the early sixteenth century, helmets of this general form had been in very wide circulation throughout Europe since the twelfth century. A89|1|1|This piece is an important early example of the Renaissance type called a burgonet. This specific form, sometimes referred to as a 'casquetel', is characterised by its multi-plate rear construction and wide peak.
The surface has been acid-etched with bands of scrolled foliage on a hatched ground in the early Italian style. On the peak is etched the branches of an oak tree and two clusters of flames along with scale ornament and acanthus leaves.
A mark resembling a G on the peak which has been thought to be either an armourer's mark or a blemish in the metal is undoubtedly a punched mark. The punch has jumped slightly and the bulge caused by the blow is clearly visible inside. Presumably it is either that of an armourer or, possibly, that of an owner.
The burning logs device may refer to the Caldora family. This helmet compares well with a similar etched burgonet in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris ( inv. no. H 38); another, but undecorated, is in the British Museum (Burges Bequest; inv. no. 81.8-2.37).
The articulation high up the back of the nape is also found on some close-helmets of the time (cf. Mann, Surrey Arch. Collections, Vol. XLVII, 1941, pp. 84-7).This type of headpiece was worby Landsknecht infantry, and also by horsemen in preference to the heavier close-helmet. For the style of etching on a hatched ground, compare the armours of this date at Churburg Castle (inv. nos. 69 and 70).
L. G. Boccia and E. T. Coelho (1967, PI. 236, pp. 228 and 236-7) suggested that this helmet once formed part of the Medici armoury, dispersed in 1775, which included the Ducal armoury from Urbino. They further suggested that the mark of a G might indicate that this helmet originally belonged to Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (1472-1508).
Similar gouts of flame are etched on a breastplate in the British Museum (inv. no. 81.8-2.51), on loan to the Royal Armouries since 1976. This also has the mark of G and a second mark of a cross in outline with open ends to the equal arms. The mark of a G also occurs on two breastplates in the Royal Armouries (inv. nos. III.85; Dufty and Reid, 1968, PI. CXII, below left, and No. III. 76). Both also bear a mark of a cross. The comparable helmet in the British Museum has also been on loan to the Royal Armouries since 1976. Another is in the Musée de l' Armée et de l'Histoire Militaire, Brussels (inv. no. II. 192) and yet another, complete with ear-pieces shaped like cockle shells, is in the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. no.16.1642; 1924 Cat., no. B II). A similar helmet complete with an ear-piece like a cockle-shell is depicted in a portrait of an unknown knight being armed by his two pages, painted about 1540 by Paris Bordone (Metropolitan Museum, New York, No.1973.311.1). A105|1|1|This helmet is a spectacular example of the way in which the work of the Renaissance armourer could be at once a superbly functional piece of equipment and a dramatic work of art.
The foundation is formed by a very fine steel skull, with an integral brow plate or peak and articulated neck-guard. Onto this base are attached beautifully-sculpted decorative plates, cunningly embossed, heat-blued, and fire-gilded. The edges of the skull have also been ‘roped’ with great skill, while the back has been embossed with the image of a large scallop-shell. Continuing the marine theme, the three main applied plates which decorate the brow of the helmet combine to represent a monstrous, double-tailed dolphin, while the sweeping, dramatic lines are both emphasised and balanced by a pair of gilded fins placed at the temples.
The decorative plates are made separately, attached by means of turn-pins and therefore removable. This allowed the artist to create a visual effect that would have been impossible to achieve simply by embossing the skull itself, as Italian armourers usually did.
The Helmschmid family of master armourers is known to have made several other helmets in this fantastical style. Another, perhaps made by Lorenz Helmschmid between 1490 and 1500 for Philip the Handsome, King of Castile (1478-1506) (Real Armeria, Madrid, Inv. C.11) employs the same design approach as the Wallace Collection helmet, in which a plain, functional sallet is used as the base onto which embossed, blued and gilt plates forming the face and wings of a fierce beast or monster are applied. Designs for similar winged helmets are also found in the ‘Thun sketchbook’. In fact, the dolphin-headed, winged helmet, derived from earlier Italian models, was so popular in German Renaissance art that it became something of a stock image. A106|1|1|This boldly-embossed ‘parade’ helmet, finely sculpted in steel (probably originally heat-blued since no traces of gilding can be found), was made by an unknown master-craftsman probably in northern Italy; no other work quite like it has been identified, although in skill and confidence it ranks with the products of the Negroli family of Milan, perhaps the finest craftsmen of their era in Italy. A pair of cheek-pieces in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, appear to belong with the helmet; since they are known to have come from the old Medici armoury, it is likely that it too may have a Medici provenance. A107|1|1|For the Renaissance prince who wished to build a relationship between himself and the heroes of the ancient world in the eyes of his people, armour was an essential part of public life. As an expressive art-form it could be used as a to hide the mortality of the human being inside it, or as a way to intensify and glorify, the wearer’s identity, virtues and associations.
By the middle of the sixteenth century, artists had developed a rich Classical vocabulary, their imaginations stimulated by the study of ancient monuments and works of art. Greek and Roman myths and literature was another important source of inspiration, summoning up images of the ancient heroes in all their superhuman splendour. Taking their themes directly from these sources, Italian Renaissance armourers taught themselves how to work steel into dynamically expressive forms which at their best rivalled any sculpture in marble or bronze. All ‘antica armour also had one quality which other forms of sculpture did not possess, a quality of crucial value to the Renaissance prince. It was wearable.
The Wallace Collection includes a number of helmets and other pieces of armour of the ‘Heroic’ style, stunning demonstrations of metalworking virtuosity. This piece makes a direct visual reference to ancient mythology- its brow is embossed and gilt with a lion’s head, no doubt intended to invoke the Greek hero Hercules, who was generally depicted wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion which he had killed in the first of his twelve labours. Lion masks are one of the most common all ‘antica motifs, being also a more general symbol of nobility, power and ferocity. A108|1|1|Parade burgonet of embossed steel, the surface russeted, with traces of gilding. The skull has a scaled ridge, and the front is embossed in low relief with a grotesque, bearded mask, from whose mouth extend two stalks ending in scrolled acanthus leaves and conventional flowers; hinged ear-pieces embossed with masks (the left ear-piece has been patched and is without gilding and appears to be a later replacement). A small peg on the right cheek-piece is probably for the attachment of a buff. Crest-holes in the ridge, one on either side, and two pairs of twin-holes at the back for a plume-holder. At the base is a row of rivets for the attachment of the lining, and two rivets on the ear-pieces for a chin-strap. Beneath the peak, in front, an additional band with a roped edge has been applied.
The decoration of this helmet is especially lively, the embossing well controlled and of excellent workmanship. C.Blair (1974, No. l, p. 27) attributed it to Caremolo Modrone of Mantua and gave a list of other pieces attributable to him.
J. F. Hayward (Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1982, pp. 1-15 and 87-102) has drawn attention to a certain similarity between some of the embossed armours attributed to Caremolo Modrone of Mantua, for instance that of Carlo Bozzolo di Gonzaga (died 1551) at Vienna (Waffensammlung, Inv. No. A632), and the drawings of Filippo Orsoni or Ursoni, the Mantuan painter, whose design book survives in two versions; one dated 1554 in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Murray 7A; Nos. E.I 725 to 2031-1929), and the other, dated on different pages 1540, 1558 and 1559, in the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel (Cod. Guelf 1.5.3. Aug 2°). Among the pieces which Hayward attributes to Modrone, possibly based on designs by Orsoni, are the Wallace Collection burgonet A108, and the shaffron A353, and, perhaps with less conviction, the group of Farnese guard burgonets such as A112. A108 is paralleled quite closely by one of the Orsoni drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. E. 1780-1929; Hayward, Armour, 1951, p. 45, PI. 19).
Caremolo Modrone (or di Mondrone), the court armourer of the Dukes of Mantua, was born in Milan in 1489. He worked principally for Federigo Gonzaga, from 1521, making personal and munition armours, but he also carried out commissions for the Emperor Charles V and for Alfonso d'Avalos, marchese del Vasto. Of two armours made by him for Charles V, the first, presented in 1534, is still in the Real Armeria, Madrid (No. A112); the second, delivered in 1536, is believed to be No. A114 at Madrid. Modrone died in Mantua in 1543. Of Filippo Orsoni, the Mantuan painter, very little is known except from his own statements on the title pages of his two surviving design books. He is, however, recorded as living in the Mantuan district of Rupe in 1559. The devices used to decorate his armours include those of Charles V and Henri II of France, indicating his aspirations if not his actual achievements. A.V.B. Norman suggested that the very restrained and elegant embossing of A108 seemed to resemble more closely that on the armour 'de los mascarones relevados', made for Charles V by the brothers Filippo and Francesco Negroli in 1539 (Madrid, Real Armeria, No. A139), although less crisply rendered, rather than the relatively crude and pedestrian embossing of A112 at Madrid, and of the armour of Carlo Bozzolo di Gonzaga at Vienna. A109|1|1|The skull of this dramatic parade helmet has been embossed on the brow with a large acanthus leaf and on either side with a winged sphinx, seated, with a spray of honeysuckle at the back. There is a short, gilt fruit-shaped knob, forming an apex. Around the head runs a band of gilded guilloche ornament. The peak is boldly embossed as a monster- or dolphin-mask; the neck-guard is decorated with parallel lines of tegulation or brick-work, the border roped. Twin-holes for the crest, and rows of brass-headed rivets (probably replacements, those on the neck showing little regard for the decoration) for the lining and chin-strap. Pieces of leather and canvas still remain pinned down under the rivets. A gilded plume-holder is riveted to the back of the helmet. There is a pair of holes, one on each side of the comb to secure the plume. A fragment of a broad leather chin-strap survives
S. Pyhrr believes that A109 is identical to a helmet described in an inventory of the Medicean armoury (personal communication, 1983).
The rather clumsy design of this helmet and the pedestrian drawing of the sphinx are reminiscent of Filippo Orsoni of Mantua (see Hayward, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1982, pp. 1-16, Pis. 7-10). A151|1|1|Armet, composed of five parts: skull, with a boxed medial ridge (pierced with a keyhole-slot for a plume or crest) ending in a narrow tail beneath the cheek-pieces, which are kept in position by an oval stud, which replaces the original post for a rondel; strong brow reinforcing plate in front, similarly ridged to fit over the brow, cusped, and turned over to form a flange along the upper edge of the face-opening; cheek-pieces, hinged at the top, the left overlapping the right in front, turned-over edges at the face-opening, the lower edge being holed for the attachment of a mail aventail, the edges meet at the back over the tail-piece of the skull, the lower edge at the neck is not turned over, and there is a piece cut out in front opposite the mouth; visor, with the sight formed by the aperture between its upper edge and the brow; there are no breaths, but a hole on the right side shows where a tilting peg was fixed; it is pivoted at the sides and made detachable on the hinge-and-pin principle (see also Wallace Collection A152-3). It is secured to the right cheek-piece by a hook-and-eye. The helmet is held together around the neck by a strap which issues from slits in the left cheek-piece. There is a badly stamped armourer's mark at the back of the skull.
The skull illustrates the later evolution of the fifteenth-century armet, as illustrated by the skull of Wallace Collection A152. The visor of A152 like this one dates from the early sixteenth century, and both have convex profiles to the lower part of the visors. The visor of this example is very heavy, and the thickness varies drastically from the front (6mm thick) to the sides (-2mm). The guarded visor pivots are also typical of the very late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A similar helmet is shown in the portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale by Parmigianino, dated 1524, in the Galleria Nazionale, Naples (cat. no. 111). A152|1|1|Apart from the sallet and bevor, the other type of helmet favoured by knights and men-at-arms during the fifteenth century was the armet. Hinged cheek-pieces were first fitted to bascinet skulls in the 1390s, producing a helmet that could enclose the head and neck fully while also offering a close fit. The cheek-pieces allowed the helmet to be opened to accept the wearer’s head, then closed and secured tightly around the throat and face. Worn with a visor, a mail aventail and a bevor-like reinforcing piece called a wrapper, the armet gave substantial, multilayered protection to the whole head and neck. This kind of heavier armour was especially favoured by Italian and Iberian men-at-arms who fought primarily on horseback, although there is evidence that armets were also worn in France, Burgundy and England. Italian armourers also made armour for export, some even establishing workshops outside Italy better to serve their foreign clients.
This armet is an excellent example of its type, composed of a heavy skull, brow reinforce, and cheek-pieces. It is missing its original visor, wrapper, aventail and rondel, but its essential parts remain in excellent condition, complete with the original rivets, visor pivots and hinges. The brow reinforce has never been removed; a thin line of dark colour on the skull just behind its trailing edge strongly suggests that the whole helmet was once blued or blackened.
The skull carries three Italian armourer’s marks, possibly of Giacomo Cantoni, a Milanese master documented between 1478 and 1492. The same marks appear on two very similar armets, in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (c. 1470; inv. no. G.PO 672) and the Museo Diocesano, Mantua (c. 1460, inv. no. B1). These both retain their original visors, giving a good idea of what the visor of the Wallace Collection armet might have looked like. The marks are found again on a cuirass of the Portuguese hero Duarte of Almeida, called ‘O Decepado’, who lost both hands fighting the Castilians at the Battle of Toro (1 March 1476) and whose armour, taken from him by his enemies, is now in Toledo Cathedral. Its cuirass is extremely important because it shows how Italian armourers adjusted their armour designs to suit foreign taste. While Italian men-at-arms tended to prefer clean, simple lines, their Iberian counterparts had a liking for barbed or scalloped edges. Made for export to the Iberian peninsula, the Toledo cuirass has a plackart with a flamboyantly cusped top edge, a feature never found in Italy. The design of the Wallace Collection armet’s brow reinforce has been modified in the same way, with an additional point on either end at the back, where neither the Paris or Mantua armets have this feature. It is possible therefore that the Wallace Collection armet was also made for export to Iberia. A153|1|1|Armet, composed of five parts: skull, with a high, roped medial ridge, continuing in a tail-piece to the neck, which ends in a crescent-shaped finial fitting over the cheek-pieces. The skull is stamped on the left side with an armourer's mark and the comb is pierced on the top of the head by a small hole for a holder for a plume or for the top of the lining; reinforcing brow plate with turned-over edges at the face-opening, crest-hole and deeply scalloped edges at the back; cheek-pieces, hinged at the top, the lower edges being roped, or twisted, and pierced with a series of small holes for the attachment of the lining (in the left cheek-piece this is an addition); on the right cheek-piece is a hole now filled with a rivet, probably originally for the spring of the catch keeping the visor in the closed position; there is a cross of five holes at each side for ventilation; visor, strongly salient, with two sights, the lower part embossed with a series of horizontal ridges. There are twelve holes on each side for breathing purposes; it is pivoted with an invisible pin and hinge, and secured with a spring-catch on the right side. The sights are on a slightly raised step. The lifting-peg for the visor has been broken off. A strap and buckle (which issues from slits in the left cheek-piece) binds the whole together. The whole surface is blued, the roping and edges are marked by engraved lines, and in some parts with a series of incised crescents.

The armourer's mark, much worn, appears to be the letters M F R crowned. In the Real Armería, Madrid (inv. no. A 4) is an armour which bears the same mark. Its general form and serrated edge resembles one of the marks attributed by Gelli (probably incorrectly) to the brothers Francesco and Gabriel Merate of Milan. Lakinwas right in calling this a distinctively Spanish type, although it may have been made in Milan for the Spanish market; helmets of this form were also common in the Low Countries, especially those areas under Habsburg rule. This type of visor, pointed and horizontally fluted in the lower part, besides occurring on an armet in the Real Armería, is found on a sallet there (inv. no. D 14); on a Spanish helmet in Musée de l' Armée, Paris (inv. no. H.Po. 554; formerly in the Pauilhac Collection), with NI and compass mark, and the name, SILVA, which suggest a Portuguese agent; on a close-helmet in the late Mr. Cripps-Day's collection; and a detached visor (formerly belonging to the Baron de Cosson, and then in the collection of Dr. Richard Williams, F.S.A) now in the Royal Armouries (inv. no. IV.579).

A comparable armet forms part of a complete armour, said to be that of Karel, Duke of GeIre (died 1538), preserved in Arnhem Cathedral. It is thought possibly to be of Netherlandish manufacture. (Anon., Legermuseum,1963, pp. 22-4). Another is preserved in an English family armoury. An example is depicted by a follower of Bernard van Orley in The Virgin and Child with Herman Gomez as a donor, painted about 1516 (Prado, Madrid, inv. no.1934). A154|1|1|This armet, together with the matching pair of complete leg defences with sabatons (A286-7), is almost all that is left of a once spectacular armour made in the court workshop of the German Emperor Maximilian I (1459- 1519). The only other surviving piece appears to be a gauntlet, bearing the date ‘1511’, in Abbotsford in Scotland, part of the collection formed by Sir Walter Scott in the early nineteenth century.

The armour was the work of Konrad Seusenhofer, Maximilian’s court armourer and master of his famous workshop at Innsbruck. The pieces are decorated with acid-etching, an early instance of this form of armour decoration, the etched bands containing scrolling foliage and pomegranates. The pomegranate was one of Maximilian’s personal devices; many of his portraits show him holding one of these seed-filled fruits, a symbol of the suffering and resurrection of Jesus, the husk as it splits reveals the red droplets inside-an immediate reminder of the Passion.

Maximilian was a great armour-enthusiast. He worked closely with his court armourers to create new, ground-breaking armour designs. He had many armours, for war, jousts, tournaments and parades, including several others in a very similar style to the one to which these pieces once belonged. Parts of another of these armours, the leg armour, vambraces, and gauntlets, now are incorporated into a composite armour at Vienna (inv. no. A110), while Maximilian is depicted wearing similar armours in numerous printed portraits and on the kneeling figure that surmounts his cenotaph at Innsbruck (c. 1555-65). A similar helmet, attributed to Konrad Seusenhofer, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. M2708-1931). A155|1|1|Armet, having a slightly ridged skull which rises to a sharp point at the apex; twin crest-holes on either side and at the back, for attaching the lining; chin-pieces hinged low down at the back, each pierced with a group of holes, meeting at the chin and secured by a stud. The pointed visor, made in one piece, is cut with horizontal sights and pierced with holes for breathing; it fastens with a spring-catch on the left side, where there is also a lifting-peg, an unusual position. The spring-catch and peg may have been added later, as a notch in the eye suggests there may formerly have been a hook-and-eye. The alteration to the method of locking the visor down suggests that the present visor is not original to this helmet. The line of the cheek-pieces is carried on across the visor. The left side has been repaired near the pivot. The lower edge is flanged to revolve over the gorget. The pivots of the visor are decorated with later brass rosette-washers and round-headed rivets round the neck for the lining strap. A156|1|1|Armet of the 'Maximilian' style, the skull deeply fluted and distinguished by an impressive triple comb, the central ridge higher and scaled, the ones on either side roped en torsade. The visor has a sharply-ridged bellows form, pierced with pairs of slits for breathing; spring-catch and hole on the right side for lifting-peg (missing); cheek-pieces hinged at the sides, overlapping in front and fixed by a turning-pin, with a large head like a thumb-screw; the bottom edge, like the lower edge of the skull, is roped and hollowed to fit over the top plate of the gorget. The top of the central comb is pierced at the centre by a hole for a plume or for the top of the lining. There are four small holes at the nape of the neck for the lining laces. Compare to the Wallace Collection close-helmet A162. A157|1|1|Armet in the 'Maximilian' style, having a skull with two groups of flutes on either side of the heavily roped and twisted medial ridge. At the back are eight pairs of small holes for lacing in the lining. At the back of the neck is a single hole for the missing rondel; bellows visor pierced with two horizontal sights, and circular holes between the ridges, the upper edge cusped, six additional breaths have been pierced at a later date on the right side of the visor; cheek-pieces hinged near the back and overlapping at the chin, where they are secured by a hook-and-eye. The jaw is quite narrow. Each cheek-piece is pierced with a rosette of nine holes for hearing. The lower edge is circular and embossed to rotate on the upper rim of the gorget, and chiselled with lines to represent roping (see also inv. nos. A168 and A187). The pivot of the visor on the left side has been restored (before 1962), that on the right taking the form of a brass rosette (later). The top of the medial ridge is pierced at the centre by a hole for a plume or for the top of the lining. There are four small holes at the nape of the neck for the lining-laces.

In outline and certain of its details, this helmet resembles in general form one formerly in the Rotunda, Woolwich, and now in the Royal Armouries (inv. no. IV.412). A158|1|1|Although the Maximilian style was introduced by Imperial court armourers working in Augsburg and Innsbruck, it was in Nuremberg that the vast majority of pieces in this style were made. Many Nuremberg craftsmen made low- or medium-grade armour in vast quantities, although higher-quality equipment for wealthy patrons was also made there.

This beautifully sculpted close-helmet exemplifies the best Nuremberg work. Although this example is not marked, several other helmets carrying marks and clearly by the same master, survive in other collections. Three of these, two in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (inv. nos. H.66 and H.79) and one in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (IV.501), carry the ‘pearled N’, a Nuremberg quality mark.

The visor of this piece is one of only a few known specimens embossed in the German ‘vernacular’ style incorporating human or animal masks. Such visors were worn on a variety of ceremonial and festive occasions. Comparable works are the fox visor for an armet made for the Emperor Ferdinand I by Hans Seusenhofer between 1526 and 1529 (Hofjagd -und Rüstkammer, Vienna A461) and another armet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (29.150.3) which has a visor skilfully formed into the head of a cockerel, wattles and all. Like other surviving animal mask visors made in South Germany around the same time, the Wallace Collection helmet represents its subject, in this case an eagle’s head, through an impressive demonstration of steel embossing. The sculpted head is further embellished with delicately-etched plumage and detailing and with two original copper alloy rivets forming the eagle’s eyes. A162|1|1|Close-helmet, having a low, globular skull embossed with five combs puffed and slashed and pierced by two pairs of holes behind the ears for laces securing the internal cross-straps (now missing). It is also etched with alternate bands of candelabra-ornament and of floral scrolls. The visor in one piece, of bellows form, with two narrow apertures for the sight and eight horizontal slits on each side of double key-hole shape along the four ridges; on the right side is a spring-catch and the left lower edge is doubly notched, presumably to engage the visor-prop; a hole for pivoting this is in the chin-piece below. The lower edge of the visor is etched with flowers, rows of disks threaded on a central cord, and various kinds of scale-work. The chin-piece is of the general form typically found on German close-helmets of this period, but, unusually, it is hinged on the left side in the manner of a contemporary armet, and is fastened by means of a spring-catch with projecting flat-headed knob on the right side of the skull; the lower edge, like that of the skull, is slashed and hollowed to fit over a gorget; the borders are etched with bands of conventional flowers; round-headed rivets for the lining straps, parts of which remain.

The visor, chin-piece and skull show numerous repairs and the etched decoration is much rubbed. Each of the rivets around the neck is surrounded by a circle of petals so that it appears to be the centre of a cinquefoil. A lifting-peg is presumably missing from one of the holes on the right of the visor. Compare with the close-helmets A156-7; the latter is of somewhat similar workmanship.

A chin-piece hinged on one side is rare (see also Musée de l' Armée, No. G 5). This construction is found only on a small group of German close-helmets, the earliest of which is one made for the Emperor Maximilian I, probably made in 1492, by Lorenz Helmschmid of Augsburg (Hofjagd -und Rüstkammer, Vienna, inv. no. A79; Thomas & Gamber, Katalog der Leibrustkammer, I, 1976, pp. 111-13). The etching on the Wallace Collection example is of a rather unusual type. The motifs are outlined with a fairly broad line and the ground is not recessed.

This helmet is exhibited with the puffed and slashed armour, No. A28, which, though appropriate, does not belong to it. A163|1|1|Armet for the field, having a plain skull with a sharp medial ridge and with each side formed into two boxed planes; the lower edge hollowed and roped like the skull.
This helmet was for many years mounted on the fluted armour A26, and was so illustrated by Skelton (1830). It has since been removed and a fluted helmet substituted. A163 can never have belonged to this armour, being of quite a different style and workmanship, but, as Meyrick pointed out, the hollow, roped edge of the base happened to fit precisely the upper rim of the gorget on the fluted armour.
This helmet is very similar in construction and form to that on an armour formerly in the Zeughaus at Berlin which bears the mark of Valentin Siebenbürger of Nuremberg, and the arms of Joachim II Hector, Kurfürst von Brandenburg (1531-71). It is now in the State Historical Museum at Moscow (see 'Spoils of war in the State Historical Museum, Moscow', Connoisseur, CLXV, 1967, p. 2). A biography of Valentine Siebenbürger, one of the leading Nuremberg armourers of his day, is given by A. von Reitzenstein, in Beitrage zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte Nürnbergs, II, 1967, pp. 720-22. Valentin Siebenbürger is first mentioned in 1531, possibly at the time that he became a master. He had a house in Nuremberg in the upper Schmiedgasse below the castle, where he died in 1564. His wife, Anna, younger daughter of the armourer Wilhelm von Worms the elder, had probably died in 1547. From 1536 he is frequently found petitioning the City Council to be allowed to employ more than the permitted number of journeymen, because of pressure of work. In 1537/8 he was working for the Stuttgart court, in 1541 for the gentlemen of the Imperial court, and in 1543 for Albrecht, Duke of Prussia. In 1544 he delivered a Rennzeug to Jacob Rosenpusch, the court Armourer of the Duke of Prussia. In 1545 he was working for the Emperor Charles V himself. Apart from personal armours, Siebenbürger also made munition armours, as when he delivered one hundred armours on the order of the Imperial Master of the Horse, Herr von Andelot, in 1551. (Von Reitzenstein, 1967, pp. 720-22). Among other things, he refurbished the series of joust armours of the City of Nuremburg and extended it (see under No. A23). A field armour made by Siebenbürger about 1530, apparently for Phillip, Count Palatine of the Rhine, was published by Von Reitzenstein (Waffen- und Kostümkunde,1973, pp.99-108). A164|1|1|Richly etched with foliage, flowers, hares, and hounds, the armour to which this fine helmet and gauntlets belong is a testament to the virtuosity of South German armourers in the sixteenth century. It was made by the great Landshut master Wolfgang Grosschedel, probably for Pankraz von Freyburg (1508-65) of Schloss Hohenaschau. Wolfgang Grosschedel was one of the most famous armourers of his age. The favourite of King Philip II of Spain, he also made rich garnitures for the Emperor Ferdinand I and his son and successor Maximilian II. He appears to have served as a journeyman or apprentice at the English royal workshops of King Henry VIII at Greenwich, being named in a royal workshop list of 1517-18. Yet by 1521 he was back in Germany, when he was recorded as a citizen of Landshut. The Freyberg armour demonstrates that by the 1530s, if not before, he had become a master in this own right. His works exhibit a harmony between their distinct elegance of form and their complex, yet restrained, etched decoration.
The armet is significant since it is the only one in the Wallace Collection with two visors. By the early sixteenth century knights had to be prepared to fight in a number of different ways, each form of combat requiring specific armour and weapons. These two visors are interchangeable, both fitting perfectly onto the same helmet skull, each designed for a particular combat use. The first is made in two parts, a lower face-defence and an upper guard for the eyes and brow, and for use in war. It offers good protection from a wide variety of weapons while also allowing reasonable vision and ventilation. The upper part of the visor can also be raised while the lower part remains locked in place, or alternatively, the whole visor can be raised as a single unit. The second visor is quite different, being made in a single piece and pierced with many more holes and slots. The wearer’s ability to see and breathe are therefore much improved, but the protection it can provide is reduced by comparison with the war visor. It was almost certainly designed for the tourney, a type of tournament combat fought in teams with rebated swords or clubs.
This garniture’s etched decoration features hunting as its primary theme; packs of hunting dogs pursue their prey through the beautiful bands that decorate the helmet’s borders and medial ridge, while birds peck through the undergrowth along the cuffs of the gauntlets. Human figures and ornaments are taken from engravings by the German printmaker Barthel Beham. One of the most striking ornamental details is the boarhound collar, complete with fearsome spikes, etched so as to encircle the wearer’s own neck. It is almost as though the knight himself has become a furious hunting dog, straining to be let loose by his feudal master. Similar collars appear on a number of other Landshut helmets, including the bevor of a close-helmet in the Victoria and Albert Museum (c.1530-50; inv. M538-1927).
The whole Freyburg garniture was probably decorated by Ambrosius Gemlich, a master of the difficult art of acid-etching. Here he employed two distinct etching techniques. The first, ‘basic’ etching, involved the ornamental design being burned into the metal through the selective application of acid, perhaps nitric acid. The second, more advanced technique –usually called ‘raised’ etching– is a more complicated process, in which the background is etched into the steel rather than the design itself, allowing the design to remain proud against a sunken ground. In this case the very detailed contents of the ornamental bands are picked out using the raised etching technique, while their edges are framed and accentuated with further embellishments created in basic etching. The Freyberg garniture is a fine example of the dramatic effect to be achieved by using both forms of etching together.
The helmet and gauntlets appear to have been separated from their armour since at least the 1850s. They appear in two studies, probably by an English artist, drawn around 1855. The Wallace Collection helmet is shown mounted on an Italian armour now also in the Wallace Collection (c. 1570; inv. A54), while the rest of the armour is shown mounted with a different helmet and a later horse armour attributed to Wolfgang Großschedel, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (horse armour dated 1554; inv. 23.261). A165|1|1|The Helmschmid family were defined as armourer-artists by their highly original designs and constructions. Their work usually displays a startling level of mechanical precision, combined with an utterly natural and intuitive feel for aesthetics. This fusion of engineering and artistry makes pieces by the Helmschmids stand out as exceptional amongst the works of even the best of their contemporaries.
This armet, the design of which may be unique, is everything one would expect from a Helmschmid piece. The cheek-pieces are cut very low around the face, so that the wearer’s chin would protrude beyond them. The visor has then been extended downward, the base being carefully sculpted to envelope the exposed chin. Although no other helmet displaying this construction survives, something very similar is illustrated in the famous ‘Thun sketchbook’, an album of heterogeneous sixteenth- and seventeenth-century armourer’s drawings, the majority of which depict the work, both preserved and lost, of the Helmschmids.
The technical distinction and high quality of this helmet suggest that it may therefore be a previously unrecognised work by Kolman or Desiderius Helmschmid, or one of their relatives. It certainly is etched in the style of Daniel Hopfer, the master etcher who worked closely with the Helmschmids. The key elements of the etched decoration –the ‘wolf’s teeth’ borders, the extremely fine stippled grounds, the spray of foliage at the brow, the beasts with the heads of human females, complete with contemporary headwear, are all characteristic of Hopfer and his followers. A166|1|1|Close-helmet for the filed, having a skull with a graceful medial keel, the ridge slightly roped and pierced with two small holes, and on either side at the back four more arranged in two pairs. Further forward are two pairs of brass-headed rivets, one of each having an exceptionally large head. The skull is secured to the chin-piece by a spring-catch. At the base is a row of steel-headed lining rivets. The helmet is of the type which fits over the top plate of the gorget, and in this example the circular hollow rim is made of a separate piece riveted to the base of the skull. At the base of the comb is a gilt-brass plume-holder stamped with arabesques and strapwork. There are faint traces of the original blued surface round the lining-strap rivets above the face-opening. The visor is cut with two horizontal sights, below which it is thrown out a strong protective ridge. On the right side are five slits for ventilation. The short lifting-peg also actuates a spring-catch which secures the visor to the upper bevor. This latter is pierced on the right side with eight key-hole slits and four holes for ventilation, and a hole for the spring-catch which secures it to the chin-piece. The chin-piece or lower bevor is pierced on either side with a circle of eleven holes for hearing, and furnished with a spring-catch for the bevor. The base is bordered with steel-headed lining-strap rivets, and the flange for the gorget is riveted on like that of the skull. All four parts of the helmet turn on the same two pivots, which are capped with hemispherical, slotted nuts.
This helmet has been converted to turn on the gorget. Originally it was fitted with its own gorget-plates. The spring-loaded catch locking the skull to the lower bevor on the right side was originally secured by means of a hook, the point of which passed through the end of the locking-pin. The visor-prop is missing. A167|1|1|The North German armourer’s penchant for exaggeration of the form or character of his work can be seen in the design of helmets. This example has a stretched, almost distorted quality in its profile. Its skull has been pulled up and back, making the head look larger and longer, while the visor has been drawn out and down, the point or ‘nose’ being much longer and sharper than those made anywhere else in Europe. The face has also been made very narrow side-to-side, further exaggerating its forward-extension. A168|1|1|Like Wallace Collection A167, this helmet is a good example of the pronounced, stretched, and perhaps slightly strange visual qualities of helmets made in north Germany.
The form of this helmet is perhaps little less extreme than A167, but its appearance is still quite distinctive. The point of the visor drops very drastically down from the sights, and has been stretched forward quite considerably, necessitating a deep, scooping curve in the lower face, so that the visor can meet the chin correctly. This example also includes a highly unusual form of double sight, the slots of which are cut into a visor that is, strangely, designed to sit over the upper bevor at the sides, an overlap that reverses half way towards the front by means of small vertical slits, through which the edge of the visor passes. Both features, the double-sights and the overlapping/underlapping visor, appear to be found only in north German work. A186|1|1|For over two hundred years after they first appeared at the very end of the eleventh century, jousts were run using the same armour and weapons used for war. This nominally friendly or at least civil practice was however just as dangerous as real battle, and from the early fourteenth century (if not earlier), efforts began to be made to develop specialised ‘safety’ armour to be used only for non-lethal sporting jousts.
In battle, the most effective way for a mounted knight to disable his similarly equipped opponents was to avoid the armour entirely and strike an opponent through the eyes, killing him instantly or at least significantly injuring him. The ability consistently to strike opponents in the upper face in mounted charges with the couched spear was a difficult skill requiring continual practice, which was provided by the joust. Special jousting armour was developed to allow such lethal skills to be honed in relative safety. From the late fourteenth century we find documentary references to the hastiludia pacifica (‘joust of peace’), clearly differentiated from the hastiludia de guerre (‘joust of war’), the older, more dangerous form of the game.
This helm, designed for the joust of peace, is quite an early example of its type. Made of steel up to 6mm thick, it is over twice the weight of a war helmet. Its so-called ‘frog-mouthed’ design is characterised by the prow-like face-plate, drawn out well in front of the face so that lances break harmlessly against it, like waves against the bow of a ship. The projecting lip makes it much more difficult for an incoming lance to accidentally enter the eye-slot or ‘sight’. If the rider was knocked backwards by the force of his opponent’s blow, the projecting lip of his helm, angling upwards, offered instantaneous and complete protection from splinters or lance-points skating up into his face.
Helms such as this are often very difficult to date, the ‘frog-mouthed’ design being so successful that they remained in use for well over a century. The relative plainness of the form and construction suggests that this example was made in the first half of the fifteenth century. A191|1|1|Close-helmet for the joust, solidly constructed of five parts: skull, with central comb, laterally pierced for the attachment of one of the elaborate feather crests fashionable in the second half of the sixteenth century, with a plume-holder with spring-catch at the back of the neck. Visor pivoted at the sides and with single, horizontal sight, to which is riveted on the brow, a reinforcing-plate fitting closely over the forehead of the skull. The lifting-peg is missing. Upper bevor pivoted at the same points as the visor and shaped to fit closely to the lower edge of the sight. It has a small trap-door on the right. The upper bevor is fixed to the visor by a hook-and-eye, and a large triangular-headed key, and to the chin-piece by a hinge and turning-pin. Lower bevor or chin-plate, pivoted at the same points as the visor and upper bevor. It is fastened to the lower part of the skull by a hinged strap and turning-pin. The trap-door is closed by a latch. The hook and eye can be locked into position by means of a screw which was probably fitted with a winged head. The upper bevor is pierced by a threaded hole on the right side for a reinforce. The position of this hole has been altered at some time.
The helmet is decorated with parallel bands of etched, floral, scroll ornament, the ground granulated and gilt, the bands bordered with narrow lines of guilloche ornament, and engrailed at the edges. The form of the decoration is the same as that upon the gauntlet and vamplate, Wallace Collection nos. A278, 346. This helmet retains its original lining of padded crimson velvet, quilted, knotted and still in good condition. There are holes for fixing a grand guard.

The same decoration is found on an armour in the Royal Armouries, which came traditionally from the Ducal armoury at Lucca and passed into the Botfield Collection at Norton Hall in the nineteenth century; all probably belong to the same garniture. This helmet closely resembles one illustrated in the catalogue of the de Rosière sale, 1860, lot 30 (wrongly described as lot 70 on the plate), and may be identical with it.

A left pauldron for the tilt with the same decoration is in the Bargello, Florence (M1427). This came either from the Medicean or from the della Rovere armouries (Thomas & Boccia in the exhibition catalogue Österreichische Florenzhilfe, Vienna 1970, p. 57; and letters of L. G. Boccia, August 1973 and 13th April 1977). What must almost certainly be the helmet of the so-called 'Lucca armour' in the Royal Armouries, which is very similarly decorated ( II.146; Dufty and Reid, 1968, PI. LXI left), appears on the table in the portrait, possibly by Justus Sustermans, of Ferdinando II dei Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, painted in the 1640s (Schloss Ambras, Porträtgalerie, Cat. No. 255). The Duke is wearing the Royal Armouries armour, which the painter has modernised by giving it long laminated tassets to the knee in the seventeenth-century style. It appears, therefore, that the Royal Armouries armour was also at one time in Florence in the Medicean armoury. The pauldron still there presumably belongs to it and, therefore, the present helmet A191 may well have belonged to it also. The garniture could have belonged either to Cosimo I dei Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1519, Grand Duke 1537-74), or, since the Medicean armoury also includes that of the Dukes of Urbino, to Guidobaldo II della Rovere-Montefeltro (born 1513, reigned 1538-74). A193|1|1|The German and west European sallets of the fifteenth century only protected the face to the level of the nose or upper lip. The lower face was either left uncovered or was protected with a bevor, the term deriving from the Norman French verb baver or baaver, meaning to dribble or slaver. The name of this part of the fifteenth-century knights armour is unusually well deserved. Used as a noun the same word could also refer to a bib. Rather than protecting against dribbling however, the ‘armoured bib’ can make the wearer look as though he is drooling. When worn for long periods, the wearer’s breath condenses on the interior surface of the plates, the moisture then gathering and running down the neck- and breastplates. Many bevors were made with a solid chin-plate extending up above the mouth and sometimes also covering the nose. The difficulty with the design was that the piece had to be removed completely if the wearer needed to eat, drink or simply get more air. This example however includes a pivoted upper plate held in the raised position by a spring-pin. When the pin is depressed, the upper plate drops down to expose the nose and mouth. Made by the Landshut master Matthes Deutsch, it was probably once worn with a sallet of very similar form to one by the same master in the Metropolitan Museum (c. 1490; Inv. 29.150.89). A197|1|1|Falling buffe, designed to be worn with a burgonet. Made up of three plates. The upper plate has a turned-over and roped edge with a row of lining holes below; the right side is pierced with cruciform apertures, the left with round holes in groups of four; the two upper (falling) plates are each kept in place by a spring-catch; the bottom plate, shaped to the chin, is without piercings and has a hinge at the right side for attachment to the burgonet. There is a vertical bar of diamond section behind the falling-plates to give protection to the face when they were lowered. This vertical bar is riveted to the lower plate. The surface is embossed in low relief with flat, conventional leaves, which suggests that this piece belonged to a black-and-white armour. The gorget-plate or plates are missing.
A North German origin of this piece is suggested by the presence of a narrow embossed band running only a short distance below the upper edge of the top place, to emphasise the border. This band draws down to a point in the middle of the face, along the medial ridge. Such narrow bands of 'bracket' form are characteristic of North German armour of this period. A199|1|1|Wrapper or reinforcing bevor, designed to be worn on a close-helmet in the free tourney. The left side of the piece is prolonged and bossed to fit over the pivot of the visor; both sides are embossed in two places so that the straps for attachment around the back of the head will sit flush with the inner face. A single gorget-plate has been riveted to the lower edge of the face-plate, with a turned-under and sunk border and roped edge; decorated with eleven brass-capped rivets. The falling bevor A198 is of similar workmanship.
The free tourney (Germ. Freiturnier) was a special version of the traditional ‘mêlée’ tournament. It was characteristic of chivalric festivals in the German Lands, although it was not exclusive to them; free tourneys are also documented in the Low Countries and England. The free tourney represented an attempt to reconstruct the archetypal medieval battle as described in the chivalric romances- affairs fought exclusively by knights on horseback, rich in opportunities for knightly derring-do which at the same time were stripped of inconvenient modern truths such as pike-wielding, gun-toting infantry. In the free tourney two teams of around ten or more mounted men-at-arms first charged each other in an encounter with lances, before drawing swords and setting to for as long as the judges and ladies deemed appropriate. Special reinforcing pieces were worn in the free tourney however they were usually designed to be subtle and unobtrusive, so as not to depart too far from the appearance of men in war armour. Above all the free tourney was a profound test of a knight’s riding ability, close-combat with the sword requiring very intense and sometimes violent manoeuvres at the canter and gallop. Leg armour for the free tourney in the second half of the sixteenth century therefore was cut away around the inner surfaces of the legs, allowing a closer contact with the horse’s sides and thus guaranteeing the best possible communication between horse and rider. Since the fighting conditions were prescribed and limited to mounted combat, protection for the legs could be reduced in favour of comfort in a way that was not permissible for heavy cavalry operations on the battlefield. A200|1|1|Visor reinforce, having a central ridge; straight top edge, the bottom cusped and shaped, the sides extended and pierced with small holes for attachment. An embossed ridge of the extensions on each side would have corresponded with a similar moulding on the original helmet. A hole pierced on the left side has a rough burr and is fairly recent.
A rather similar plate is found on an armour, probably of Innsbruck manufacture, in the Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen, dated 1545 (inv. no. 21521). It covers the pierced portion of the lower visor, and pivots on the bevor. (Thomas, Vaabenhistoriske Aarbøger, XIa, pp.147-63.) A206|1|1|Left cheek-piece of a burgonet, of blued steel decorated with lions' masks in the centre, and bands of foliage on the borders, etched and gilt; roped edges; a flat, rosette-headed stud in the centre and a hinge at the top for attachment to the rest of the helmet; there are rivets at the edges to secure the lining strap, part of which remains. These pieces are shaped so as to meet and fasten under the chin with an eye and a buckle (the latter of later date).
The etching consists of rather lush foliage on a plain sunk ground, all fire-gilt, characteristic of armour of the Negroli school. Thomas & Gamber, Storia di Milano, 1958, p. 760.
On the advice of H. R. Robinson, Thomas and Gamber (loc. cit.) connected A206 and its mate A207 with the buff in the Royal Armouries which is signed PHĨ E FRÃ DE NEGROLIS.F (the N and E conjoined), and dated MD XXXVIII (Royal Armouries IV.477; Dufty & Reid, 1968, Pl. CXXXV). This was confirmed in 1975 when Robinson and A.V.B. Norman brought the three pieces together and found that they fitted perfectly. R. Lightbrown suggested that the inscription should probably be expanded to 'Philippus et Franciscus de Negrolis fecerunt' or that, very much less probably, Frã might be expanded to Fratres (letter of 7 March 1983). Thomas and Gamber also connected these pieces with the movable peak of a burgonet in the Bargello, Florence (inv. no. M7771), embossed with a grotesque mask like that on the Royal Armouries buffe. This peak was subsequently illustrated by Boccia and Coelho (1967, Pl. 253, p. 330) who supported the suggestion and pointed out that this piece comes from the old Medicean armoury and is therefore likely to have belonged either to Cosimo I dei Medici (born 1519, Grand Duke 1537-74), or, since the Medici inherited the della Rovere-Montefeltro armoury, to Guidobaldo II della Rovere-Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (born 1513 reigned 1538-74). It is possible that a pair of poleyns from long laminated tassets in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, may also be parts of this armour (Lenz, 1908, Pl. XVII, No. 1.296).
Laking's suggestiothat the buffe might have belonged to the Emperor Charles V and have come from Madrid seems to have been without foundation (Record, IV, p. 145). Boccia and Coelho (loc. cit.) have pointed out that it does not seem to correspond with anything illustrated in the Inventario Illuminado or described in the Relación de Valladolid, the two surviving inventories of the armoury of Charles V. A207|1|1|Right cheek-piece of a burgonet, of blued steel decorated with lions' masks in the centre, and bands of foliage on the borders, etched and gilt; roped edges; a flat, rosette-headed stud in the centre and a hinge at the top for attachment to the rest of the helmet; there are rivets at the edges to secure the lining strap, part of which remains. These pieces are shaped so as to meet and fasten under the chin with an eye and a buckle (the latter of later date).
The etching consists of rather lush foliage on a plain sunk ground, all fire-gilt, characteristic of armour of the Negroli school. Thomas & Gamber, Storia di Milano, 1958, p. 760.
On the advice of H. R. Robinson, Thomas and Gamber (loc. cit.) connected A207 and its mate A206 with the buff in the Royal Armouries which is signed PHĨ E FRÃ DE NEGROLIS.F (the N and E conjoined), and dated MD XXXVIII (Royal Armouries IV.477; Dufty & Reid, 1968, Pl. CXXXV). This was confirmed in 1975 when Robinson and A.V.B. Norman brought the three pieces together and found that they fitted perfectly. R. Lightbrown suggested that the inscription should probably be expanded to 'Philippus et Franciscus de Negrolis fecerunt' or that, very much less probably, Frã might be expanded to Fratres (letter of 7 March 1983). Thomas and Gamber also connected these pieces with the movable peak of a burgonet in the Bargello, Florence (inv. no. M7771), embossed with a grotesque mask like that on the Royal Armouries buffe. This peak was subsequently illustrated by Boccia and Coelho (1967, Pl. 253, p. 330) who supported the suggestion and pointed out that this piece comes from the old Medicean armoury and is therefore likely to have belonged either to Cosimo I dei Medici (born 1519, Grand Duke 1537-74), or, since the Medici inherited the della Rovere-Montefeltro armoury, to Guidobaldo II della Rovere-Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (born 1513 reigned 1538-74). It is possible that a pair of poleyns from long laminated tassets in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, may also be parts of this armour (Lenz, 1908, Pl. XVII, No. 1.296).
Laking's suggestiothat the buffe might have belonged to the Emperor Charles V and have come from Madrid seems to have been without foundation (Record, IV, p. 145). Boccia and Coelho (loc. cit.) have pointed out that it does not seem to correspond with anything illustrated in the Inventario Illuminado or described in the Relación de Valladolid, the two surviving inventories of the armoury of Charles V. A208|1|1|Backplate in the German 'Gothic' style, composed of seven plates. The main plate covering the upper part of the back is cut to a V-shape at the top and the space so made is filled by a separate plate, attached by three rivets. It is articulated by a narrow lame to a fourth plate covering the small of the back. To this is attached a skirt of three plates. The whole is elegantly embossed with pleated flutes and the edges are cut into cusps corresponding with the flutes. That the second plate from the top is missing is shown by the fact that the flutes do not coincide. The uppermost lame of the skirt is also missing.The round holes in the centre of the back were probably made at a much later date. On the narrow centre plate is a scored mark which has in the past been thought to resemble the mark of an armourer or assessor, but was in fact made by a modern drill, slipping as an attempt was made to bore a new hole in the plate.
Two old buckles are attached to the shoulders.
Compare to the backplate of Wallace Collection A21, and one from the Hearst Collection in the Royal Armouries (III.1287).
Thipiece s is a good example of its kind. Most multi-plate Gothic back-plates with pleated flutings are of German origin, but armour 'alla tedesca' (in the German fashion) was also produced in Italy. Compare that in the painting of The Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni, dated 1482, in the church of Sant' Agostino at Siena (Archaeologia, LXXX, p. 136, Pl. XXIX, 5). A209|1|1|Reinforcing breastplate, globose in form, the right side cut away for the passage of the lance-rest, the middle pierced with three pairs of holes, arranged vertically. The lower holes in the breast are for attaching it to the breastplate, and the upper ones probably for attaching the reinforcing buff. It is boldly flanged below the waist and carries a skirt of two widely-splayed plates, the bottom one arched in the centre.
Compare the reinforces for the armour of Andreas Graf Sonnenberg at Vienna (A310; Thomas & Gamber, Katalog der Leibrüstkammer, I, 1976, pp. 220-1). This was made by Kolman Helmschmid before 1511, the date of the count's death. A comparable reinforce with its buffe can be seen in the watercolour drawing of an armoury in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (No. H.B.2536/Kapsel 1254; Norman, J.A.A.S., VII, Pl. XLV). A210|1|1|Cuirass and tassets, consisting of: breastplate of globose form heavily roped at the neck and gussets, fluted in pairs, the surface between each pair etched with a vigorous design of birds, grotesque figures, musical emblems, masks and scrolls of roses and thistles on a granular ground; the sacred initials I · H · S are inscribed on the frieze at the top. The breastplate overlaps the waist-plate to which is attached a skirt of four lames. The top lame of the skirt is pierced at each end by a key-hole slot by which the rear skirt was formerly attached; tassets, of eight plates of like decoration. On the bottom plate of the left tasset is a nude figure with a spear and buckler, on the right one a like figure with a falchion and shield. There is a buckle and strap on the inner side for attachment round the thighs; backplate with single skirt plate, with four bands of etching depicting 1) a putto with bow and arrow, and the number XXIII in a tablet below; 2) Hercules wrestling with Antaeus; 3) Hercules strangling the Nemaean Lion; 4) a nude female figure with a spear and shield. The backplate has been extended on each side by a strip of steel to make room for the owner's expanding girth.

The etching contains motifs which appear in the prints of Daniel and Lambert Hopfer, and has been discussed at length in the Proceedings of the British Academy, XXVII, 1942, Pl. II. The etching is however not by the Hopfers themselves, but rather a follower or imitator.
The numerals XII (indicating the date 1523) also occur on an armour with similar etching in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Grancsay, Met. Mus. Bulletin, XXXV , 1939, p. 192), while the numerals XXIII are on the fluted armour, similarly etched, of Otto Heinrich, Count Palatine, at Vienna (A239; Thomas & Gamber, Katalog der Leibrüstkammer, I, 1976, pp. 223-4; made by Lorenz Helmschmid, 1516) and on a saddle at Warwick Castle (Mann, Z.H.W.K., XV, p. 52).
The etching of this group is vigorous and strong, involving cornucopias, birds and grotesque beasts among foliage on a granulated ground, and among its characteristics recur snub-nosed cherubs and harpies in profile, fluted globes, and an archer (after Hopfer). A breast- and back-plate, formerly in the Zouche Collection, etched with figures of the Virgin and Child between St. George and St. Christopher, with St. Roch and St. Sebastian on the back, later acquired by the Metropolitan Museum, New York, is of particular interest as the St. Sebastian is copied from a contemporary woodcut by Hans Baldung while the borders are etched in the style under discussion. Other members of the group are the armours of Wolfgang von Anhalt and Georg Frundsberg (1475-1528) at Vienna (Grosz & Thomas, I, 49 and 117); the Radziwill slashed breastplate formerly at Berlin, and now at Warsaw; a fluted armour in the Musée de l' Armée, No. G 31; and numerous others. A breastplate of very similar design is in the collection of Sir James Mann. In this case the fluting is triple, not in pairs, and the etching, like that on Otto Heinrich's armour, has a plain ground.
The connection with Hopfer was first suggested by Dr. Paul Post in a study of the armour of Friedrich von Liegnitz at Berlin (Jahrbuch der Preuss. Kunstsammlungen, XLIX) where he identified motifs taken from the Hopfers' prints, but in that case the ground is hatched, not granulated.
The only signed example of etching by Daniel Hopfer on armour is the trellised targe for the joust in the German fashion at Madrid (A57), dated 1526, the last year of his life. A211|1|1|Breastplate, strongly ridged down the middle and projecting in a salient curve. The upper edge and the gussets are flanged and boldly roped; the latter are attached by sliding rivets. It is pierced on the right side with two holes for a lance-rest and has two buckles at the top; the borders are decorated with a V-shaped frieze and similar channels at the arm-holes (compare to the gauntlets A267-8, and armour A36). The flanged waist-plate overlaps the breastplate and supports a skirt of one lame, the edge channelled, roped en suite, and shaped as two curves parted in the centre. The upper edge of both plates is cut at the centre to the profile of a bracket.
The skirt is constructed so that the tassets could be hung from the inside, a feature of many of the Brunswick-Saxon group of armours. A plain half-armour of this type with burgonet and falling buff was sold at Sotheby's in 1941 (see Skelton, Pl. XXII). A212|1|1|Breastplate, of small size, heavy and with central ridge; the edges of the neck and of the gussets at the arm-holes are flanged and roped, and the edges of the arm-holes bevelled; two buckles at the top. Attached to the waist is a restored skirt plate. The rivets attaching the gussets and the skirt have fluted hemispherical steel heads. It is decorated with bands of foliage, etched in a distinctive style on a black and granulated ground. On the frieze at the neck are etched two mermen affronté, one wearing a mitre, the other, who is bearded, wearing a hat. A bird is included among the foliage of the central and the diagonal bands.
The backplate belonging to this breastplate is now in the Hermitage, St Petersberg (Z.O.3007). A214|1|1|Breastplate, of rounded form with no medial ridge, long-waisted, with strong flange of triangular section at the neck. It is cut away at the sides at the waist. The gussets are missing. Skirt of four lames; the upper edges of the bottom three are shaped in the centre as pairs of opposed dolphins. The skirt has been considerably altered at some time and the twin dolphins were probably cut off the top lame at that point. The skirt was originally fully lined as is shown by the position of the lining rivets.
The surface is rough from the hammer, blackened, and is decorated in the centre of the chest with the figure of St. Barbara, etched and gilt in a vesica; the slightly sunk borders of neck, arm-holes, sides and lames of the skirt are also etched and gilt with floral scrolls, and at the waist with scales like those on the dolphins.
The breast is pierced with two holes for the bolts of the lance-rest.
A214 is illustrated as the eighth cuirass among the drawings made by Antonio Dassi for the catalogue of the collection of Ambrogio Uboldo, preserved in the library of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. Comte de Belleval; a sketch of A214 has been inserted into the MS. copy of Belleval's La Panoplie, 1881, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; and beside it is a marginal note stating that it was formerly in the collection of the author and later passed to the Musée d'Artillerie, that is the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (S. Pyhrr, letter of 23rd May 1977).
St. Barbara of Nicomedia, Santa aussiliatrice, was the patron saint of armourers and gunners, and of all who worked in danger of a violent death; hence her frequent delineation on armour.
The etching of the right arm in the Museo Stibbert mentioned in J.A.A.S., VII, p. 202, as belonging to A214, is signed N.D. in minute letters (1917-18 Cat., No. 3154; Boccia, 1975 Cat., No. 133). A215|1|1|Cuirass, of strong build, with slight central ridge, the top edge strongly flanged to a triangular section, the arm-holes fitted with gussets similarly flanged and attached by sliding rivets. It is embossed in low relief with curved flutes radiating from the centre near the waist. A skirt of four lames is attached. The lowest lame of the skirt is pierced along its lower edge by a series of small holes, presumably either for a lining or for a leather to support a mail skirt. It is also pierced with four pairs of holes for straps for the tassets. The lowest lame of the rear skirt is embossed with a broad raised band decorated with diagonal ridges. Along the lower edge of this lame are seven rivets with flat circular heads inside decorated in typical Italian style, as in front, either for the lining or for a mail skirt. Four holes for a lance-rest have been drilled on the right side at a later date. The holes for the lance-rest were originally drilled on the wrong side, presumably by accident. Backplate with a skirt of three plates decorated with sunken, radiating flutes, the outer ones ending in volutes, the lower one retaining seven old rivets with decorated heads. There are buckles at the shoulders and at the waist.
See Mann, Archaeologia, LXXIX (1929), p. 228, Pl. LXXIII, where this breast is compared with one in a painting by Rondani. See also the pair of cuisses A289-90, which may belong to this cuirass. A231|1|1|Gorget, composed of a circular collar of three lames, and two short main plates, front and back respectively, fastened on each shoulder by a stud engaging in a key-slot. The rim of the collar is boldly turned over and roped with embossed and slashed cabling (sometimes called double-roping). The upper edges of the three other plates are cut into ornamental indentations, and the main plates are further ornamented by a sunk band with three ogival cusps front and back. The backplate carries straps on the shoulders for pauldrons. The front plate is stamped near the bottom edge with the Nuremberg mark.
Double roping of this kind can be seen on a gorget of an armour from the Meyrick Collection (Skelton, Pl. XX), now at Warwick Castle.
For the ogival cusps, compare the Wallace Collection gauntlets A267-8, and the half-armour A36, also of Nuremberg manufacture. A240|1|1|Cod-piece, of bright steel made in one piece with a flange covering the groin; central ridge underneath; hole at the top for attachment. Compare that on armour A36. A251|1|1|‘Hourglass’ gauntlets are a signature aspect of late fourteenth- and early fifteenth- century armour, worn by countless men-at-arms during the innumerable conflicts of a turbulent age, which included the ‘Hundred Years’ War between France and England (1337-1453), the ‘Great War’ of the Teutonic Knights against the Poles and Lithuanians (1409-11), the mercenary campaigns of Sir John Hawkwood in Italy (1363-94), and the ‘Last Crusade’ of European forces against the Turks (1396). The hourglass shape, wherein the gauntlet cuff is more or less the same length as the metacarpal plate covering the back of the hand, originated in the need to protect the hand while also retaining full mobility in the wrist. The short, sharply-flared cuff allowed the hand to be encased in metal while still allowing it to flex at the wrist in all directions.
As was often the case with fine armour of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, the superb pair of hourglass gauntlets in the Wallace Collection are decorated with borders of embossed and engraved copper alloy. The decoration is characterised by an engraving technique today generally called ‘wiggle-work’ and still a common metalworking technique, most often found on American ‘Western’ jewellery and saddlery. It is produced through the use of a fine graving tool, held closely in the hand and ‘wiggled’ back and forth while also moving slowly forward, creating a zigzag line. The cuffs are also engraved with the repeating word AMOR (‘love’), perhaps expressing the chivalric aspirations of the owner. These superbly decorated objects are the only remains of what must have been a very rich armour.
Like many medieval objects in the Wallace Collection, these gauntlets were once owned by Alfred Émilien, Comte de Nieuwerkerke, who allowed their study by the famous medievalist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Through careful examination and reference to comparative material, Viollet-le-Duc was able to reconstruct their original appearance, complete with defensive assemblies for each finger. The finger plates are now lost, as they are on the other two surviving pairs of hourglass gauntlets decorated in the same style. One of these pairs, at Churburg Castle in South Tyrol, is very similar to the Wallace pair, if perhaps slightly more ornate. More lavish still is the pair in the Museo del Bargello in Florence, which, in addition to the borders and wrist bands, also carry four ribs of copper alloy on the back of each hand, corresponding to the four metacarpal bones. A252|1|1|‘Hourglass’ gauntlets are a signature aspect of late fourteenth- and early fifteenth- century armour, worn by countless men-at-arms during the innumerable conflicts of a turbulent age, which included the ‘Hundred Years’ War between France and England (1337-1453), the ‘Great War’ of the Teutonic Knights against the Poles and Lithuanians (1409-11), the mercenary campaigns of Sir John Hawkwood in Italy (1363-94), and the ‘Last Crusade’ of European forces against the Turks (1396). The hourglass shape, wherein the gauntlet cuff is more or less the same length as the metacarpal plate covering the back of the hand, originated in the need to protect the hand while also retaining full mobility in the wrist. The short, sharply-flared cuff allowed the hand to be encased in metal while still allowing it to flex at the wrist in all directions.
As was often the case with fine armour of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, the superb pair of hourglass gauntlets in the Wallace Collection are decorated with borders of embossed and engraved copper alloy. The decoration is characterised by an engraving technique today generally called ‘wiggle-work’ and still a common metalworking technique, most often found on American ‘Western’ jewellery and saddlery. It is produced through the use of a fine graving tool, held closely in the hand and ‘wiggled’ back and forth while also moving slowly forward, creating a zigzag line. The cuffs are also engraved with the repeating word AMOR (‘love’), perhaps expressing the chivalric aspirations of the owner. These superbly decorated objects are the only remains of what must have been a very rich armour.
Like many medieval objects in the Wallace Collection, these gauntlets were once owned by Alfred Émilien, Comte de Nieuwerkerke, who allowed their study by the famous medievalist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Through careful examination and reference to comparative material, Viollet-le-Duc was able to reconstruct their original appearance, complete with defensive assemblies for each finger. The finger plates are now lost, as they are on the other two surviving pairs of hourglass gauntlets decorated in the same style. One of these pairs, at Churburg Castle in South Tyrol, is very similar to the Wallace pair, if perhaps slightly more ornate. More lavish still is the pair in the Museo del Bargello in Florence, which, in addition to the borders and wrist bands, also carry four ribs of copper alloy on the back of each hand, corresponding to the four metacarpal bones. A254|1|1|Although the Wallace Collection does not include an authentic pair of German Gothic gauntlets, it does own several individual pieces. The best of them, this piece shows how closely German armourers studied the mechanics of the body, in an effort to create what were effectively human exo-skeletons. This delicate yet strong example is composed of a series of plates carefully matched to the key parts of the hand, complete with pointed knuckles, wide metacarpal plate, and articulated wrist. The central wrist plate is even embossed to allow for the protruding end of the ulna, one of the two long forearm bones. The gauntlet would once have included individual articulated sets of plates to protect the fingers and thumb, now lost. A255|1|1|Right gauntlet, having a pointed cuff, of two V-shaped plates attached by sliding rivets, and a third plate between the cuff and the back of the hand. The edge of the cuff is turned outwards and flattened.
This is embossed for the ulna. There are four metacarpal plates, a knuckle-plate of copper alloy with four low gadlings, and a mitten, consisting of four scalloped lames, three of steel and the end one of copper alloy.

This gauntlet has undergone considerable modification. The copper alloy knuckle-plate and final finger-plate are improvements by a modern restorer. A256|1|1|Gauntlet, one of a pair with A257, each having a short cuff, the edge turned under, without wrist-plate; the buckle is modern. Mittens of four overlapping lames, nicked in the centre, the first is embossed for the ulna, the fifth is larger and has V-shaped recesses for the knuckles corresponding to similar treatment of the last one in reverse. Over these is the knuckle-plate with four bosses. The gauntlets end half way up the fingers with a moulded edge, and may have had extensions of mail; thumb-piece of three plates. The edge of the cuff is rolled inwards to form a ridge of almost triangular section. The thumb-plate is attached by means of a leather rather than a hinge.
The V-shaped nicks in the metacarpal lames may be a modern 'improvement', as they cut across the engraved line bordering the uppermost plate. A257|1|1|Gauntlet, one of a pair with A256, each having a short cuff, the edge turned under, without wrist-plate; the buckle is modern. Mittens of four overlapping lames, nicked in the centre, the first is embossed for the ulna, the fifth is larger and has V-shaped recesses for the knuckles corresponding to similar treatment of the last one in reverse. Over these is the knuckle-plate with four bosses. The gauntlets end half way up the fingers with a moulded edge, and may have had extensions of mail; thumb-piece of three plates. The edge of the cuff is rolled inwards to form a ridge of almost triangular section. The thumb-plate is attached by means of a leather rather than a hinge.
The V-shaped nicks in the metacarpal lames may be a modern 'improvement', as they cut across the engraved line bordering the uppermost plate. The final plate and possibly the thumb-plates of the right gauntlet have been restored. A262|1|1|Gauntlet, one of a pair with A263, of heavy make. Each cuff is pointed and is slightly keeled. Each is decorated with a band on a plain ground, etched with foliage and gilt; roped border. Two wide metacarpal plates: the one which adjoins the cuff continues round it and is secured with a rivet; it is embossed for the metacarpal thumb-bone. The thumb arises on an extension of the metacarpal-plate. The borders of the cuff and the two metacarpal plates and thumb are further enhanced by an engrailed pattern of trefoils. Knuckle-guard of four boxed sections, etched and gilt like the border of the cuff. Scaled finger-plates. The end plate of each finger is incised to represent the nails or perhaps the end plates of the fingers of the right hand are etched to represent cockleshells. The leather gloves survive.
There are certain differences between the two gauntlets, e.g. the right one has two engraved lines accompanying the sunken channel next to the gilt border of the cuff, and the left one has no lines; the boss for the ulna on the left hand is slashed with roping and on the right plain; there is one more plate on the little and ring fingers of the right hand, respectively, but they are so similar in other respects that they are undoubtedly a pair. A263|1|1|Gauntlet, one of a pair with A262, of heavy make. Each cuff is pointed and is slightly keeled. Each is decorated with a band on a plain ground, etched with foliage and gilt; roped border. Two wide metacarpal plates: the one which adjoins the cuff continues round it and is secured with a rivet; it is embossed for the metacarpal thumb-bone. The thumb arises on an extension of the metacarpal-plate. The borders of the cuff and the two metacarpal plates and thumb are further enhanced by an engrailed pattern of trefoils. Knuckle-guard of four boxed sections, etched and gilt like the border of the cuff. Scaled finger-plates. The end plate of each finger is incised to represent the nails or perhaps the end plates of the fingers of the right hand are etched to represent cockleshells. The leather gloves survive.
There are certain differences between the two gauntlets, e.g. the right one has two engraved lines accompanying the sunken channel next to the gilt border of the cuff, and the left one has no lines; the boss for the ulna on the left hand is slashed with roping and on the right plain; there is one more plate on the little and ring fingers of the right hand, respectively, but they are so similar in other respects that they are undoubtedly a pair. A264|1|1|Gauntlet, one of a pair with A265, belonging to the same armour as armet A164. Richly etched with foliage, flowers, hares, and hounds, this armour is a testament to the virtuosity of South German armourers in the sixteenth century. It was made by the great Landshut master Wolfgang Grosschedel, probably for Pankraz von Freyburg (1508-65) of Schloss Hohenaschau. Wolfgang Grosschedel was one of the most famous armourers of his age. The favourite of King Philip II of Spain, he also made rich garnitures for the Emperor Ferdinand I and his son and successor Maximilian II. He appears to have served as a journeyman or apprentice at the English royal workshops of King Henry VIII at Greenwich, being named in a royal workshop list of 1517-18. Yet by 1521 he was back in Germany, when he was recorded as a citizen of Landshut. The Freyberg armour demonstrates that by the 1530s, if not before, he had become a master in this own right. His works exhibit a harmony between their distinct elegance of form and their complex, yet restrained, etched decoration.
This garniture’s etched decoration features hunting as its primary theme; packs of hunting dogs pursue their prey through the beautiful bands that decorate the helmet’s borders and medial ridge, while birds peck through the undergrowth along the cuffs of the gauntlets. Human figures and ornaments are taken from engravings by the German printmaker Barthel Beham.
The whole Freyburg garniture was probably decorated by Ambrosius Gemlich, a master of the difficult art of acid-etching. Here he employed two distinct etching techniques. The first, ‘basic’ etching, involved the ornamental design being burned into the metal through the selective application of acid, perhaps nitric acid. The second, more advanced technique –usually called ‘raised’ etching– is a more complicated process, in which the background is etched into the steel rather than the design itself, allowing the design to remain proud against a sunken ground. In this case the very detailed contents of the ornamental bands are picked out using the raised etching technique, while their edges are framed and accentuated with further embellishments created in basic etching. The Freyberg garniture is a fine example of the dramatic effect to be achieved by using both forms of etching together.
The helmet and gauntlets appear to have been separated from their armour since at least the 1850s. They appear in two studies, probably by an English artist, drawn around 1855. The Wallace Collection helmet is shown mounted on an Italian armour now also in the Wallace Collection (c. 1570; inv. A54), while the rest of the armour is shown mounted with a different helmet and a later horse armour attributed to Wolfgang Großschedel, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (horse armour dated 1554; inv. 23.261). A265|1|1|Gauntlet, one of a pair with A264, belonging to the same armour as armet A164. Richly etched with foliage, flowers, hares, and hounds, this armour is a testament to the virtuosity of South German armourers in the sixteenth century. It was made by the great Landshut master Wolfgang Grosschedel, probably for Pankraz von Freyburg (1508-65) of Schloss Hohenaschau. Wolfgang Grosschedel was one of the most famous armourers of his age. The favourite of King Philip II of Spain, he also made rich garnitures for the Emperor Ferdinand I and his son and successor Maximilian II. He appears to have served as a journeyman or apprentice at the English royal workshops of King Henry VIII at Greenwich, being named in a royal workshop list of 1517-18. Yet by 1521 he was back in Germany, when he was recorded as a citizen of Landshut. The Freyberg armour demonstrates that by the 1530s, if not before, he had become a master in this own right. His works exhibit a harmony between their distinct elegance of form and their complex, yet restrained, etched decoration.
This garniture’s etched decoration features hunting as its primary theme; packs of hunting dogs pursue their prey through the beautiful bands that decorate the helmet’s borders and medial ridge, while birds peck through the undergrowth along the cuffs of the gauntlets. Human figures and ornaments are taken from engravings by the German printmaker Barthel Beham.
The whole Freyburg garniture was probably decorated by Ambrosius Gemlich, a master of the difficult art of acid-etching. Here he employed two distinct etching techniques. The first, ‘basic’ etching, involved the ornamental design being burned into the metal through the selective application of acid, perhaps nitric acid. The second, more advanced technique –usually called ‘raised’ etching– is a more complicated process, in which the background is etched into the steel rather than the design itself, allowing the design to remain proud against a sunken ground. In this case the very detailed contents of the ornamental bands are picked out using the raised etching technique, while their edges are framed and accentuated with further embellishments created in basic etching. The Freyberg garniture is a fine example of the dramatic effect to be achieved by using both forms of etching together.
The helmet and gauntlets appear to have been separated from their armour since at least the 1850s. They appear in two studies, probably by an English artist, drawn around 1855. The Wallace Collection helmet is shown mounted on an Italian armour now also in the Wallace Collection (c. 1570; inv. A54), while the rest of the armour is shown mounted with a different helmet and a later horse armour attributed to Wolfgang Großschedel, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (horse armour dated 1554; inv. 23.261). A267|1|1|Gauntlet, for the field, comprising a pair with A268.
Pointed cuff boxed to four planes and decorated with sunken scallops with the inner part hinged at the side, the edges roped; six articulated metacarpal plates, the last surmounted by a roped knuckle-guard riveted on, the edges shaped and bevelled. The two plates of each cuff are linked by an external steel hinge and are closed by snapping over a pin inside. The thumbs are attached by steel hinges but these do not match those of the cuffs.
Scaled fingers and hinged thumb-piece (on the left one restored); the final scales of the thumb and fingers are each incised with a finger-nail; leather lining (of later date). The cuff of each bears the Nuremberg city mark.
These gauntlets might easily belong to the Nuremberg armour in the Royal Armouries (II.4), formerly in the Bernal Collection, from which the original gauntlets are missing. A268|1|1|Gauntlet, for the field, comprising a pair with A267.
Pointed cuff boxed to four planes and decorated with sunken scallops with the inner part hinged at the side, the edges roped; six articulated metacarpal plates, the last surmounted by a roped knuckle-guard riveted on, the edges shaped and bevelled. The two plates of each cuff are linked by an external steel hinge and are closed by snapping over a pin inside. The thumbs are attached by steel hinges but these do not match those of the cuffs.
Scaled fingers and hinged thumb-piece (on the left one restored); the final scales of the thumb and fingers are each incised with a finger-nail; leather lining (of later date). The cuff of each bears the Nuremberg city mark.
These gauntlets might easily belong to the Nuremberg armour in the Royal Armouries (II.4), formerly in the Bernal Collection, from which the original gauntlets are missing. A271|1|1|Right mitten gauntlet, with a large, flaring cuff with roped edge, brass-headed rivets with rosette washers; four articulated metacarpal plates (one shaped for the thumb) ; embossed knuckle-plate; five ridged plates over the fingers, all with brass-headed rivets. The cuff has been marked three times with a circular punch. There are two looped straps inside for attachment.
The particular type of brass washer to the rivets on the cuff, punched with lines, is a characteristic of certain Brunswick armour, see Fuhse, Schmiede ... des Stadt Braunschweig, 1930, p. 47, where Herr Bohlmann illustrates a similar gauntlet in his possession. Others were in the Exhibition of Arms and Armour of the Duke of Brunswick, Tower of London, 1952-4, Cat. Nos. 18-25, having this same distinctive feature. A285|1|1|Along with the armet A154, this leg defence and its mate A286 are almost all that is left of a once spectacular armour of the German Emperor Maximilian I (1459- 1519). The only other surviving piece is a gauntlet, bearing the date ‘1511’, in Abbotsford in Scotland, part of the collection formed by Sir Walter Scott in the early nineteenth century. The armour was the work of Konrad Seusenhofer, Maximilian’s court armourer and master of his famous workshop at Innsbruck. The pieces are decorated with acid-etching, an early instance of this form of armour decoration. The technique involved an acid-proof coating being applied to the metal. The ornamental pattern was then scratched into the surface of this coating with a sharp, needle-like graving tool. When acid was then applied, this scratched-out pattern was eaten or ‘bitten’ into the metal. To enrich the etched bands even further, they were then fire-gilded, making them stand boldly out against the polished steel. The etched bands contain scrolling foliage and pomegranates. The pomegranate was one of Maximilian’s personal devices; many of his portraits show him holding one of these seed-filled fruits, a symbol of the suffering and resurrection of Jesus, the husk as it splits reveals the red droplets inside-an immediate reminder of the Passion.

Maximilian was a great armour-enthusiast. He worked closely with his court armourers to create new, ground-breaking armour designs. He had many armours, for war, jousts, tournaments and parades, including several others in a very similar style to the one to which these pieces once belonged. Parts of another of these armours, the leg armour, vambraces, and gauntlets, now are incorporated into a composite armour at Vienna (Inv. No. A110), while Maximilian is depicted wearing similar armours in numerous printed portraits and on the kneeling figure that surmounts his cenotaph at Innsbruck (c. 1555-65). A similar helmet, attributed to Konrad Seusenhofer, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (M2708-1931). A286|1|1|Along with the armet A154, this leg defence and its mate A285 are almost all that is left of a once spectacular armour of the German Emperor Maximilian I (1459- 1519). The only other surviving piece is a gauntlet, bearing the date ‘1511’, in Abbotsford in Scotland, part of the collection formed by Sir Walter Scott in the early nineteenth century. The armour was the work of Konrad Seusenhofer, Maximilian’s court armourer and master of his famous workshop at Innsbruck. The pieces are decorated with acid-etching, an early instance of this form of armour decoration. The technique involved an acid-proof coating being applied to the metal. The ornamental pattern was then scratched into the surface of this coating with a sharp, needle-like graving tool. When acid was then applied, this scratched-out pattern was eaten or ‘bitten’ into the metal. To enrich the etched bands even further, they were then fire-gilded, making them stand boldly out against the polished steel. The etched bands contain scrolling foliage and pomegranates. The pomegranate was one of Maximilian’s personal devices; many of his portraits show him holding one of these seed-filled fruits, a symbol of the suffering and resurrection of Jesus, the husk as it splits reveals the red droplets inside-an immediate reminder of the Passion.

Maximilian was a great armour-enthusiast. He worked closely with his court armourers to create new, ground-breaking armour designs. He had many armours, for war, jousts, tournaments and parades, including several others in a very similar style to the one to which these pieces once belonged. Parts of another of these armours, the leg armour, vambraces, and gauntlets, now are incorporated into a composite armour at Vienna (Inv. No. A110), while Maximilian is depicted wearing similar armours in numerous printed portraits and on the kneeling figure that surmounts his cenotaph at Innsbruck (c. 1555-65). A similar helmet, attributed to Konrad Seusenhofer, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (M2708-1931). A289|1|1|Cuisse, a pair with A290. The thigh piece is comprised of one main plate, embossed with six vertical, evenly spaced flutes, above which are five narrow, sloping lames articulated to a top plate embossed with obliquely curved flutes. Each has a longitudinal side-piece, which extends round the leg, and is not hinged but attached to the main plate by rivets and a longitudinal leather strap. A leather tab is fixed to the inside the top plate, cut into three scallops and pierced for arming points.
Thpoleyn is connected by two articulated lames to the thigh plate. It has a prominent central ridge and is made in one piece with the heart-shaped and fluted side-wing.
This pair of cuisses is of unusual pattern and present a form transitional between the Gothic and 'Maximilian' styles. A290|1|1|Cuisse, a pair with A289. The thigh piece is comprised of one main plate, embossed with six vertical, evenly spaced flutes, above which are five narrow, sloping lames articulated to a top plate embossed with obliquely curved flutes. Each has a longitudinal side-piece, which extends round the leg, and is not hinged but attached to the main plate by rivets and a longitudinal leather strap. A leather tab is fixed to the inside the top plate, cut into three scallops and pierced for arming points.
Thpoleyn is connected by two articulated lames to the thigh plate. It has a prominent central ridge and is made in one piece with the heart-shaped and fluted side-wing.
This pair of cuisses is of unusual pattern and present a form transitional between the Gothic and 'Maximilian' styles. A298|1|1|Left greave with integral sabaton, a pair with A299. The greave is made in two parts, front and back, fastened on the outer side by two hinges, and by two studs on the inner. Sabaton of nine lames. Four of these overlap downwards, one (larger) is the middle plate, and four, including the toe-cap, overlap upwards. The toe is rounded and the moulding of the leg is good. In the centre of the heel is a hole for the spur, with a raised washer or nut riveted on the inside. The sneck-hooks locking the snap-over pins holding the greaves closed are missing. At the top of the rear plate is a small hole for a hook formerly holding down the strap of the poleyn. A dome-headed rivet outside the leg and a turning-pin inside originally held the poleyn in position. The lower edge of the sabaton bears traces of a sunk band etched with foliage and fire-gilt which has been largely ground away.
A298-9 were formerly associated with the cuirassier armour A65 but being some sixty years earlier in date have now been removed. A299|1|1|Right greave with integral sabaton, a pair with A298. The greave is made in two parts, front and back, fastened on the outer side by two hinges, and by two studs on the inner. Sabaton of nine lames. Four of these overlap downwards, one (larger) is the middle plate, and four, including the toe-cap, overlap upwards. The toe is rounded and the moulding of the leg is good. In the centre of the heel is a hole for the spur, with a raised washer or nut riveted on the inside. The sneck-hooks locking the snap-over pins holding the greaves closed are missing. At the top of the rear plate is a small hole for a hook formerly holding down the strap of the poleyn. A dome-headed rivet outside the leg and a turning-pin inside originally held the poleyn in position. The lower edge of the sabaton bears traces of a sunk band etched with foliage and fire-gilt which has been largely ground away.
A298-9 were formerly associated with the cuirassier armour A65 but being some sixty years earlier in date have now been removed. A300|1|1|'Streiftartsche' for one of the German 'Rennen' class of jousts. Broad, slightly convex, roughly circular in outline and shaped to cover the thigh when the wearer was mounted; the upper edge is concave, and is turned outwards to form a stop-rib of triangular section. There is a slight vertical ridge separating the ornament into two symmetrical panels, each embossed with radiating curved flutings within a sunk border. Round the border are round-headed rivets for the leather lining which still remains; two buckles for attachment. Stamped near the top with an armourer's mark in the form of four minuscule letters in an oblong cartellino, which may possibly be read as CAS P.
Armour stamped with the first four letters of the name of Caspar Riederer of Innsbruck are at Churburg: Cat. Nos. 68 (shaffron), 49 (Gothic gauntlets); at Vienna (jousting armour; B66, 180, 172 and 173); in the Royal Armouries (breast and back; III.1293-4 (Dufty & Reid, 1968, Pl. CXI); on a war-hat in the Military History Museum at Brussels; and a sallet now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, formerly at Churburg (42.50.32; see the exhibition catalogue Innsbrucker Plattnerkunst, 1954, pp. 53-4). Compare the similar form of signature on Nos. 41 and 53. Riederer's work is, as the gauntlets at Churburg show, of outstanding quality.
Caspar Rieder, or Riederer, who worked at Muhlau, Innsbruck, was made a master-craftsmen in 1467, and supplied armour to the Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol. In 1472, along with three others, he made an armour for Alfonso V, King of Naples, and in 1473 was working in conjunction with Hans Vetterlein, another Innsbruck armourer. In 1496 he sent an armour to the Emperor Maximilian I, who was in the field at Glurns, and in 1498 the Emperor gave him a robe of honour (see Exhibition of Innsbruck Armour, Innsbruck, 1954, Nos. 10-14).
Kaspar Rieder is recorded from 1452 when he made an armour for Archduke Sigmund of Tyrol. From 1467 to 1492 he was Harnischmeister to the Archduke. He made armour for the King of Naples in 1472; for Burkhart von Knörigen and Rudolf Horb in 1473, in co-operation with Hans Veterlein; for Sigmund von Welsperg in 1478; and for the Emperor Maximilian I in 1496. He is last recorded in 1498.
The English name for these shield-like objects which were hung over the saddle bow to protect the rider's thighs is not known, if one ever existed. They were not in fact used for jousts at the tilt but rather in the field and for the Rennen, a course in the open field with relatively sharp lances, probably practised only in the German lands. Their use in the field is illustrated in the woodcuts of the edition of Geoffroy de la Tour-Landry, Der Ritter nom Turn, Basel, 1493, and in a painting The family tree of the Babenbergers, before 1493, in the monastery of Klosterneuburg near Vienna. A301|1|1|Left 'Streiftartsche', for the 'Rennen', of elegant form. Broad and slightly convex, roughly circular in outline and intended to protect the thigh when the wearer was mounted. The upper edge is concave, and is turned outwards to form a stop-rib of triangular section. The surface is embossed with whorled fluting radiating from a flat circle near the knee. Round the edge are round-headed rivets to which the lining was attached.
A lithograph of the Gothic equestrian armour A21, obtained by the Baron de Cosson when he saw it in Pickert's hands in 1868, shows this piece carried on the left arm as a shield.
An interesting feature A301 is that the laying-out lines of the fluting visible in the inside of the plate differ in part from the finished design. A307|1|1|Pavise, having a vertical semi-circular gutter down the middle, the sides nearly parallel, the top and bottom rounded. Of wood covered with pig skin, the whole surface painted with a representation of a gate with two castellated turrets, black on a white or yellow ground. On the back near the top at the left is a staple, and on the right a hook, both for the attachment of the guige or carrying-strap. The hook allows the guige to be released quickly. Below these are a pair of staples flanking the central hollow and linked by a leather strap from which hang the remains of a vertical leather grip, presumably once connected to a group of three staples (the central one missing) further down the central hollow.

Pavises of various sizes with the arms of Prague were included in the sale of General Baron Peucker at Brussels, 1854 (Cripps Day, Armour Sales, p. 196, Fig. 110 and p. 200, Fig. 117). Examples, possibly from this source, are in the Military History Museum, Brussels (III, 1) in the Musée de Cluny at Paris; in the Germanisches National Museum at Nuremberg (No. W1279, but this one is smaller); the National Museum at Copenhagen; in the Historical Museum at Frankfurt-am-Main, and elsewhere. There are a number of variants in the City Museum at Prague. One similar to No. A307 is in the Kienbusch collection in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Cat., No. 284, PI. LXXXVIII, with a list of comparable specimens).
The arms of this shield, argent, a castle sable, which are incorrectly coloured to be those of the city of Prague, may represent Ravensburg in Württenberg (see V. Denkstein, Acta Musei Nationalis Prague, 1962, pp. 185-228, No. 37).

These medium-sized pavises were designed to be carried in the way illustrated in the woodcuts of the Triumph of Maximilian, that is by means of a handle shaped like a capital I with the opposite ends of the serifs attached to the back of the shields on each side of the central hollow. True archers' pavises, supported by a prop or props, are much larger, like those from the town hall at Erfurt in Prussia, and others at Bern (respectively B. Dean, Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, XVIII, pp. 11-13, and R. Wegeli, Inventor, I, Nos. 1-12 and 27-35). A308|1|1|Pavise, wider at the top than the bottom. Vertical semi-circular gutter down the middle; the top rounded, the bottom with the rounded corners. Of wood covered with thick parchment or leather (repaired in many places with canvas), painted black. The surface is marked with many colours; the same arms are twice branded on the back. Part of a D-shaped leather handle remains, formerly fixed in the middle of the central hollow. At the top on either side of the hollow are two heavy rivets behind which fragments of a leather strap remain. A ring to which is attached the remains of the guige or carrying-strap survives just below these, but the hook for securing the other end of the guige is missing. A staple and a portion of another flanking the hollow near the centre probably originally carried the horizontal strap supporting the top end of the handle. The purpose of two other staples flanking the hollow near the bottom of the shield and of seven other rivets is not clear. At the base is a seal of red wax and the letters I A enclosed in a heart-shaped shield.

This is one of a large number of similar pavises, now scattered throughout the world. A few remain in the Germanisches Museum at Nuremberg. A309|1|1|Bouched horseman's shield, of wood, roughly rectangular in outline, the corners rounded. It is strongly concave, moulded with three vertical ribs and widely bouched for the placement of the lance on the right side. It is covered with leather, coated with gesso, painted black, with interlacing foliage in gold; on a riband across the centre is inscribed, in black and red minuscules:–
EWIG M(?)UH K.EEZ
('Eternal ---- -----').

Both the top corners of this shield curve back on either side of the face. The 'bouche' is very large, entirely open to the rider's right, and is set nearly half-way down the shield. The mounts on the back have been altered several times but, apart from the usual ring and hook for the guige, the most noticeable feature is a large sheet-metal staple nailed on almost in the centre of the back. All these features taken together suggest most strongly that A309 is an early example of a Renntartsche, a shield for use in some kind of early form of a Rennen-class joust.

Said to have come from 'the Imperial Arsenal at Vienna', together with a fluted armour of about 1520, and a lance painted white with gold eagles on it at intervals, both now at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire. (Skelton, Engraved illustrations, I, 1830, PI. XVII.)

Compare to a shield in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, bearing the arms of the Behaim family of Nuremberg (1925.26.6). Across the centre of its back are nailed two horizontal steel mounts one above the other, about an inch apart. From the centre of each projects a fixed ring placed so that a pin passed through the top one might pass through a staple-like fixing on the breastplate and finally through the lower ring, thus locking the targe and breastplate together.

A Rennen armour with a shield similar to this one is illustrated in the Thun Sketchbook, on fol. 8 (Gamber, Vienna Jahrbuch, LIII, pp. 33-70, Fig. 57). Possibly A309 was made for an early Rennen armour made for the future Emperor Maximilian I, in about 1480-85. A313|1|1|Circular shield or target, of wood, convex, covered on both sides with leather (in two halves), tooled, painted and gilt with scrolls of conventional, arabesque foliage, the stalks springing from six shaped panels, yellow on a crimson ground; in the centre an oval cartouche painted bright green and surrounded by ribands; at the border a band of conventional strapwork within one of the geometric design; the outermost border is black. The inside is painted brown and mottled with black; an oblong leather panel padded for the arm, with the remains of the fastenings for the arm and hand-loops, also the number R2 in white chalk.
Some seventy similar shields, said to have been carried by the Bodyguards of the Prince Archbishops of Salzburg, are still in the Museum Carolino-Augusteum, at Salzburg. Many are in other collections; for instance, one in the Kienbusch collection, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Cat., No. 302, PI. LXXXIX, with details of the history of the group). Many are still preserved in the Doge's Palace at Venice. The examples in Venice have no cartouche in their centres. One is in the Royal Armouries (V.18) and several passed through the commercial market in the late twentieth century. A316|1|1|The buckler had been the companion of the military sword for centuries, and so it is no surprise to find its use discussed in civilian fencing books, despite the fact that it was a somewhat cumbersome thing to wear on one’s person as a matter of routine. Pre-arranged duels, such as the celebrated judicial combat fought in 1547 between Guy Chabot, Baron de Jarnac and François de Vivonne, sieur de La Châtaigneraye, did sometimes make use of them; buckler technique continued therefore to be taught in fencing schools, even as it fell out of favour on the street.
The shield described as a ‘buckler’ in the sixteenth century was of two forms. The small fist-shield bucklers of the medieval period continued to be used, while at the same time Renaissance fencing masters also described their methods for fighting with a much larger circular shield, variously termed a buckler, target, or roundache. Such shields, especially those incorporated into garnitures of decorated armour, were made entirely of steel, although those used in a civilian fencing context were usually made of wood, sometimes reinforced with bands or plates of steel or iron. Such shields, being somewhat like those of the ancient world, also evoked images of Classical heroes in the Renaissance imagination; hence this large round shield became the standard form for rich parade shields decorated with subjects drawn from ancient mythology. This association may also have led some masters, notably Camillo Agrippa, to place some of their sword-and-target men in Classical costume. A317|1|1|Circular buckler, of steel. Around the border is applied a band with the inner edge flanged to catch an adversary's weapon; in the centre is applied a round boss with flattened face, fixed in place by rivets set in a series of cusps; around this are applied iron crescents and convex circles alternately, one of the latter being furnished with a hook for suspension of a sword and lantern; on the inside is the grip (the wood appears to be original), which fits into sockets on either side of the boss. The grip is covered with leather and decorated with rosette-headed nails of brass.
Giacomo di Grassi, in his 'Ragione di adoprar sicuramente I' arme' (Venice 1570, p. 59) calls this 'il brochiero', which 'I. G. gentleman', in the English 'Giacomo di Grassi his true arte of defence' (London 1594), translates as 'Buckler' (p. 13v).
A similar buckler with applied crescents and circles was in the Zschille Collection (Zschille & Forrer, 1894, Pl. XIX, No. 89; and sold, 1997, lot 35 bought by Böhler of Munich); one was in the Consul Leiden sale, Cologne, 1934, lot 104, and another in the Pitt- Rivers Collection, sold Christie's 1931.
Another comparable target but with groups of three interlaced crescents in place of the single crescents of A317, was sold at Sotheby's, 18 March 1975, lot 91, repr. in cat. Another comparable target is in the Hungarian National Museum (Kalmár, 1971, p. 325, Fig. 128). A similar target appears in 'The Painter with Death', a self-portrait by Gaspard Masery, dated 1559 (Chambéry, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cat., No. 379). Masery was a local artist of Chambéry in Savoy, about whom very little is known. Another is illustrated in The Resurrection by Cecco del Caravaggio in the Art Institute of Chicago of about 1610 (34.390). A318|1|1|Buckler, quadrangular, of blackened steel. The top wider than the bottom; the surface undulating vertically so that the middle is convex. In the centre is a long hook, surrounded by an oval, and outside this a rectangular, raised the bar for sword-catching; the borders have rivets for the attachments of the lining, which still remains. It is of striped silk backed by another textile and bordered with leather, the edges turned under. The grip has a hollow on each side of it to receive the thumb, so that it can be used in either hand. Compare A319.
Shields of this kind were commonly used in civilian fencing and are depicted in Achille Marozzo's fencing book, Opera Nova (1536). There are two similar shields in the Czartoriski Collection at Cracow; three in the Hermitage at Leningrad (H 173); one was sold by the Metropolitan Museum, New York, Christie's, Nov., 1960, lot 93, and bought by Dr. Richard Williams (ex-Uboldo Collection).
Shields of this type are illustrated by Giacomo di Grassi in his 'Ragione di adroprar sicuramente I' arme' (Venice 1570, p. 68), which he calls 'la targa'. 'I.G. gentleman', translated this in his 'Giacomo di Grassi his true arte of defence' (London, 1594, fol. K 4) as 'the Square Target'. Shields of this type are also illustrated in use in the Traitié d' escrime dedié au Roi Henri III, by G. A. Lovino of Milan, Bibl. Nat., Paris, MS. Ital. 959 (facsimile published by the Bibliotheque Nationale, n.d.). A319|1|1|A form of buckler unique to the civilian fencing culture of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries was not circular in shape. Rather it resembled a square, or, more commonly as here, an isosceles trapezium, the top edge being slightly wider than the bottom. Like other forms of buckler these quadrilateral bucklers were made both in wood covered in leather and in steel. They appear in a number of the most famous Italian works on fencing, including those of Marozzo and di Grassi, who referred to it as the ‘square target’. Such square shields appear to have been made in a variety of sizes; di Grassi’s square target is described as being comparatively large and heavy, perhaps a descendant of the oblong fighting pavises of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, while the one depicted by Marozzo, and most of the surviving examples, are quite small and light. A330|1|1|Parade shield or buckler, circular, of steel, convex at the centre, and the border flat. Heavily embossed, chased, encrusted with silver and damascened in gold; the edge, rounded, turned under, and bordered with a row of quatrefoil-headed rivets for the lining bands. Decorated in the centre with the second labour of Hercules: the destruction of the Lernæan Hydra, after an engraving by Frans Floris (1516-70). On the right Hercules is swinging his club, and crushing with his foot the sea-crab sent by Juno, with Iolas on the left searing with a torch a ten-headed Hydra; in the foreground is Chiron, the centaur who was wounded in the knee by Hercules in the course of his fifth labour; in the background is a landscape with castles. The border is decorated with four oval cartouches representing incidents in the life of Hercules among trophies: (1) his attack, as one of the Lapithæ, upon a centaur; (2) the carrying off of the pillars of Gades; (3) the strangling of the Nemæan Lion; and (4) Hercules taking upon his shoulders the globe for Atlas. The encircling band and borders of the cartouches are damascened with arabesques. The back is now lined with myrtle-green velvet (modern); the enarmes are secures by eight rosette-headed rivets.
The same subject, probably making use of the same Floris print, forms part of the decoration of the roof of the Hôtel de Ville at Toulouse. There is a circular shield in the Army Museum at Warsaw, embossed with Hercules' labour with the robber Cacus, probably by the same hand.
The central scene is based on an engraving by Cornelis Cort after Frans Floris, one of a series published in 1563 (Hollstein, Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts, 1450-1700, V, n.d., no. 176). The sources of the small scenes around the edges have not been traced.
A round target embossed with the same subject, but with a different border, was in the collection of Baron Percy (sold Paris, Boucher, 15 June 1825 and following days, lot 71; Paris, Bonnefons de Lavialle and Roussel, 18 January 1830 and following days, lot 19). It may previously have been in the collection of the comte de Saint Morys (F. Arquie-Bruley, 'Un précurseur: Ie comte de Sainte-Morys (1782-1817) collectioneur d' antiquités nationales', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, CXXII, 1980, pp. 109-18, and CXXIII, 1981, pp. 61-77).
A. Reinhard has pointed out that what seems to have been a very similar shield was sold in the Heldebrandt sale in Munich, Maillinger, 15 April 1879 and following days, lot 387 (S. Pyhrr, letter of 15 October 1979). O. Gamber has suggested (personal communication, 1983) that the workmanship of A330 is close to that of a saddle-steel signed LUCIO.IER in the Czartoryski collection, Cracow (no. XIV 412; Thomas and Gamber, 1958, p. 792, fig. p. 810). The abbreviated form of the second name makes its identification very difficult. A344|1|1|Vamplate, designed to be mounted on a lance of war or for one of the lighter types of joust, of plain steel in the usual form, undecorated apart from the outer circumference which has been chamfered with large, bevelled facets (or notches). Brass-capped rivets, for the attachment of the lining bands, indicate that this piece once had a padded lining to help protect the hand and shoulder from the shock of impact. A345|1|1|Vamplate, designed to be mounted on a lance of war or for one of the lighter types of joust, of plain steel in the usual form, undecorated apart from the outer circumference which has been chamfered with large, bevelled facets (or notches). Brass-capped rivets, for the attachment of the lining bands, indicate that this piece once had a padded lining to help protect the hand and shoulder from the shock of impact. The central aperture for the lance is formed to fit around a fluted lance. Stamped with the Augsburg city mark. A346|1|1|Vamplate, probably for the joust of peace, circular and comparatively flat, with a short lip around the central aperture, which is quite large, indicating the intention that it should be mounted on a very thick and heavy jousting lance.
Decorated with radiating bands containing etched, floral scroll ornament, the ground granulated and gilt, the bands bordered with narrow lines of guilloche ornament, and engrailed or toothed along the edges. The form of the decoration is the same as that upon the close-helmet for the joust and locking gauntlet, Wallace Collection nos. A191 and A278. A349|1|1|Shaffron, made in one piece including the the ear- and eye-guards. The central area is slightly boxed and embossed down the nose with horizontal notches forming a shallow midline crest; the central rondel or escutcheon is now missing; a poll-plate is attached to the top by means of a heavy copper alloy hinge, and is pierced with two pairs of holes with copper alloy eyelets. Bordered with the round-headed, brass-capped steel rivets for the attachment of the lining. A350|1|1|Shaffron, made in two main parts. The forehead is prominently embossed with rounded flutes on a raised, boxed panel; faceted ear-guards with scalloped edges, riveted on. The centre is pierced with a hole for the missing rondel or escutcheon. A fragment of a strap near the left ear survives. The lower plate is joined to the upper by a horizontal row of rivets and is embossed down the middle with a series of knobs, and relieved with triple lines of fluting arranged chevronwise on either side, the lower edge turned over on a wire; three hinges of steel for side-plates remain. There are also unusual truncated flutes on the brow. These could represent the horse's forelock, however, similar truncated flutes occur on the lower part of some Italian breastplates of the period, such as Royal Armouries inv. no. III.1087 (Dufty and Reid 1968, pI. CXII lower left). A351|1|1|Shaffron, complete with cheek-pieces, ear- and eye-guards, riveted to the main parts so that it envelops the horse's head; a poll-plate is hinged to the top. Roped en torsade down the centre. The ear-guards tulip-shaped; the hole for the central rondel or escutcheon has been filled in. A feature is the prominent eye-guards with sharply engrailed edges; the main borders are turned over wires. Brass-capped lining rivets, two buckles and portions of the lining band remain.
The proportions of this piece are so extraordinary that it is difficult to imagine that it would fit any horse. Its construction, however, is of a reasonable quality. A353|1|1|Shaffron, of steel, tinted and gilt, embossed with a wide border of scrolled flowers, the hollow edges raised and ornamented with laurel wreaths tied with fillets at intervals. There was a square spike in the centre, but this has now been removed as it is of nineteenth-century manufacture. The ear-pieces, embossed en suite, are riveted in place; the poll-plate hinged at the top is similarly embossed and decorated.
This shaffron resembles the work of Caremolo di Modrone, a Milanese armourer in the service of Federigo Gonzaga II, fifth Marquis and first Duke of Mantua. He was responsible for two armours of the Emperor Charles V, one of which was presented by Federigo in 1534 in recognition of his having been invested with the principality of Monferrato, the other apparently directly commissioned (see Boccia and Coelho, 1967, p. 329). They are now in the Real Armería at Madrid (inv. nos. A112-14 and D63 respectively).
Caremolo di Modrone is mentioned in an inventory of the armour belonging to the Duke of Mantua, dated 21 January, 1542 (Mann, The Lost Armoury of the Gonzagas, Arch. Journal XCV, 1939, pp. 243, 250, 284, etc).
A half-shaffron of similar workmanship is at Konepiště in the Czech Republic, and a saddle steel in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, both attributed to Modrone about 1540 (nos. 63 and R85 respectively; Boccia, Rossi and Morin, 1980, pls. 142-3). See also J. F. Hayward, 'Filippo Orsoni, designer, and Caremolo Modrone, armourer, of Mantua', Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1982, pp. 1-15 and 87-102.
A saddle with embossed steels partly silvered and partly gilt, attributable to Modrone, is at Vienna (inv. no. A1696). A355|1|1|Demi-shaffron, composed of six pieces and a poll-plate. The ear- and eye-guards attached by means of rivets, the poll-plate by hinges of steel; a four-sided spike projects from a circular, fluted escutcheon etched with imbrications. The borders are etched with sunk bands of running foliage on an obliquely hatched ground in the Italian manner, and rows of round-headed rivets, the edges turned under and lightly roped; it is divided down the middle with a hollow embossed roping. The nose ends as a fleur-de-lys; the poll-plate is pierced with two keyhole slots and one circular hole for attachment to the crinet. Fragments of the canvas lining-band and the leathers for attaching the shaffron to the horse survive. A358|1|1|Escutcheon for a shaffron, of steel with the edges turned under and roped; embossed with a flat eight-petalled ornament in the centre; the background etched with bright foliate ornament on a gilt, granulated ground, involving a cherub's head and two lions, etc. It must have come from an armour of importance. Compare the escutcheons on the shaffrons A43 and A356.
The fact that the decoration of this piece, which is of a very high quality, consists solely of entwined foliage, cherub heads, and naturalistically represented lions, makes it almost impossible to identify the original armour from which it came with any certainty. However, the style is not dissimilar to parts of two garnitures which have decoration almost identical to each other, consisting of bands edged with lively flames, and containing regularly entwined foliage ending in fiercely snarling lion heads. The parts of the two garnitures can only be distinguished with certainty by the fact that while one has knurled edges, the other has roped edges.
The field cuirass, tassets, cuisses, and poleyns of the garniture with roped borders are in the Royal Armouries (no. II.183; Dufty and Reid, 1968, pl. XXXIII), while what appears to be the right pauldron and the right closed vambrace for tournament combat on foot are in the Museo Stibbert, Florence (1917-18 cat., no. 1027). The left pauldron with only slight overlap at the front for use with a besagew, and a left closed vambrace, are in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Z.O. no. 3072). Part of the frontplate of a left greave of the type which does not fully enclose the calf, apparently also coming from this garniture, is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (no. 29.158.307).
The Hermitage also has almost all the parts of the other garniture, that with knurled edges, including close-helmet for the field which also has a falling buff, a skull-reinforce for the Freiturnier, a pair of munnions, a pair of field arms and gauntlets, laminated cuisses with poleyns attached, and a half shaffron. (Tarassuk, J.A.A.S., III, pp. 1-39, pl. IV). A saddle is in the Musée de l’Armée et de l’Histoire Militaire, Brussels (inv. no. IV.10). A364|1|1|Spur, of gilt copper. The arms bent at right angle and decorated with engraved chevrons and cusping at the bend, and with fish-tail mouldings. They have two holes for the straps; prominent, pointed crest, the neck split and holding a star-shaped rowel of four spear-shaped points. A365|1|1|Spur, of iron with traces of original tinning. The sides are bent at an angle, ridged at the top, and pierced with two straps holes, the locket in the lower hole of the terminal on each side for the strap passing under the foot is shaped like the head of a broad arrow. It has a straight neck of oval section with large eight-pointed rowel.

This spur resembles two formerly in the Meyrick collection (Skelton, pl. LXXX, fig. 4); both later formed part of the Sir Noël Paton Collection, now in the National Museum of Scotland. See also Laking, London Museum Medieval catalogue, type B2. A366|1|1|Spur, one of a pair with A367, made of steel, entirely faced with copper alloy. Broad sides pierced and chased with fluting; narrow plate to go under the foot, chain and a buckle and hook for a strap over the instep; straight neck of diamond section with sixteen-pointed rose rowel, pierced and chased with flutings. A367|1|1|Spur, one of a pair with A366, made of steel, entirely faced with copper alloy. Broad sides pierced and chased with fluting; narrow plate to go under the foot, chain and a buckle and hook for a strap over the instep; straight neck of diamond section with sixteen-pointed rose rowel, pierced and chased with flutings. A392|1|1|Spur, one of a pair with A393, of steel, faced with copper alloy. The sides are wide, strongly bent, and pierced with a hole in the middle of one side, and chased with a narrow bead of roping; curved upturned crest; buckle and three eyeleted hooks attached; long neck of flat, rounded diamond section with star-shaped rowel of six points.

Compare with the original spurs of this form incorporated into the equestrian armour A21. A393|1|1|Spur, one of a pair with A392, of steel, faced with copper alloy. The sides are wide, strongly bent, and pierced with a hole in the middle of one side, and chased with a narrow bead of roping; curved upturned crest; buckle and three eyeleted hooks attached; long neck of flat, rounded diamond section with star-shaped rowel of six points.

Compare with the original spurs of this form incorporated into the equestrian armour A21. A407|1|1|Saddle, having a high bow or pommel terminating in a scroll, the cantle formed by two upward-curving, semi-circular plates. Constructed of wood faced with plaques of polished antler hatched and carved in low relief, with a depiction of St. George and the Dragon (the former is represented as wearing civilian dress of the mid- fifteenth century) on one side, and the Princess from the same story on the other. The background, filled with Gothic scrolls and monsters, is now black, but shows traces of red and green inlays of hard wax. On each side in the front is a hand holding a scroll issuing from clouds. There are two pairs of oblong slits for the passage of the girth and stirrup-leathers, and five pairs of round holes (on each side) for the attachment of the pad, which was pointed in place onto the underside of the saddle tree. The antler panels are missing in two areas on each side of the centre, and round most of the border where the voids had been filled with straight-grained leather. The underside, like that of A408, is lined with birch bark. A408|1|1|Saddle, similar in form to A407, having a high bow or pommel terminating in a scroll, the cantle formed by two upward-curving semi-circular plates. There are traces of three pairs of holes and two single holes on each side for the attachment of the pad, breast-strap, and crupper. Constructed of wood faced with plaques of polished and incised antler. The red, green and black colouring is inlaid hard wax. It is hatched and carved in low-relief with the figures of a woman and a man in the civilian dress of the mid- fifteenth century (below the cantel the figures are repeated with varied composition; the male and female figures being transposed); they hold the ends of scrolls which bear the following inscription (the free translation is that given by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick):

The underside of this saddle is covered, like A407, with birch bark and leather, the former being frequently used for lining saddles of this type. It has been restored, and many of the lining or trapping holes have been covered in the process.

For an account of the class of saddle covered with engraved antler, see J. von Schlosser, Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen der a.h. Kaiserhauses in Wien, XV (1894), p. 260

Two of the finest saddles of this kind are those in the museum at Modena and in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the latter coming from the Trivulzio family of Milan.

A saddle of the like shape and material is in the Royal Armouries (VI.95; illustrated in Dufty and Reid, 1968, pl. CLII.). This saddle appears to have been a gift from the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to King Henry V of England, presented during the Imperial visit to England in 1416.
The comparable Körmend saddle (Von Schlosser, op. cit., no. 15) was sold at Sotheby's, 17 April 1969, lot 6, repr. in cat., and is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (J. F. Hayward, 'A fifteenth century carved bone saddle', Auction, I, No. 7, New York, March 1969, pp. 22-3). Schlosser, nos. 11 and 16 are both now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, respectively nos. 04.3.249 and 40.66. A third example not in Schlosser is also in that museum (no. 36.149.11). A448|1|1|Tail-plate of a horse armour, of steel, blued with traces of gilding and boldly embossed in the form of a grotesque dolphin's head, the surface etched with a leaf-pattern. Two keyhole-shaped hole at the back for attachment to the crupper, and a rivet on either side for securing a strap. This rare piece of horse armour shows great beauty for design and workmanship.
This piece is represented on the crupper in a drawing of the 'Buckhurst' armour (Wallace Collection A62; then displayed mounted as an equestrian figure), which was previously attributed to R. P. Bonington, but is now attributed to Eugéne Delacroix. Though previously thought to represent Goodrich Court - the collections were not moved there until after 1925 and thus the drawing must depict Meyrick's London House; 20 Upper Cadogan Place. This drawing is now in the library at Hertford House.
Another instance of a tailpiece in the form of a dolphin's head is in the Royal Armouries (VI.319, Dufty and Reid, 1968, pl. CLVI). A455|1|1|Sword hilt, of cast bronze having a green patina. The pommel takes the form of a flat oval-shaped disc engraved with lines and dots in the shape of a cross within a circular border; plain grip of oval section; short, flat arched guard, decorated with lightly engraved lines and dots, and split to receive the blade, which would have been secured by pins which project 1/16 of an inch; only small fragments of the bronze blade remain. Made in Denamrk in the late Bronze Age (about 1200 B.C.). A456|1|1|Sword, the hilt comprised of a pommel formed of two layers, the upper divided into five lobes, the underside of the lower part is pierced with two holes; short straight guard, roughly square in section and rounded at the ends; small holes are sunk at either end similar to those under the pommel. The sides of the guard are matted with fine close-set vertical incisions for taking overlaid silver-rich copper alloy decoration, some of which remains. Incised on the forward face of the guard are the letters HLI: the grip is now lost. The blade is broad, double-edged and has a shallow fuller running down the middle on both sides nearly to the point, and bears traces of ornament, or of an inscription, down the centre. Probably Frankish, 9th or 10th century.
This sword is one of a group of five extant examples having inscribed guards, four of which were made the subject of a study by Dr. Adolph Mahr, Ein Wilkingerschwert mit deutschem Namen aus Irland in Mannus: Zeitschrift für Vorgeschicte. VI. Erganzungband, 1928, pp. 240-52. The other four examples are: (2) in the University Museum at Oslo, from Melhus, Norway, signed HLITER; (3) and (4) in the National Museum of Ireland; one of which comes from the Kilmainham and Islandbridge excavation and is signed HARTOLFR; the other was found in the crannog in Ballinderry Bog in 1928 and is inscribed HILTPREHT. Dr. Mahr refers to a fourth sword 'aus Frankreich' inscribed HLITR, but was unaware that it had long since passed into the Wallace Collection. His knowledge of its existence was derived from Petersen, De Norske Vikingesverd, 1919, pp. 109-10, who followed Lorange (1889), who in his turn only knew of it from the illustration in Viollet-le-Duc, when it was in the Nieuwerkerke Collection; (5) a fifth sword of this group has been described by F. Morawe in Mannus XI, 1929, pp.292 ff. It is inscribed HIFIIF REHT HILTIP REHT and was formerly in the Zeughaus at Berlin.
The first three letters HLI on one side of the guard of A456 are quite distinct, the rest of the inscription, which may be as Mahr suggested similar to that on the Oslo sword is not clear.
The sword belongs to the type classified by Petersen (op. cit.) under Type K, of which he lists thirteen examples, and attributes them to the early ninth century (Laking, European Armour I, pp. 14-15, 62, placed number A456 much too late when he described it as 9th century). Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who refers to this form of sword as Type IV in his London Museum pamphlet, London and the Vikings, 1927 put the date between 850-950 A.D. A457|1|1|Sword, the hilt made up of a pommel of 'Brazilut' form; a straight guard of square section, narrowing slightly towards its ends; the grip missing. The blade is double-edged and has a shallow fuller down the middle on both sides and tapers to a point, now rounded and pitted by corrosion.
Laking states that this sword was found near Cologne. Ada Bruhn Hoffmeyer, Middelalderens Tveœggede Svaerd, 1954, II Pl. VIII, c, where three similar specimens are illustrated, two in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum at Zurich, and one in the collection of Mr. R.E. Oakeshott in England. Another, stated to have been found in the River Ribble, was formerly in the collection of Sir James Mann. A458|1|1|Sword, the hilt composed of a flat, disc-shaped pommel; lightly fashioned guard thickening at the ends, and curving slightly towards the blade. The flat tang widens towards the guard. The grip is missing. The two-edged blade tapers slightly, is much corroded and like the hilt, very thin, with a central fuller on both sides.
There seems to be no reason to believe that the medieval swords, nos. A458, 463-5, are necessarily English as stated in early editions of the Wallace Collection catalogue. Two of them come from the Nieuwerkerke Collection and so were probably continental finds.
The circular pommel A458 is quite flat, often a feature of Italian examples. A459|1|1|Sword, the hilt comprising a hHeavy wheel-type pommel, the faces formed into flattened cones, giving it nearly the same thickness in section as in diameter; straight four-sided guard, beveled to an almost octagonal section swelling slightly at the ends; the tang has a marked and sudden hollow on both sides which constitutes the base of the fuller of the blade; the grip missing. The blade itself is two-edged and slightly tapering, and has a marked central fuller on both sides flanked with ridged borders, varying in width and running nearly to the point. A460|1|1|Arming sword, the hilt composed of a wWheel pommel, with circular sunken centre and a protuberant cap at the top; guard of oval section, slightly ridged on both sides, diminishing at the ends and curving towards the blade; the grip bound with cord (modern). The two-edged blade is of broad diamond section, stiff and strongly tapering; on one side it is heavily criss-crossed with scratches, but otherwise bright. A maker's mark, a small cross (in copper), appears on both sides.
Although in excavated condition, this archetypal late-medieval fighting sword has survived the centuries extraordinarily well. Given its date, it may well have been carried into battle during the Hundred Years War between England and France, which began shortly before the famous Battle of Crécy in 1346. Formerly in the comte de Nieuwerkerke’s collection, its earlier provenance is unknown, but there is a strong likelihood that it was found in France, the distinctive corrosion patterns on the blade indicating perhaps that it was a river find. The grip binding is a later (probably 19th century) restoration. A461|1|1|Thrusting sword, perhaps an early form of estoc, the hilt having a fFlattened oval pommel; straight, narrow crossguard, square in section and tapering slightly towards the ends; the grip missing. The double-edged blade, of hexagonal section, is stiff and tapers to an acute point, much corroded.
Swords designed primarily for cutting and slashing with the edges of the blade were of little use against the increasingly formidable, layered types of armour which were evolving rapidly in the second half of the fourteenth century, made of padded textile, hardened leather, mail, and increasingly, large plates of iron and steel. Puncturing, stabbing attacks with the point, especially into the gaps in an armour, were much more effective. This sword seems therefore to be an early example of an exclusively stabbing sword, made for battlefield use, as a response to the advancing technology of plate armour. A462|1|1|Sword, the hilt having a heavy wheel pommel, the sides formed into flattened cones; slightly curving crossguard oblong in section, being broader horizontally; the grip missing. The blade, which is double-edged with a very thick spine and therefore very stiff, has a flattened diamond section and tapers to a point. There is a maker's mark on both sides. Laking states that this sword was found in France; Ada Bruhn Hoffmeyer, op. cit., Pl. XXVa dated as 1375-1400.
A sword bearing the same armourer's mark, and similar in workmanship, but one inch longer in the blade, was lent by Baron de Cosson to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1891-3, no. 70, and was later in the collection of Sir Guy Laking. This sword was also found in France. A463|1|1|Sword, the hilt comprised of a flattened pear-shaped pommel, with a triangular plane on each face; the cross is oblong in section, slightly rounded on two sides and inclining upwards to the point; the grip missing. The tapering double-edged blade is stiff and diamond in section; about 12.7 cm of the point is missing.
The late C.R. Beard compared A463 to examples from South Germany (Z.H.W.K., 1913, p. 204 figs. 23, 26). A464|1|1|Sword, the hilt having a triangular pommel with flat planes, the top slightly curved; straight guard, round in section, thickened in the centre; the grip missing. The blade is double-edged and flat, bearing the maker's mark, in copper. A465|1|1|Sword, the hilt having a faceted, fig-shaped pommel with a sunken hollow designed to accept a small, shield-shaped insert impressed on both front and back; straight, flat crossguard, broadening at the ends, and there pierced with a cross; the grip is missing. The two-edged blade, stiff and dramatically tapered, is of diamond section with a central fuller at the forte, where it bears traces of an inscription. In Oakeshott, 1964, p. 128, Pls. 26C and 27A, the author suggests that this type of guard might be English. However, the English examples he cites tend to be relatively broader at their ends and usually to be very slightly arched, as for example on a falchion found in the River Thorpe and now in the Castle Museum, Norwich (Oakeshott, op. cit, PI. 26B). A sword comparable with A465, and with a very similar guard, was found in 1972 in the tomb of Bartolomeo Colleoni (died 1501) in the Colleoni Chapel, Bergamo (C. Blair, personal communication, 1974). The sword of Estore Visconti (died 1417) has a pommel of comparable form still retaining its inlaid silver shields (Blair, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1962, pp.112-20).
Sever similar pommels were in the collection of Carl von Schwerzenbach (R. Forrer, Die Schwerter und Schwertknäufe, Pl. VII, figs. 6-9). A466|1|1|Sword, a late medieval and modern composite, having a hilt made up of an authentic medieval 'fish-tail' pommel of gilt bronze; modern guard of solid copper, thickly gilt, straight, of round section, and swelling at the ends to half-round knobs; modern grip of horn shaped as a continuation of the pommel. The original double-edged blade, of slightly concave diamond section, tapers to a point. It has a maker's mark on both faces, inlaid in copper.
A similar sword, from the collection of the late Edouard de Beaumont, is in the Musée de Cluny. Its blade is finer, and engraved with the arms of the Visconti family and of the German Empire; it is also marked with a moon in copper. It has been ascribed to Ludovico il Moro, and dated 1490-1500 (No. CL11821; Boccia & Coelho, 1975, Figs. 168 and 189). A sword with a similar fish-tail pommel was found in Lake Constance, and is in the Swiss National Museum at Zurich; and that (not its own) on the two-handed sword of Charles V at Madrid (G 3) is a further example.
Contrary to the suggestions of a very late fifteenth-century date for this sword, most representations of this type of pommel in art are in fact earlier than this, for instance those in the Crucifixion and Resurrection panels of the Altarpiece from the Dreifaltigkeitskirche in Hof by Hans Pleydenwurff, dated 1465 (Munich, Alte Pinakothek, Cat. Nos. 666 and 670); and that on the effigy of Christopher Sigwein (died 1478) at Hall in Tyrol. Swords with cross-guards like those of A466 are among the group thought to have been excavated on a site connected with the battle of Castillon which took place in 1453 (see Oakeshott, loc. cit.). A468|1|1|Two-handed sword, having a mushroom-shaped pommel of bright steel, fluted and chiseled; oval-section wooden grip bound with velvet, broken by two oval mouldings bound In leather; horizontally re-curved guard of circular section, moulded and chiselled with formalised monsters' heads and ending in scrolls; side-rings on either side similarly decorated; both crossguard and side-rings are wrought in one piece; the two-edged blade of hexagonal section at the base, with strong ricasso and side lugs; the ricasso is covered with wood and bound with leather tooled with a fretted pattern. A471|1|1|Two-handed sword, the blackened hilt comprised of a pear-shaped pommel; octagonal wooden grip bound with leather with a raised moulding in the middle, steel mounts at either end; straight guard of circular section with turned baluster ornaments; both cross and side-rings are wrought in one piece; the two-edged blade of diamond section with a maker's mark inlaid in copper; strong ricasso and side lugs etched and gilt with the figures of St. Barbara and St. Peter on one side, St. Catherine and St. Paul (?) on the other, in niches of Renaissance style, and prolonged by a band of scrolled foliage in the Italian manner. A472|1|1|Two-handed sword, the spherical pommel chiseled with acanthus leaves; tapering wooden grip of octagonal section bound with black leather, and with mounts of gilt steel at either end; straight guard of baluster form decorated with acanthus leaves chiseled and gilt, and ending in knobs like the pommel; side-rings similarly worked; the two-edged blade of hexagonal section with shallow central hollow; strong ricasso and side lugs, richly decorated with a Renaissance ornament of vases and scrolls of foliage, etched and gilt, continued along the blade and incorporating three human heads, the last one crowned. The etching on the blade has been partly reworked. A473|1|1|Two-handed sword, the blued hilt including a fig-shaped pommel; straight guard of circular section ending in fig-shaped knobs like the pommel; single side-rings swelling in the middle and ridged; shouldered grip bound with cord and covered with leather. The two-edged blade of flattened hexagonal section with long ricasso, from which project two lateral lugs, incised with lines and rosetted circles; it is grooved for a short distance. A maker's mark in copper (the letter S surmounted by a cross) is set into the blade, which is also inscribed:–

I∙O∙A∙N∙E∙S/ D∙E∙A∙G∙I∙R∙E

The hilt is very like that of No. A477. Referring to the use by Solingen swordsmiths of spurious Spanish and Italian signatures and marks, C. Blair has drawn attention to a letter, dated 26 February 1677, specifically mentioning the use of the Toledo mark on Solingen blades being exported from Solingen to Paris (1974, p. 90, quoting F. Sommer, Z.H.W.K., X, p. 23). For a discussion of the group of two-handed swords to which No. A473 belongs, see G. M. Wilson in A. MacGregor, 1983, pp. 206-8, No. 93, PI. LXVIII. The signature probably denotes one of the Aguirre family of swordsmiths, of whom Domingo and Nicolas Hortuño Aguirre flourished at Toledo in the later 16th and early 17th centuries. Ortuño (Hortuño) de Aguirre is one of the names mentioned by C. Suarez de Figueroa in his list of the best swordsmiths in Spain, published in his Plaza universal de todas ciencias y artes, Madrid 1615 (p. 334). A blade apparently signed by him and dated 1614 was at Hever Castle (sold Sotheby's 5 May 1983, lot 15, repr. in cat.). According to Francisco Palomares in his list of Toledo swordsmiths published in 1762, his mark was a capital H with a small letter o above, all within a shield-shaped punch (No. 38; Seitz, Blankwaffen, II, pp. 266-7). Palomares states that Domingo de Aguirre was the son of Hortuño de Aguirre el viejo, while Nicolàs Hortuño de Aguirre, alive in 1637, was his grandson (Nos. 22 and 80 respectively). Count Valencia de Don Juan mentions an armourer Juan de Aguirre as working in 1493 at Villaviciosa de Marquina in the Basque provinces. A474|1|1|The cumbersome, heavy two-handed sword is one of the great clichés associated in the modern imagination with medieval knights. In reality the ‘twahandswerd’ was of little value to ‘men-at-arms’ who wore full plate armour, yet were expected to be adaptable at the same time, fighting on foot or on horseback as required. They were never especially heavy (the Wallace Collection example is 2.89 kg, only about twice the weight of a cricket bat) but their size alone meant that they were only practical for combat on foot and could not be used while mounted. Thus the two-handed sword was a more specialised weapon, lethal in infantry combat but of little value otherwise. The late fourteenth-century historian Jean Froissart described such a sword being used by a warrior monk, the Canon de Robesart, in 1358:
Il tenoit une espée à deuz mains, don’t ill donoit les horions si grande que nul les osoit attendre. (‘He held a sword of two hands, with which he dealt blows so great that none dared to face them’)
(Chronicles of England, France and Spain (1369-1400), Book I)
The Wallace Collection two-handed sword is one of only a very few examples dating from before the sixteenth century. Its ‘fish-tail’ pommel and straight cross-guard ending in spherical terminals suggest that it might be English; among the eighty swords found in the River Dordogne near the city of Castillon in the early 1970s were a number of similar but smaller arming swords and longswords with very similar hilts, the so-called ‘Castillon ‘Group B’. In 1453 the last battle of the Hundred Years War was fought at Castillon, the French delivering a final terrible defeat against their English enemies. The source of the river-find is thought to have been some kind of river barge accident, part of the English supply effort before the battle, or transport of French battlefield loot afterwards. Either way, it is likely that many of the Castillon swords are English, indicating a similar origin for the Wallace Collection two-handed sword. Very similar swords are now in the Museum of London (found in the Thames) and the Royal Armouries, Leeds (probably from the Castillon find), while they also appear on English funerary effigies of this same period. A476|1|1|Longsword, the blackened hilt having a flat diamond-shaped cap to the grip which enlarges towards it and is bound with leather; guard of diamond section, curving towards the blade and swelling at the ends; forward finger-guard on one side, and side-ring on the other, the latter decorated with a slight roping. The blade is single-edged and slightly fullered; it bears a maker's mark incorporating the letter S, 9 cm from the hilt.
Swords of this essential size and proportions have often been called 'bastard' or 'hand-and-half' swords. The former is a contemporary term, apparently applied to any sword of unusual size or form. The latter is a 19th-century collectors' term probably based on the Italian term spade... da una mano e mezza... (See C. Buttin, 'Notes de M. Charles Buttin sur quelques articles de I' inventaire de 1549', Mémoires et documents publiés par la Societé Savoisienne d' histoire et d' archéologie, XXXVIII, 1899, p. 388). A479|1|1|Longsword, the hilt comprised of a fig-shaped pommel spirally fluted ('writhen') and gadrooned; shouldered wooden grip bound with cord; slightly forward-curving guard, flat and widening at the ends, decorated with roping on the left side and bordered with lines on the other; a side-ring chased with baluster ornament in the middle and ending in grotesque heads, is applied to the guard on the left or outer side; on the other side a semi-pas d' âne connected by a slanting ring. Broad, two-edged blade stiff, tapering, of diamond section with hollow faces, and bearing the maker's mark on each side.
Two Landsknecht swords at Dresden (A155-6) bear a similar mark of an orb and cross between two spots. A480|1|1|Longsword, having a blackened hilt similar to those of A483 and A485, made up of a cone-shaped pommel of octagonal section; shouldered grip of wood bound with fish-skin; long straight, spatulate guard engraved with feathering at the ends on the left side; knuckle-guard, side-ring, pas d' âne, and counter-guards, all riband-like and triangular in section; single-edge blade (except towards the point), doubly grooved and stamped with the maker's work.
The swords A481 and 534 bear like marks, which have been attributed by Dr. Hans Stöcklein to Melchior (Melchart) Diefstetter, the Munich bladesmith (Z.H.W.K. band 8, Heft 12, pp. 370-85)
This sword probably comes from Schloss Ambras in Tyrol where a considerable number of comparable swords survive. Norman & Barne, 1980, p. 151. Other examples bearing like marks are to be found in the Armeria Reale, Turin (G 16), at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (B 402), and at Vienna (Boeheim, Album I, Taf. XI 2).
In addition to this swords marked with the crossed flails of Diefstetter and the shield of Bavaria are a hand-and-a half sword in the Pauilhac Collection; one sold at Sotheby's, 15 August, 1941, lot 19; and another in the Lockett Collection, sold Christie's, 1942, lot 307. The swordsmith Melchior Diefstetter worked at Au near Munich. He was the son of Caspar I and is recorded as not being of full age in 1497.About 1523 he was recorded with two sons, Georg and Ulrich. He died in or before 1556 and was survived by a widow, Barbara, and eight children still minors. One of his other sons, Caspar II, was a swordsmith in Munich by 1537 and died in 1552. His son Ulrich was Bavarian court swordsmith "in der Au", and is recorded by frequent payments in the Ducal accounts between 1555 and 1589. A sword blade inscribed ARIAS PANTMER IN VRI / VLRICH DIEFSTETER IN MANAGI, with the arms of Bavaria and the monk's head of Munich stamped on it, is in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich (Inv. No. LM27328; Schneider, 1980, No. 183). A fourth generation of the family is represented by Arsatius Diefstetter, active 1588-1616, and a fifth by his sons Hans, who died in 1613, and Albrecht, active 1616 to 1630, latterly in Passau. (H. Stocklein, Z.H. W.K., VIII, 1918-20, pp. 371 and 375-82). If the blades of this group of swords are contemporary with the hilts, they are probably by Ulrich Diefstetter rather than by Melchior, to whom they are usually attributed as Ulrich Diefstetter also used the mark of crossed flails, often in conjunction with the head of a bull transfixed with an arrow. A481|1|1|Longsword, the blackened hilt comprised of an onion-shaped pommel; shouldered grip of wood bound with fish-skin and leather; long straight guard with spatulate terminals ; double side-rings, finger and thumb guards, all of flattened oval section. Double-edged blade of hexagonal section, with a single short fuller eminating from the hilt and inscribed:

IN MANACI ME FECIT

The strong ricasso bears the marks of Melchior Diefstetter. The swords A480 and 534 carry similar marks.
This sword possibly comes from Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck in Austria, where a considerable number of comparable swords survive. A482|1|1|Longsword, the blackened hilt made up of a fig-shaped pommel; shouldered grip of wood corded, leather bound, and of oval section tapering towards the pommel; horizontally recurved guard of circular section terminating in blunted fig-shaped knobs; knuckle guard (which is secured by a fluted ring half-way up the grip, an unusual feature), and pierced; rosette shaped shell-guards on either side; broad, double-edged blade of hexagonal section with ricasso and traces of a maker's mark (a fleur-de-lys) on either side.
Compare the mark of a fleur-de-lys on A474. A483|1|1|Longsword, with a blued hilt similar to those of A480 and A485, composed of an inverted, cone-shaped pommel of octagonal section; shouldered grip bound with fish-skin; straight, spatulate guard; knuckle-guard and single side-ring, with a hilt-arm; a counter-guard connects the bottom of the hilt arm to the ring guard forming a forward cage; the double-edged blade is flat, triple-fullered near the hilt and stamped with a maker's mark on both sides.
The hilt with spatulate guards and semi-basket for the knuckles is characteristically German of the middle of the sixteenth century, although the mark on the blade is Italian in character. A480 and A485, which have very similar hilts, retain their original German blades. A similar German hilt on a blade with what appear to be Italian marks is in the Odescalchi Collection, Rome (Inv. no. 1104; Carpegna 1961, No. 215). A484|1|1|Longsword, the blued hilt made up of a pommel in the form of an elongated oval, divided by a central ridge, and notched in the middle on each side; grip, swelling in the middle, corded and bound with leather; diagonally curved guard with scrolled tips, and accommodating two large pierced shell-guards; the double-edged blade of hexagonal section with hollow groove, bears the running wolf mark inlaid in copper alloy. A485|1|1|Longsword, having a blued hilt similar to A480 and A483, composed of a cone-shaped pommel of flattened octagonal section; oval grip bound with fish-skin; straight crossguard with spatulate terminals; knuckle-guard, side-rings, counter-guard and hilt-arms connected to form a forward cage; all are riband-shaped and triangular in section; the double-edged blade of flattened hexagonal section, trebly fullered towards the hilt, with a strong ricasso, and bearing the running-wolf mark on one side, inlaid in copper alloy.
The hilt was originally exactly like that of A483, but the guard outside the hand has been broken and its end filed down. A487|1|1|Longsword, a composite of parts from several different periods. The hilt, originally russeted, is now partly blackened. Seventeenth-century pommel of trilobate form suggesting a fleur-de-lys; wire-bound grip (modern); horizontally recurved crossguard of rectangular section with button; solid shell-guard curved towards the hilt, fluted and pierced with two holes, and side-ring on the other side; all parts of the guard date from c. 1540-50. Single-edged blade, of triangular section (except at the point), dating from the third quarter of the sixteenth century, doubly fullered along the whole length; it is stamped on one side with a maker's mark and two series of twelve stars and twelve circles; strong ricasso. The blade has the appearance of having been cut down and repointed. A489|1|1|Curved longsword, or hand-and-a-half sabre, the hilt composed of a lobed pommel, fig-shaped and writhen; horizontally recurved crossguard of diamond section, with knobs similar to the pommel at the tips; side-ring of trefoil shape; hilt arms with forward guards, one of which projects at right-angles and ends in a twisted knob like the cross; another transverse one joins the ring near the centre; long knuckle-guard of two bars joined by another (S-shaped); shouldered grip of wood bound with leather over cord. The blade is slightly and very gracefully curved, for two-thirds of its length single-edged, with a long, partial rear edge at the top third. There is a mark, possibly that of the maker, resembling that of a Lyons bladesmith referred to by Boeheim, 675.
This type of sabre is usually thought to be Swiss (see E. A. Gessler, "Die Entwicklung des 'Schweizrsäbels' im 16. bis ins 17. Jahrhundert", Z.H.W.K., VI, 1912-14, pp. 264-77 and 303-13; and Gessler, "Vom Schweizärsdbel",Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, 1923, Kleine Abhdndlungen, Zurich 1924, pp.25-30). The mark on the blade resembles that found on the blades of a number of two-handed swords from the old Zurich Zeughaus (now Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich (inv. nos. KZ199, 200, 671, and 676, see 1980 CM, nos. 143, 144,145 and 159). It has been attributed by H. Schneider to a Zurich bladesmith Itelhans Thumysen, recorded in 1531, died 1566 (Schweizer Waffenschmiede, 1976, p. 264). A490|1|1|Longsword, the blackened hilt composed of a heavy, rounded, pear-shaped pommel; shouldered grip bound with black leather slightly tooled in the upper section, the lower part corded; narrow crossguard of circular section swelling at the ends; double side-rings and hilt arms. The double-edged blade of triangular section (except towards the point where it is double edged), doubly fullered, and inlaid with the maker's marks in copper; trebly fullered ricasso. A491|1|1|Longsword, the russeted hilt comprised of a hexagonal, cone-shaped pommel, supported on an iron neck which engages the grip; the latter is heavily shouldered and wire bound, fluted, with scalloped mounts at both ends; diagonally curved crossguard, of diamond section, terminating in cone-shaped knobs; the forward guards consist of a hilt-arm, and double ring-guard joined by an S-shaped bar of riband-like triangular section; two bars crossed in saltire join the hilt-arm on the right side; double-edged blade, of flattened hexagonal section, trebly fullered at the forte o the left side and inscribed:–

SHAGVM EL VIEIO

Incised ricasso. The panel of inscription is terminated by the orb and cross, and a typical decorative motive.
A very similar hilt appears in the portrait of Ludwig König-Widmer of Basel, dated 1618. Similar hilts survive in various Swiss arsenals, for instance inv. no. KZ695 in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich, which came from the old Zurich Zeughaus (1980 cat., no. 203, where its date is given as 1540-1570). A very similar hilt to A491, in an Austrian private collection, has a pierced plate filling the side-ring on the guard. Norman & Barne, 1980, pp. 59, 115, 228 and 251. A blade in the Armeria Reale at Turin is signed, like No. A491, SAHAGUM EL VIEIO, but bears the correct mark of a crowned S (no. G74; Mazzini, 1982, no. 135). Others undated are in the Instituto del Conde Valencia at Madrid, No. 64; in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; and no. A669 below. A rapier signed ‘Alonso de Sahagun el Mozo’ (the younger) is at Turin, no. G 74.
Shagun is the name of a family of Toledo swordsmiths, of whom there were at least two generations: Alonso the elder, and his sons Alonso, Luis and Juan, called Sahaguncillo. Their name was much made use of by German bladesmiths in the 17th century and many examples bear it, in addition the German wolf mark. According to a note in the Baron de Cosson's MS. dictionary of marks in the archives of the Royal Armouries, the first reference to a swordsmith in Toledo called Sahagun is in the accounts of the future Philip II of Spain, 1538 (quoting Archive de Simanca, Casa Real, Leg. 51). This could be the same man as the Alonso de Sahagun "el viejo" (the elder) referred to as being alive in 1570 by Francisco Palomares in his Nomina de los ultimos,y mas famosos armeros de Toledo, published in Toledo in 1762 (no. 1; Seitz, Blankwaffen, II, pp. 266-7). In 1572 a man of this name sold a house in the Calle de Armas in Toledo to the swordsmith Tomas de Ayala, presumably the maker of the blade of no. A567 here (R. Ramirez de Arellano, 1920, pp. 14-15). In the 1962 catalogue Mann suggested that the distinction of ‘el viejo’ would have been left for the younger generation to make, and the author thus concluded that the blades were ‘almost certainly later productions.’ However the writings of Jean Lhermite suggest another explanation. Lhermite, writing of his visit to Toledo in 1600 and apparently copying a document in Spanish, refers to ‘Sahagun en Toledo’, and says that
‘he placed his name in the fuller on the one side and on the other and as his mark an S very well formed and large with a crown above it on the ricasso. He had three sons, also sword-cutlers, Alonso, Luys, and Juan de Sahagun, who used the same mark as their father together with their own names; therefore, Sahagun the Elder, to distinguish himself from his sons put ‘Sagagun el viejo’ on one side and the other. His swords had a smooth ricasso and were of medium size, and some were also narrow without a fuller and with three flats [i.e. of flat hexagonal section] and also ridged, and on these he put his name in monogram on the ricasso.’
Since not all the people listed in the document Lhermite was copying were still alive when it was compiled, it is possible that it is referring to the swordsmith of 1538 and 1570. (Le passetemps, II, 1896, p. 295, No. 11). On the other hand, Gristobal Suarez de Figueroa, writing of the best Spanish swordsmiths in his Plaza universal de todas ciencias y artes, published in Madrid in 1615, names Alonso de Sahagun el viejo as working in Toledo. Figueroa gives the names of his sons as Alonso, Luis and Juan, which suggests that his Sahagun the elder and that of Lhermite are identical. If this is the case he cannot be the man recorded in 1538 and is somewhat unlikely to be the swordsmith of the 1570s. These names are apparently repeated by Rodrigues del Canto who gives Juan the nickname Sahaguncilla. Palomares also gives the same names to the first two sons but, presumably accidentally, names the third as Luiz also (op. cit., nos. 2, 73 and 74 respectively). He gives an S crowned in a shield-shaped compartment as the mark used by the father, and with very slight variations, by each of the sons. The absence of the crowned S mark on A491 suggests very strongly that the signature is a contemporary forgery (see A669). A492|1|1|Longsword, the blackened hilt made up of a pear-shaped, gadrooned pommel; horizontally recurved crossguard; side-ring, hilt arms and counter-guards, all terminating in twisted and gadrooned knobs (writhen); shouldered grip fluted, roped and leather-bound. The blade is double-edged, with central groove inscribed SIGNOR, with a cross on both sides. The meaning of the inscription is uncertain. A493|1|1|Longsword, the blackened hilt made up of a fig-shaped pommel, with button; straight crossguard of circular section swelling slightly at the ends; simple side-ring on either side. Fluted, wire bound grip. The blade of flattened hexagonal section, is fullered and incised with lines and inscribed;-

IN TE DOMINE SPERAVIT

(‘He trusted in Thee, o Lord’) terminated by a cross. On one side of the ricasso occur the Roman numerals XX, and as the Windsor example (see below) bears the number XII (engraved on the inner face of the ring-guard); it is possible that there was once a series of these swords in the arsenal of Valetta.

This sword and A494 are similar in all respects to one in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle (no. 44 in the catalogue of 1904). The Windsor sword was given to King George III in 1821 by General Pigot, and came from the Armoury of the Knights of St. John in the Palace at Valetta, Malta. A fourth sword of exactly similar type is still in the Arsenal there; it has a fluted grip of dark wood (unbound) and a fluted pommel (Laking, Malta Catalogue, No. 440, p. 44, Pl. VIII). All these swords bear the same inscription. Another example is in the Royal Armouries (no. IX.21). A494|1|1|Longsword, similar to A493, and similarly inscribed, but of slightly larger dimensions. The blade has a fullered ricasso. There are no Roman numerals cut on the ricasso, and the lettering of the inscription is larger and more florid. A495|1|1|Arming sword, the 19th-century hilt made up of a pommel in the form of a gilt bronze medallion with slightly sunk centre, and on either side the profile heads of Agrippa and Julius Caesar in relief (after the antique), inscribed;-

M AGRIPPA LF COS III

DIVIIVLI (divi julii)

There is an engraved finial on the top and the sides of pommel are engraved; forward curving crossguard of copper decorated with acanthus leaves in relief; modern cord bound grip. The original Italian blade is double-edged and of diamond section, strongly ridged, tapering, and etched at the forte with four panels, two of acanthus leaves and two of mythological subjects on an obliquely hatched ground in the Italian manner. The etching is defaced by five pairs of sickle marks heavily stamped on either side. There is a maker's mark, on both sides.

The hilts of A495-8 and A512 are all very much open to doubt, and are probably the work of early restorers. The same pattern on guards combined with an antique medal on the pommel, occurs on a sword in the Lazaro-Galdiano Museum, Madrid.

The three twig-marks are commonly found on Italian blades, as well as occurring singly, e.g. rapier at Bern (Wegeli, no. 251); Graz (Pichler,pl. XXI, 5) ; Vienna (Leitner, pl. LXIII) ; Dresden (Ehrenthal, p.18, no.83); and on a sword in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; see A623. The loop-shaped marks on the base of the blade appear to be a variant of the well-known Italian ‘sickle-mark’, which is sometimes found with the name Fringia (see Z.H.W.K. II, 27, 151, 270, and cf. nos. A929-30, 1103). It also occurs on two-hand swords in the Doge's Palace at Venice.

The etching of the blade appears to be of the 19th century. This group of marks also occur on a Venetian infantry sword, probably of the last quarter of the 15th century, at Vienna (Waffensammlung, inv. no. A896; Boccia and Coelho, 1975, Fig. 150); and on an early 16th-century sword also at Vienna (Waffensammlung, inv. no. A91; Boccia and Coelho, 1975. fig. 173). A496|1|1|Arming sword, the partially restored hilt composed of a wheel-pommel of gilt bronze with sunken centre incised on each side with a bird pecking a rabbit, surrounded by conventional leaves, and diagonally ribbed round the circumference; hexagonal ivory grip with gilt bronze mounts at either end; straight crossguard of gilt bronze horizontally curved at the ends, chased and engraved, with a stag and a doe at the ends in the same manner as the birds on the pommel; roped bands on the front and engraved with conventional leaves on the back; the two-edged blade of flattened diamond section Has an additional flat facet at the forte; here it is decorated in gold on a blued ground, with the Resurrection on one side, and the figure of St. Michael on the other, now almost defaced.

The pommel and grip of this sword are modern, but the cross and blade are old, and the last is a fine specimen. The cross was until recently bent backwards, but has been straightened to its original shape.

The scene on the blade, described above as the Resurrection, may in fact be the Annunciation, while the figure described as St. Michael seems to represent Charlemagne, the lower part of the Imperial arms being visible on his shield. The pommel is apparently based on that of the sword, at Vienna, thought to be that of Philip the Handsome (Waffensammlung, inv. no. A456; Thomas and Gamber, Katalog der Leibrüstkammer, I, 1976, pp. 120-1), but the copyist did not realise that in that case the pommel is of ivory faced with gilt copper alloy. A497|1|1|Arming sword, the modern hilt made of gilt bronze and made up of a pommel in the form of a grotesque human mask ending in acanthus leaves, expressing Joy on one side, and sorrow on the other. Crossguard of oblong section, which are curved towards the point, of gilt bronze decorated with acanthus leaves, exactly resembling those of A495, extended over the blade, and have a raised decoration of acanthus leaves. Modern grip covered with shark-skin. The blade is double-edged, bevelled with a shallow central fuller. It bears the running-wolf mark and other faint signs on both faces.
The bronze guard resemble those of A495 so closely that they are probably cast from the same mould. Another modern sword with precisely the same guard and pommel, again probably cast from the same mould, is in the Felix Joubert collection, now in the Musée Masséna, Nice. A499|1|1|Civilian side-sword, the hilt of gilt-bronze, having a cap-shaped pommel of eight planes, displaying six vertical panels containing Classical figures in low relief, one having been pierced at a later date for a cord or tassel; octagonal grip of horn; horizontally recurved crossguard of gilt bronze, spirally twisted and decorated at the centre on either side with a small panel , each containing a classical female head in profile; narrow and tapered double-edged blade of diamond section with hollowed bevels.

A weapon with a like hilt but shorter blade is represented in Dürer's famous plate Der Spaziergang, which was published about 1495; another is shown in the picture Judith, a late work by Vincenzo Catena (d. 1531)in the Galleria Querini Stampalia, Venice.

O. Gamber suggested that the grip was probably originally inlaid with longitudinal decorative strips (personal communication, 1978). The decoration of the pommel-cap links it with some cinquedeas (see Boccia and Coelho, 1975, fig. 179, where it is dated about 1480-1500, and compare fig. 224a, the cap of a cinquedea in the Museo Civico at Bologna, no. MG335). Illustrated by Vollon in his Curiosités of 1868 (Savill, 1980).

This sword appears to have been disassembled in the 19th century. Under X-ray it is clear that the tang has at some point been lengthened by means of reforging, to allow the end of the tang to be re-hammered over the pommel button, which is itself a modern addition required for reassembly (since the reforged tang would have been too narrow for the original hole in the pommel itself). Nevertheless all parts of the sword, blade and all hilt parts apart from the button, appear to be original. A502|1|1|Short sword, the hilt made up of a pommel and grip of ivory made in one piece, carved with grotesque heads and acanthus leaves in relief; short crossguard of steel, of plain, square section ending in chiselled heads of grotesque animas; short, broad double-edged blade, with a maker's mark on one side.
Scabbard of wood covered with black leather; broad locket and ferrule of steel, the former is chased on a band at the mouth en suite with the mounts of the hilt; the scabbard is ridged at the top to prevent it slipping through the belt, and at the back is a long belt-hook which is rather rough and was probably added at a later date.
The ivory grip-pommel piece is a handle from a 17th-century presentoir. The guard is 19th-century. The blade is possibly Italian, mid-16th century.
There is a similar sword in the possession of M. Géroudet of Geneva. The twig-mark is of a common Italian type. For a discussion of the middle mark, which appears to be a small capital M over the hull of a ship all in a rectangle, see A710. A variant with a mast and standing rigging in place of the M appears on A620 where it is accompanied by a wolf mark of Solingen type. A504|1|1|Two-handed thrusting estoc, or ‘tuck’. The blackened steel hilt is composed of an eight-sided, fig-shaped pommel; long leather-bound corded grip, swelling in the middle; horizontally recurved crossguard of octagonal section, thickening slightly at the ends; long stiff, narrow blade of diamond section the short ricasso covered with leather, to facilitate grips involving a finger or fingers wrapped over the crossguard. A505|1|1|Estoc, or ‘tuck’, comprising a flattened spherical pommel (with button), chiselled with three cockle shells; shouldered grip of wood bound with black leather; horizontally recurved crossguard of circular section ending in knobs chiselled like the pommel; strong, stiff blade of hollow triangular section, and a maker's mark on one side. There is a leather washer at the base of the blade for easing the contact of the hilt when it was returned to the scabbard. A506|1|1|Estoc or ‘tuck’, the blackened hilt made up of an eight-sided, not quite globular pommel; oval grip bound with fish-skin, mounted with bands at either end, and thin, vertical bars; it is bent inwards; straight , spatulate crossguard; two side-rings, hilt-rings and thumb-guards. The hilt is mounted on a stiff blade of hollow, triangular section; there is a leather socket inside the hilt-arms, designed to fit over the scabbard.
The De Beaumont Catalogue (no. 11) states that this sword came from the Electoral Armory at Dresden, which is probably correct.
The hilts of swords A506, A528 and A552, with their spatulate guards and octagonal pommels belong to a class of which large numbers exist in the Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. In the 19th and 20th centuries many objects were sold from Dresden, as they were considered duplicates. The richer specimens are overlaid with silver and engraved. A515|1|1|Arming sword, the hilt composed of a four-sided, fig-shaped pommel; crossguard with oblong central block, the ends curving towards the blade, of diamond section; leather-bound grip. The blade, double-edged, tapering and doubly fullered; etched and gilt at the forte with scrolled flowers and foliage on a hatched ground. There is a maker's mark on each face. Compare the fleur-de-lys mark on A474. A520|1|1|Sword, the blackened hilt comprising a fig-shaped pommel with spirally writhen gadroons (cf. A489), pierced for the end of a knuckle-guard and therefore not the original to this hilt; oval, wooden grip bound with leather and studded with ten brass-headed rosettes (five now missing); horizontally recurved guard of diamond section ending in knobs writhen like the pommel; oval side-ring and trefoil thumb-guard; single-edged blade of triangular section, the central hollow etched with the following Spanish inscription:–

NO ME SAQUES SIN RAZON

('Draw me not without reason')

NO ME ENVAYNES SIN HONOR

('Sheathe me not without honor')

Near the hilt, on one side, is engraved the maker's name: P. Knecht, and the word Solingen stamped; on the other, Solingen is engraved and the name P. Knecht stamped, together with the number 259. The blade does not appear ever to have been sharpened.
Wallace Collection A641 carries the same inscription. The name is that of the Solingen family that traded in swords, rather than manufactured them, in the 18th century; a Peter Knecht was born in 1796, son of Johann Peter Knecht. A524|1|1|Sword, of elegant form, the Italian, possibly Brescian hilt comprising a flat, circular pommel of steel, concave on one side, and convex on the other, encircled with gilt bronze ornamented with a series of contiguous oval hollows; steel grip chiselled with scales and tapering slightly towards the crossguard, where a band of brass chased with a pattern of interlaced hurdle or basket-work is applied; crossguard curving strongly towards the point, and single knuckle-guard of diamond section, both with a hollow fluted section, slightly twisted in one with the guard. Both guard and knuckle-guard terminate in gadrooned knobs of gilt bronze. The double-edged blade is German and earlier than the hilt, by as much as a century. It is of flattened hexagonal section with a short ricasso.

The hilt is apparently lacking a side-ring mounted on the guard outside the hand, the rivets for which survive. The maker's mark of the orb and cross is inlaid in copper on both sides.

Norman and Barne, 1980, pp. 38 and 375.
An unusual and attractive piece. A528|1|1|Sword, the blackened hilt composed of an octagonal, fig-shaped pommel, oval grip bound with fish-skin, mounted with rings and vertical bars; slightly forward-curving crossguard of triangular section, widening towards the ends; single ring and thumb-guards; a socket, fitting over the locket of the scabbard, is incised with a dotted ornament; the double-edged blade of flattened hexagonal section, is partly grooved, and inscribed:–

M∙A∙I∙L L∙A∙N∙D

Short ricasso incised with the letter S, possibly the maker's mark.

Scabbard of wood bound with black leather slightly tooled; locket (with two rings at the side) and ferrule of blackened iron, the locket decorated with a granulated ornament; part of the leather belt remains.

The form of the word 'Mailand' for Milan, is German, not Italian. The sword is in a remarkable state of preservation, the blade retaining its original surface and edge (no doubt due to the presence of the scabbard), the hilt showing no signs of rubbing or use. Compare the hilts of A483, 485, 506, 536, 552. A531|1|1|Sword, the plain, blued hilt comprising a spherical pommel with button; oval grip, swelling in the centre (restored), bound with fish-skin; straight crossguard of circular section swelling at the ends; two side-rings and hilt-arms, and on the reverse side three transverse bars and a ring; double-edged blade of diamond section, with a single fuller at the forte, and stamped with a maker's mark on one side; plain ricasso which is not part of the blade but has been joined afterwards. A535|1|1|Sword, the blued hilt, closely resembling that of A531 and A534, composed of a spherical pommel with button; oval grip bound with fish-skin; horizontally re-curved crossguard, round in section, swelling into knobs at the ends; side-rings, hilt arms and three transverse bars at the back, and ring-guard; single-edged blade (which may not belong to the hilt) of triangular section changing to hexagonal towards the point, doubly fullered and stamped with the maker's marks; grooved ricasso. The blade resembles that of A489.

Norman and Barne, 1980, p. 114. The significance of the so-called 'sickle' mark was debated in a series of articles in Z.H.W.K. , II, 27, 75, 151, 217, 270, 300, 355, and VIII, 71. Sometimes it is found associated with the words 'Fringia', 'Ferara' and 'Genoa'. It also occurs on swords of Teutonic and Hungarian type, and it is possible that it was used by more than one place of manufacture.

Compare A715 in the Wallace Collection, and also Royal Armouries IX. 8 (two-handed sword), IX. 150 (cinquedea); Musée de l' Armée J 34; Museo Stibbert, 2165; Graz (sabres), pl. XXIV, 5 and 6; Turin, G 27; Dresden. J 51 and 120; numerous examples are in the Hermitage and in the German Historical Museum, Berlin. This mark is sometimes found on bills, cf. A930, and on the European blades of weapons mounted in the East. It also occurs on the blade of the mourning sword of the Lord Mayor of London.

The other mark is also a frequent one, cf. Museo Stibbert, No. 2700; Hermitage (Lenz, p. 127); and Dresden (Ehrenthal, P. 8, No. 30). See also Z.H.W.K., II, p. 27, etc. Provenance: Possibly from Schloss Ambras in Tyrol. A552|1|1|Sword, the blued hilt made up of a large mushroom pommel; oval grip bound with linen; straight crossguard with spatulate terminals; three connected knuckle-guards composed of flat bands widening at the centres; S-shaped counter-guard; semi- hilt-arms; small-shell, pierced with two hearts, and thumb-guards; blade of bi-convex section, grooved at the forte and stamped:

∙RR RRR RR∙

Trebly fluted ricasso, stamped twice on each side with the maker's mark of an orb and cross.

Norman and Barne, 1980, pp. 71, 151 and 317.

For this type of hilt with broad guards, compare A483, 485, 528, 536.
This type of basket-hilt is usually thought of as being purely military, but North German portraits occasionally show them worn with civilian dress. A553|1|1|Sword, the blackened hilt made up of an octagonal, pear-shaped pommel with button; oval, wire-bound grip; short, straight crossguard, square in section, thickening at the ends; knuckle guard, shell (pierced with two circular holes) and semi- hilt-arms, with transverse bar, all decorated with molding or roping. Double-edged blade of diamond section, hollowed, inscribed on a plane at the forte, the words separated by cross-crosslets in saltire inlaid in brass on both sides:

VIVE LE ROY

There are signs of brazing near the hilt, probably a repair executed at a later date.

The blade is Savoyard or French, early 18th century.

For remarks on the inscription, see under A632. The hilt is probably earlier than the blade, which may be Savoyard. (cf. Wegeli, Bern Cat., nos. 568 , 758, 853). A697|1|1|Hunting sword, the hilt composed of a pommel of fish-tail form; grip of steel, aligned and set flush with the pommel, fluted down the centre and widening towards the pommel and decorated with eight oblong panels of silver, engraved with a patter of small lozenges; straight guard; single side-ring, within which is a small V-shaped guard; semi- hilt-arms joined by a slanting bar. The ends of the guards and the centre of the ring are chiselled as dolphins' heads. The blade is single-edged, triangular in section, and trebly grooved for the whole length. The running-wolf and orb and cross marks are inlaid in copper.
German, about 1520.
Provenance: A. Beurdeley (Une belle épée en fer damasquiné d' argent avec pommeau cannelé, 4,000 fr.; receipted Bill 21 June, 1869); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
This belongs to a well-defined class of hunting swords of the late 15th and early 16th century, of which that of the Emperor Maximilian I at Vienna can be regarded as a prototype. A similar sword with its scabbard complete with knives, pricker, etc., is in the Germanisches Museum at Nuremburg, and another, with very similar hilt, is at Vienna (Böeheim Album, I, pl. XLI, fig.7). A698|1|1|Boar-sword, the hilt composed of an octagonal fig-shaped pommel, the top heavily incised with semi-circles, deep oblong aperture in one facet showing faint traces of a figure in low relief leaning upon a shield; long, oval, corded grip, swelling in the centre, and bound with leather; plain, straight guard of oblong section. The blade, of oblong section becoming two-edged and turning to a diamond section halfway to the point, is pierced for a cross-bar as in A699.
German, about 1510.
Viollet-le-Duc, V, pp. 393-4, fig. 22.
Provenance: E. Juste (épée de chasse du XVe Siècle à deux mains, 200 fr.
Reciepted Bill, 14 January, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The contemporary name in English for this type of sword was apparently a 'boar spear sword', according to the post-mortem inventory of Henry VIII (Dillon, Archaeologia, LI, p. 268). The 'decoration' in the depression of the pommel, mentioned in the 1962 Catalogue, is probably imaginary. This kind of depression was probably originally filled with copper or silver bearing a device of some kind, as for instance on the sword believed to be that of Estore Visconti (Blair, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1962, pp. 112-20). A699|1|1|Boar-Sword, the hilt composed of a spirally-fluted (writhen), fig-shaped pommel; oval, wooden grip bound with fish-skin with applied, vertical, steel bands shaped as pilasters, and steel mounts at either end with leaf-shaped edges; straight guard, round in section, thickening at the ends and heavily roped. The blade is of oblong section except towards the point where it is enlarged and flattened to a diamond section and the edges waved. It is pierced for a cross-bar stop. Stamped with a maker's mark on both sides; it resembles that upon the serving knife A889.
German, about 1530.
The cross-bar in the blade (here missing) was usually secured by a spring-fastening; its purpose was to prevent the boar being impaled too deeply, and so enable the weapon to be readily withdrawn. A709|1|1|Curved sword and scabbard, the sword’s hilt composed of a heavy pommel of gilt bronze, cast and chased into the form of a saracen's head, bearded and turbaned; octagonal grip of dark, sage-green horn; short, straight guard of steel, square in section, widening at the ends; the hilt block is prolonged to an acute point over the blade, the surface is gilt and decorated with dolphins, scrolls and lions' heads. The slightly curved blade is single-edged and with a single groove and bears the mark of a crescent etched upon both faces; near the hilt are two panels, one on either side, representing Mucius Scaevola and Julius Caesar (?) enthroned as a judge, inscribed respectively:

MV.../ VIV / A · A / S

· IVLIO...ER ·

Scabbard of wood bound with brown velvet and mounted with a locket, chape, and ferrule of gilt steel etched with mermaids, sea-horses, masks and scrolls on a hatched ground, the locket and chape furnished with rings.

The guard North Italian, early-16th century; pommel possibly a little later; blade possibly 19th century; scabbard 19th century.

Provenance: de Mèixmoron of Dijon; bought by Carrand for 550 fr. at the Philippe Vaillant de Meixmoron sale, Contet, Dijon, 27 April-7 May 1868, lot 84 (marked catalogue in the Metropolitan Museum, New York). Louis Carrand (Un cimeterre à longue lame gravée et dorée au talon, le pommeau à tête de Maure est en bronze doré et la fusée en corne; il est accompagné de son fourreau du temps, à bélières en fer gravé et doré sur fond de velours brun ou noir passé, 3000 fr.; Receipted Bill, 1 June, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A710|1|1|Falchion, the hilt composed of a pommel of gilded iron cast as a lion's head, gilt; oval grip of agate (not original to the sword, possibly modern); diagonally curved guard, oval in section, chiselled with acanthus leaves in low relief, gilt on a ground hatched with silver, and terminating in lion's heads; single, solid oval shell guard similarly decorated.

The blade, broad, single-edged and curved, has two shallow hollows on either side a strong ricasso, deeply etched and gilt. It is etched with the crowned arms of Cosimo de' Medici (1519-74) encircled with the collar of the Golden Fleece. Cosimo was Duke of Florence between 1546 (when he was elected to the Order of the Golden Fleece) and 1569 (when he was created Grand Duke of Tuscany by Pope Pius V), receiving then a crown of peculiar design different from the circlet here represented (Litta, Famigli celebri italiane, II, Medici, tav. XIII; and (for the arms), tav. III). Between the crown and the shield on the blade is a bird, its wings displayed, its dexter foot upon a ring.

Two maker's marks are present on both faces of the ricasso of the blade. The mark of the letter M in a ship (which is also found on no. A502) occurs on the sword of Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick, c. 1585, at Dresden (Ehrenthal, p. 73, no. E168), and is there ascribed to Clemens Keuller; and along with two other marks on a sword sold at Sotheby's, 20 March, 1942, lot 10. The second mark is a common North Italian one, and is sometimes found in connection with the 'Genoa' and 'Fringia' marks (see Z.H.W.K., II, p. 75).

Italian, mid-16th century. The grip is probably a 19th-century replacement.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 26 and pl. VIII; Livrustkammaren, VIII, 5, 1959, fig. 8; J. F. Hayward, Mannerist Sword-hilt Designs)
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The decoration of the pommel differs somewhat from that of the guard in workmanship. Boccia and Coelho, in Armi bianche, 1975 (figs. 387-8), this piece is described as North Italian, about 1550, and the blade attributed to a Master M with a ship, working in Venice. However, in Boccia, Rossi and Morin (Armi e armature lombarde, 1980, pI. 248), it is suggested that the maker may have been based at Nave, a small town near Brescia, the ship being a canting device on the name of the town. (See also nos. A502 and 620 here). They describe no. A710 as a hunting weapon for large game such as wolves and bears. The first mark seems to be a capital letter M above the hull of a ship, all in a rectangle with uneven edges. A comparable mark occurs on no. A502 here, but struck with a different punch.

The sword of Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick (born 1564, Duke 1589-1613) also bears a wolf mark of Solingen type. The hilt is attributed to the Dresden sword-cutler Ullrich Jahn (Schöbel, 1975, pp. 44 and 84). The same mark occurs on another falchion blade in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (no. R89; Boccia and Coelho, 1975, fig. 386); on a sword blade at Vienna (Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, inv. no. A683); and on another in Paris (Musée de l' Armée, no. J.I 1359). A variant of this mark with a mast and standing rigging in place of the M appears on no. A620 in the Wallace Collection, where it is accompanied by a wolf mark of Solingen type. S. Pyhrr (letter of 23 April 1976) has pointed out that no. A710 corresponds in every detail, save the material of the grip, with an entry in the Gardaroba Medicea, vol. 539, p. 12v (Archive di Stato, Florence), the Medici inventory of 1639. A708|1|1|Sabre, the hilt composed of a flattened pear-shaped pommel of steel chiselled in high relief with nude, seated figures supporting a coronet, enclosing small figures of horsemen on either face, and at the sides strapwork forming the letter H; oval grip bound with gold and steel wire, the latter arranged as roping and other interlaced bands; diagonally curved guard terminating in nude seated figures, pierced, and in high relief, bearing a crown or coronet; escutcheon also enriched with gold inlay; curved blade, single-edged and hollowed, the surface russeted and overlaid with arabesques and a shield of arms in gold; the back-edge slightly cusped in two places and overlaid in gold with undulating scrolls; the ricasso bears the letters D S, and maker's marks belonging to Daniele da Serravalle, a Milanese swordsmith active in the middle of the 16th century. The arms, which are overlaid in gold on a plane near the point, are those of Anjou-Sicily and Jerusalem impaled. Charles II, Count of Maine (d. 1481), was the last legitimate male of the second Angevin house of Sicily, and instituted Louis XI his heir. The arms were revived by Louis XII (1498-1515), King of France, Sicily and Jerusalem, who conquered Naples in 1501, but there is no evidence of their being impaled after the death of Louis XII in 1515. If the H is significant, this fine weapon may have belonged to Henri II of France.

Italian (Milanese), about 1560
Provenance: E. Juste? (Épée ciselée à figures en rond bosse et dorée, 2,500 fr.; Receipted bill, 14 January, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke?
The description in Juste's bill might also refer to no. A685.

Other swords signed in this way by Daniele da Serravalle of Milan are at Vienna (Böeheim, Führer, nos. 461, 462); at Dresden, E92a and b; G 154; Madrid G 34, sword of Charles V; Musée de l' Armée, Paris, J 192; Musée de l' Armée, Brussels, XVI, 3; Museo Stibbert, nos. 5, 4764; and at Turin G 61. A sword inscribed DANIEL DE SERAVALE... IN MILANO...1560, was in the collection of Mr. S. J. Whawell (Laking, European Armour IV, fig. 1374).

The maker’s marks on the curved blade of this royal sword, the initials ‘DS’ and the crowned M of the forge of the castle of Milan, indicate that it was made in Milan by Daniele da Serravalle, one of that city’s great masters, probably between 1550 and 1560. Serravalle took over from Vincenzo Figino as head of the Maglio del Castello in 1546; this fine sword cannot, therefore, have been made before that date.

Such exotic arms seem to have been one of Serravalle’s specialities; ‘9 scimitarre’ are listed along with a great many other swords and rapiers in the post-mortem inventory of his workshop (14 January 1567), now in the state archives in Milan. The hilt has been pierced, chiselled, and inlaid with gold, forming a decorative scheme involving a very complicated arrangement of horsemen, crowns, and pseudo-Classical figures, while the strapwork on the pommel has been carefully arranged to form King Henri’s personal ‘H’ monogram.

The curved blade is decorated over its whole length (apart from the cutting edge) on each side with overlay in gold forming delicate scrolling vines framed within a dashed and dotted border. Such blade decoration was unusual in the extreme, emphasising the exotic nature of the piece, although it is found in fact on a number of other fine Milanese swords of the time. It may have been a signature feature of the Milanese master bladesmiths; closely similar blade damascening is also found on the rapier made in Milan for Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol, to accompany his ‘Milanese’ armour , and on the three Milanese rapiers mounted with baluster-turned hilts in Dresden. However on these the gold decoration is restricted to the ricasso, as seems to have been most usual, while on Ferdinand II’s rapier it continues only as a narrow band down the middle of the blade. Only the Serravalle scimitar blade is covered in gold vines overall.

Despite its rich ornament this sword remains a perfectly practical fighting tool. Nevertheless, King Henri would probably only have used the sword as a costume accessory; perhaps it was worn at some important parade or diplomatic occasion, assuming it was finished before the King’s unexpected death in 1559 as a result of a jousting accident.

‘Maestro Daniel Serravalo’ is recorded as having had charge of the management of the hammer-mill in the Castle of Milan from 1549 for fifteen years, at an annual wage of 168 scudi for himself and for his two assistants. A second document of 18 June 1565 describes him as being dead. (Gelli and Moretti, 1903, pp. 16-17). These documents do not, however, make clear whether Serrevalle was an armourer or swordsmith, but according to Boccia and Coelho, the Medicean inventories include reference to a number of swords marked 'D S' which are therein described as 'del Serrevalle vecchio' or 'di Serrevalle' (1975, p. 366, n. 328). His relationship to Giovanni Battista Serabaglio or Serrevalle, the supplier of the ‘Milanese Garniture’ to Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol, is uncertain (Vienna, Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, inv. nos. A746, 747, 782, 785, 785a, b and c, and 805). The sword at Madrid (no. G38), mentioned in the 1962 Catalogue, is decorated to match an armour, also in the Real Armeria (no. A 159-63), which is thought to have been paid for in 1546 (Boccia and Coelho, 1975, figs. 328 and 330 respectively). A falchion blade bearing these marks, fitted with guards of about 1550-60, is in the Farnese armoury at Capodimonte (no. 3724; Boccia and Coelho, 1975, fig. 543, wrongly dated 1600-10). The sword in the Musée de l' Armée (no. J.192) came from the Condé armoury at Chantilly. Its present hilt is of the early 17th century. A sword of about 1560 from an old Zurich family, with both sets of marks on the blade, is now in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich (inv. no. LM11681; 1980 cat., no. 216). A second blade at Dresden, mounted in a much later hilt, bears both marks and the initials (1899 cat., no. E100; Schöbel, 1975, pI. 68). Yet another blade is in the Musée de Cluny, Paris (no. CL11812). The initials and the second mark occur on a dagger said to have been found in the Vendée, formerly in the collection of comte Raoul de Rochebrune (1900 cat., pl.XXI, no. 5), and now in the Musée Dobrée, Nantes. In some cases the two marks occur without the initials, as on a sword in the Real Armería at Madrid, no. G33, which, it has been suggested, belongs to the armour 'de los mascarones relevados' of 1539 (no. A139 in the same armoury). It is possible that this indicates that the blade was made in the workshop of Serravale, but not by his own hand (Boccia and Coelho, 1975, fig. 367, n. on p. 369). The sword in Vienna with a hilt signed by Damianus de Nerve (Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, inv. no. A586; Boccia and Coelho, 1975, figs. 375 and 376, n. on p. 370) bears only the second mark without any initials, as does a falchion with a blade etched with hunting scenes after Virgil Solis, Hans Brossamer, Heinrich Aldegrever, and others, in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (C. Mezentseva, 'Graphic sources for the ornamentation of a 16th-century German sabre', Reports of the Hermitage Museum, XXXV, 1972, pp. 20-25). The sword and dagger at Vienna, mentioned in the comparative material in the 1962 Catalogue, do bear the mark of the crowned M, but without a maker's mark on the sword blade, and with two initials, perhaps TB, on the dagger blade (Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, inv. nos. A794-5). Boccia and Coelho (1975, figs. 405-6, n. on p. 374) describe the sword as having a maker's mark consisting of the initials VF flanking a column with a crown above it, all in a shield-shaped compartment. They identify this as possibly that of Vincenzo Figino, the predecessor of Serravale in the mill at the Castle of Milan. This is an error. The VF mark occurs on Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer inv. no. A515, but not on no. A794. The fully signed and dated sword, formerly in the Whawell collection, cited in the 1962 Catalogue, is now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (no. 1973.27.2). Its construction does not inspire confidence in its authenticity. A712|1|1|Falchion and scabbard, the hilt composed of a heavy pommel of russeted steel chiselled in the form of a scroll of acanthus leaves and gilt; oval, wire-bound grip of wood swelling in the centre; diagonally curved guard, the dexter in a forked scroll, the other singly; both are fluted and decorated with acanthus leaves chiselled and gilt, the rectangular central hilt block (escutcheon) with winged masks in low relief.

The single-edged blade is curved and hollowed, with a single groove near the back-edge; faint traces of gilding and a maker's mark are found near the hilt. Scabbard of wood covered with green velvet and mounted with a locket and chape, chiselled and gilt, the chape with leaves in low relief; the locket has a broad band at the back with a D-ring for suspension.

Italian, about 1550.

De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 12 and pl. 2; Lièvre, Musée Graphique. Provenance: Louis Carrand (un cimeterre italien du XVIe siècle en fer ciselée et doré avec forreau, 2,250 fr.; receipted bill, 9 June, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A713|1|1|Scimitar and scabbard, the pistol-shaped hilt of steel is of oval section swelling at the end with a small beak, and chiselled with a network of arabesques in low relief, showing traces of gilding, with a small bird-like beak, and pierced with a circular hole for a thong, with three human heads in relief on the pommel; diagonal curved guard of diamond section, terminating in satyr-masks; oval shell-guard in low relief chased with Horatius Cocles defending the Sublicain Bridge against the army of Porsenna.

The curved blade is of triangular section, single-edged except towards the point, and grooved. The background of the decoration is hatched with silver. Scabbard of wood covered with green (formerly blue) velvet and mounted with lockets; chape of steel with scrolls in low relief and oval panels representing Leda and the Swan, Europa and the Bull, and a nude figure armed with spear and shield, formerly gilt; the lockets on the outer side have rings for suspension, the latter bearing a small label (wired on) with the letters

R.W./F.D.

The hilt North Italian, probably about 1550; the blade is Middle Eastern.
Lièvre, Collections célèbres, pI. 84; Lièvre, Musées et collections, 2 Sér., pI. 30; Skelton II, pl. CV; Meyrick Catalogue, no. 639; Laking, European Armour IV, fig. 1345 (who considered it to be of German workmanship); Livrustkammaren, VIII, 5, 1959, fig. 17 (J.F. Hayward, Mannerist Sword-hilt Designs).

Provenance: possibly no. 58 in the list of swords and daggers acquired by Meyrick from Domenic Colnaghi, about 1818, now in the Library of the Royal Armouries. Meyrick suggested that this scimitar might have belonged to a Venetian Estradiot. The date on the blade was inverted by Skelton and described by Meyrick as an Asiatic stamp. He was probably right. This scimitar, like no. A709, is an example of the mingling of European and Asiatic styles.

The scene chiselled on the shell is based on a plaquette attributed to the Master I.O.F.F. (see no. S313 in the Wallace Collection). The mark on the blade is surrounded by an inlaid line of brass, and its ground filled with red enamel.

Titian's portrait of Cardinal Ippolito dei Medici shows him wearing a sword with a hilt in Turkish or Hungarian fashion (Florence, Pitti Palace, no. 201).
The inscription on the blade, which is in Arabic, reads 'Tafata', meaning 'Oh Victory' (D. Alexander, letter of 8 March 1985). A716|1|1|Sabre, the hilt composed of a pommel made as a flat cup-shaped continuation of the grip (which is of dark wood, possibly rose-wood), widening at the end, faintly suggesting a bird's head; recurved knuckle-guard and short rear quillon, each terminating in a disk. Single side-ring. The curved blade is falchion-shaped, single edged at the top and double-edged within a foot of the point, with three shallow hollow or slit grooves. Four inches (9.5cm) from the hilt is a maker's mark inlaid in copper. Upon the pommel is engraved a coat of arms with the initials I.I.P and the date 1658. These arms are those of Pomer (alias Bemer) of Nuremberg, and are (in reality) per bend, in chief bendy of four gules and argent, in base sable (Patricii Respublicae Nurenberg, circa, 1600, sig. (:) iii and pl. 55 'die Pomer', and Feyerabend, Insignia Sacrae Cesareae Majestatis, etc., Francofurti a. M., 1579, 'Bemer').

German, 16th century (?)
Provenance: Elie Meyer (un saber portent la date de 1658 avec écussons, 150 fr.; receipted bill, 13 May, 1870); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The date on the pommel was presumably placed there at the time the arms were engraved, but the shape of the sword and its workmanship suggest that it may have been made earlier in the 16th century.

This sword is probably of the middle of the 17th century made in the 'old Franconian' (i.e. Gothic) style. Compare a sword at Vienna (inv. no. A 1590) with a hilt in similar archaic style, but with the mounts of its scabbard bearing 17th-century Viennese silver marks. A725|1|1|Calendar sword, the hilt made up of a spirally fluted (writhen), pear-shaped pommel (associated); oval-section grip elaborately bound with brass wire; straight crossguard slightly bent horizontally at the ends, of octagonal section ending in balls held in a twist; side-ring of trefoil shape with overlapping points; pommel, guard and side-ring are gilt. Flat blade finely etched with a calendar (in German) and the signs of the Zodiac; it is deeply stamped with the bust of a king, half-length, bearing a sceptre, and a maker's mark.
Pommel, probably early 17th century; guards German or Swiss, about 1520-40; blade German (Solingen), about 1620.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 37.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The hilt appears to be of earlier date than the blade. The mark is not the usual king's head of J. Wundes, but a demi-figure of a king with sceptre. It is found on a calendar sword in the Musée de l' Armée (J 703), stated to have been carried by Pappenheim at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. It also occurs on a calendar sword in the Wartburg (Diener-Schönberg, No. 401), and on one formerly at Erbach. It is stamped on an executioner's sword in the Stead Collection, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; on another at Ambras; also on swords of various kinds at Schwarzburg, no. 369; Metropolitan Museum, New York (dated 1620); two examples of blades with calendars are in the Royal Armouries and one in the H. G. Keasbey sale, New York, 28 November, 1925, lot 230, re-set in an English 'mortuary' hilt. For further references to calendar swords, see under no. A711. A726|1|1|Rondel dagger, with disk-shaped steel guards, similar in size and construction, placed at either end of the wooden grip. The grip itself is secured to the tang on each side by a copper alloy rivet with a cinquefoil head, and is inlaid with vertical strips of copper alloy on either side (one now missing). The blade is single-edged, the sides slightly hollowed; the back-edge has a central ridge, changing to flat near the hilt.

The tang is quite narrow and pierces the centre of the grip. Similar copper alloy studs occur at the centre of the grip of a rondel dagger found at Queenhythe Dock, London, in 1979 (B. Spencer, personal communication, 1984).

The blade is blackened by corrosion, but complete except for two nicks in the edge, the dagger having been found in a peat-bog. A maker's mark inlaid in copper alloy is present 2 inches (5.0) from the shoulder.

French, about 1440-50.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 76 and no. 83 ; Viollet-le-Duc V, 317-18; Demmin, 424, fig. 10; Laking: European Armour II, fig. 780; Peterson, Daggers and fighting knives, 1968, pI. 13

Provenance: Louis Carrand (une dague à rondelles du temps de Charles VI trouvée dans les tourbières, 200 fr.; receipted bill, 25 February, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

Daggers of this type are frequently represented in illuminations of the first half of the 15th century, but actual specimens are not very common. Another is in the collection of the Royal Armouries, inv. no. X.1. A727|1|1|Rondel dagger and scabbard, with circular guards of copper alloy at either end of the grip, to the top one of which is applied another of copper, with an intervening one of iron. The copper disk has been decorated with red and black enamel representing a winged monster bearing a scroll which is inscribed:

MARY

Quadrangular grip overlaid on opposite sides with: (1) antler, and (2) strips of copper, gilt and decorated with conventional leaves and flowers in white, black, red and blue enamel; it is pierced with three large holes on the two antler sides. Cylindrical hand guard of copper alloy, engraved with conventional leaves. The blade is triangular in section, the sides hollowed.

Scabbard of wood bound with cuir bouilli, tooled; two small pockets for a knife and awl-spike, these are both now missing as also is the metal ferrule at the end.

Blade about 1450; remainder probably 19th century. Laking, European Armour III , fig. 772. The enamel applied to the grip may have been added, and the cylindrical guard may also be later in date.

The mark of a hunting horn resembles that found on many blades signed by members of the Wirsbergh family of Solingen in the first half of the 17th century, though without the cross. A728|1|1|Rondel dagger, very similar to A729, the differences being found in the decoration. The top of the disk-pommel is in this case deeply hatched with lines criss-crossing each other diagonally, and the grip is engraved with a lozengy pattern. The blade is a little shorter, though originally it may have had the same length; it lacks its scabbard. A maker's mark is found 2 1/2 inches (6.3 cm) from the hilt; the same mark appears upon A729.

German, first half of 16th century.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 101.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
Peterson, daggers and fighting knives, 1968, pI. 16 (A729). Four daggers bearing like marks are in the Musée de l' Armée (Robert, no. J. 764, pl. 10, fig. S 126).

The same mark is found on a dagger of this type in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Dean, Catalogue of Daggers, pl. IX, no. 32, ex-Reubell); on dagger no. J 767 in the Musée de l' Armée; and on an estoc formerly in the Zeughaus at Berlin.

Some twenty of these daggers are known, four of them still in the Electoral Armoury at Dresden (1899 cat., no. A87-90) which may be the source whence many of them came. A729|1|1|Rondel dagger and scabbard, the circular flat pommel-disk having a slight convex surface with a small reticulated pattern, secured to the hilt by a square washer incised with a diamond; slender, tubular grip incised with a fretted ornament; small oval guard-disk for the hand, bent over at one side parallel with the blade.

Blade of triangular section with hollowed sides. A maker's mark 2 3/8 inches (6 cm) from the hilt: the same mark appears on A728, to which this dagger bears a close resemblance.

Wooden scabbard covered with black leather tooled with lines; there are pockets for two small knives (now missing); it is pierced at the back for suspension. The scabbard, being of plain leather tooled only with lines, would appear not to be that catalogued by De Beaumont as ‘garni de cuir empreint defilets croisés en losanges, présente sur sa face deux petites gâmes à coutelets.’

German, first half of 16th century.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 100; Peterson, daggers and fighting knives, 1968, pI. 16 (A729).
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

A dagger with a like mark is in the Musée de l' Armée (Robert, no. J 767, pl. 10, fig. S 127); others are at Dresden (A87-90).

Some twenty of these daggers are known, four of them still in the Electoral Armoury at Dresden (1899 Cat., no. A87-90) which may be the source whence many of them came. A732|1|1|Bollock dagger, scabbard, and accessories, the hilt of the dagger composed of a circular flat butt-cap fastened to the tang by a small silver button; grip, seperated from the cap by a copper alloy washer, carved out of maple wood, of round section and tapering towards the guard lobes; from these project two small guards of steel, extending over the blade; the latter is single-edged, and of strong, triangular section. A maker's mark inlaid in copper alloy on one side.

The dagger forms a set with the scabbard, a small byknife, and a pricker or steel. The byknife has a grip of maple wood, with a projecting silver button on the outer side (doubtless to prevent it slipping too far into the sheath), the pommel is of steel in continuation of the grip; the blade carries the maker's mark. The pricker, circular and tapering, is furnished like the knife.

Scabbard of wood bound with cuir bouilli pricked and tooled; at the back a chape for slipping over a belt; square steel ferrule.

Flemish or North German, about 1550.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no 88; Demnim, 426, fig. 13; Laking, European Armour III, fig. 798.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

This type of dagger, known to contemporaries as a ballock or bollock knife, from the two lobes, can be traced in England from the 16th century (e.g. Sir Robert Shurland's effigy, early 14th century, at Minster, Isle of Sheppey, worn by the groom at his feet, and the Wardieue brass, c. 1360, at Bodiam, Sussex), and was very common in England and the Low Countries over a long period; it is seldom found in Central or Southern Europe.

In the Royal Collection at Windsor (Windsor Castle Armoury, no. 32) is an English dagger of this type belonging to the second half of the 16th century.Comparable daggers occur in the work of Pieter Aertzen, including A Peasant Interior, dated 1556, in the Meyer van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp (1933 Cat., no. 43, illus.). A733|1|1|Dagger, the hilt made entirely of ivory and comprising an oval pommel flat at the top, scrolled at the sides and carved with acanthus leaves in low relief; a silver washer with toothed edge, inlaid with niello, fastening the hilt to the tang; grip of baluster form, turned in the middle, and expanding near the blade to form a guard, carved with pairs of male and female heads, wearing head-dress of the style of c. 1510. The blade, of flattened diamond section, is corroded except at the base where it is etched and gilt on the one side with panel of pomegranates, and on the other inscribed:

OMA / TE… E. / EMEN

This is apparently an abridgement of the prayer: O MATER DEI MEMENTO MEI, a common inscription on weapons and armour dating from the end of the 15th century. A maker’s mark is stamped on one side.

German, about 1490-1510
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 813
Compare for style the sword A502.
Fayet sale, Pillet, Paris, 29-30 April 1870, lot 78. A736|1|1|Ear-Dagger, made in one piece of steel. The pommel is formed of a pair of disks angled outwards and engraved with cross-hatching on the inner sides; the grip, of baluster form, is split into four parts and joined at the centre; the double-edged blade is of diamond section deeply etched on the squared ricasso with an arabesque.

Spanish, mid 16th century.
Exhibited: Musée Rétrospectif, 1865, no. 1934. L' Art Ancien I, no. 26; De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 80 and pl. 5; Laking, European Armour III, fig. 826.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke

The formation of the pommel in this type of dagger comes from the Middle East and follows the lines of Ottoman yataghans. The type was known in Italy as ‘daga all Levantia’ or ‘alla Stradiotta’; see also A737.

According to R. Lorente, all metal 'ear-daggers' with the ricasso of the same length on each side of the blade, such as A736, are Spanish (Gladius, III, 1964, pp. 67-87). A design for what appears to be one was submitted by Cristofal Joan as his masterpiece on entry to the Guild of Goldsmiths in Barcelona in 1538 (Hayward, Virtuoso Goldsmiths, 1976, pl. 236).

A similar all-steel dagger appears in the portrait of Matthäus Schwarz of Augsburg, dated 1542, probably by Christoph Amberger, in the Thyssen collection, Madrid. Schwarz was the author of a manuscript Trachtenbuch, showing him in the clothes worn by him on all the memorable occasions from his early childhood (Brunswick, Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum; A. Fink, Die Schwarzschen Trachtenbücher, 1963). A737|1|1|Ear-dagger, the pommel consisting of a pair of disks angled outwards and covered on the exterior side with plaques of horn, from each of which projects a small slanting cone of brass engraved with brass circles, reminiscent of oyster shells. The grip, of steel, is overlaid on each side with a strip of horn, moulded at the base. The blade, of diamond section, has hollow-ground sides and a short ricasso; the strong tang forms the centre of the grip.

Venetian or Spanish, about 1500.
De Beaumont catalogue, no. 79 and pl. 1; Laking European Armour III, fig. 833; Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Jere, xxiv, 1868, p. 422, no. 9, and pl. facing p.41.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
See also A736.

Most existing ear daggers are of Spanish-Moresque origin, though possibly they were made by Middle-Eastern workmen based in Venice as well. The inventory of King Francois I of France mentions 'une petite dague à oreilles à l'espanol.'

See R. Lorente in Gladius, I II, 1964, pp. 67-87, who describes this type of 'ear dagger' with composite grip and equal-sided ricasso as ‘Venetian or Spanish in Hispano-Moresque style’ but made for and worn by Christians (Type II). A738|1|1|Cinquedea, comprised of a flat, rosette-shaped pommel of gilt bronze: curved guard, chased with roping with knob-like terminals, also of gilt bronze; grip of wood bound with fine copper wire woven into a pattern; flat, tapering blade with three, two and one hollowed panels from base to point, blued and decorated in gold on either side in succession, with nude classical figures, busts in panels, chequers and arabesques. There are remains of foliation on the bevelled edges of the blade. On the blade the gold has been applied to areas and lines slightly etched into the surface of the metal.

The whole object is probably 19th-century.
L' Art Ancien IX, no. 1010.
Provenance: Frédéric Spitzer.

The decoration on the blades of this cinquedea and nos. A739 and 740 is distinct from the etched style usually associated with this type of weapon because it is flat and not bitten. Dr. Jan Lauts has drawn attention to this group in Z.H.W.K., XIV (1936), pp. 122-6, and illustrates other examples in the Musée de l' Armée at Paris (J 777 and 779), and the Bargello at Florence (illustrated by Laking III, p. 78, and in Les Arts, October, 1902, p. 13).

A very similar weapon, with closely comparable hilt and a blade decorated in the same style, is in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan (inv. no. 2370; 1980 cat., no. 616). A739|1|1|Cinquedea, composed of a flat, trapezoidal pommel of steel with a tang button, piqué with scrolls and gilt; curved, ridged guard widening at the ends, pricked and gilt; iron and silver wire-bound grip; flat, tapering blade with four, three and two hollowed panels from base to point, blued and decorated in succession with allegorical figures, busts and arabesques formed by means of selective fire-gilding. Corrosion has left in low relief the areas originally protected by the gold.

The figures are thus described by De Beaumont: une image de saint auréolé, revêtu d'une cuirasse e tenant une hache; sur l' autreface est représentée l' Intempérance (sic), sous la forme d' une femme versant à terre le contenu d' un large flacon ou chantepleure. The arabesques are in the same style, and possibly from the same hand, as those upon the dagger, no. A738. There is a bladesmith's mark on both sides 9.5 cm from the hilt.

Pommel associated, probably about 1600-20; guards of uncertain date; blade Italian, about 1500.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 77
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke

A 'three grayned staff ' formerly at Hever Castle bears the same mark (sold Sotheby's, 5 May 1983, lot 139, repr. in cat.). A740|1|1|Cinquedea, having a large, arch-shaped hilt of ivory, now stained black, shod with gilt bronze decorated round the edge with foliage, a putto and a female figure in low relief. The grip is inlaid with four pierced circles of brass; down one side runs a narrow band of copper gilt, inscribed:

PROPTER · CANES · E

The corresponding strip on the reverse side is missing. The curved guard is broad and terminates at the edge of the blade. The latter is flat, with four, three and two hollow panels from base to point, and is decorated with the legend of the Rape of Europa, selectively gilt; the subject on the reverse side is obliterated. This cinquedea is much eroded and has probably been recovered from a river bed. The ivory grip is stained green where it is in contact with the gilt-bronze mounts.

Italian (Ferrarese?), about 1480.
Laking, European Armour III, figs. 851-2.

Unlike the three preceding cinquedeas this one has the arched pommel which one commonly associates with the type, as seen on nos. A744, 746 etc.
The U-shaped pommel-cap has on one end a figure of Cupid and on the other end a naked captive seen from the hips up. A similar figure in reverse occurs on the cap of no. A745. The punctuation marks of the inscription are cross crosslets, as on no. A742. Cleaning in 1972 and 1975 revealed that the scenes on the blade represent Argus and lo as a cow and Pyramus and Thisbe respectively.

Boccia and Coelho (1975, figs. 203-5) illustrate the very similar 'cinquedea' in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (no. J.777), which they ascribe to Ferrara, about 1500. A 'cinquedea' blade in the Musée' du Louvre appears to be by the same hand. Its sheath bears a coat of arms apparently consisting of Bentivoglio impaling a bend. Decoration in this style and technique also occurs on a 'cinquedea' blade in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (no. 26.145.57) and on a large blade of 'cinquedea' form lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1982. On one side of the blade of this last is depicted Orpheus emerging from the gates of the Underworld; the scene on the other side has not yet been identified.

The type of decoration found A740, consisting of broad areas of gilding on the surface of the blade against a blued ground, known in German as Goldschmelz, has frequently been doubted. While this style certainly attracted more than one imitator in the 19th century, there can be no doubt that the decoration of A740 is genuine. The cleaning revealed wide areas of decoration formerly concealed by a thick and very hard coat of rust. A741|1|1|Cinquedea, composed of a strong, curving guard; grip, faced with thick ivory plaques inlaid with four circular ornaments in brass; the bands at the side, usually of gilt copper and inscribed, are missing, as is the arch-shaped metal mount of the hilt; the blade of flattened diamond section, with two shallow grooves, is decorated with allegorical subjects, winged horses and amorini, etched and gilt. It is inscribed:

DESINT FATA DEVM FLETI SPERARE PREC(?)
INFIVTV VISSIMVS MORIEMVR IPORT . .

The second line was probably intended for:
INVICTI VIXIMVS · MORIEMVR IN PORTv
(We have lived unconquered: we shall die in port)

The compartments each contain a group of human figures; on one side, first, a naked woman holding up a sail, and two naked men one of whom is holding a mast with a fighting-top, all riding dolphins; second, two naked men holding a mast, a third naked figure being partially obliterated: on the other side, first, a naked man cutting at a bearded oriental, and two wheels; second, two naked men carrying wheels. Two winged terminal horses are in the pediment above these scenes.

There is a bladesmith's mark 17.7 cm from the hilt; the same rake-like mark appears on nos. A743, 747-8, and on an Italian Renaissance sword, the blade with strong, central ridge, in the Doge's Palace at Venice.

Italian, about 1470.
Skelton I, pl. LXII, fig. 5.
Provenance: Sir Samuel R. Meyrick.

The decoration of this cinquedea has been attributed by Mr. Charles ffoulkes to Ercole dei Fideli (Arch. Journal, LXVIII, no. 270; 2nd Series, XVIII, no. 2, 157-65). See also nos. A742-3, 745.

The decoration of the blade is less good than that on A745. It resembles that on A748 both stylistically and in arrangement, but seems not to be by the same hand. What is apparently the same mark occurs on a 'cinquedea' blade in the Museo Civico, Bologna, but the etching in this case seems to be by yet another hand (Boccia & Coelho, 1975, figs. 206-8, where it is attributed to a 'Maestro dei cavallini' at Emilia, about 1500). A742|1|1|Cinquedea, composed of an arch-shaped hilt shod with gilt bronze, decorated with figures in low relief; strong, curved, steel guard, flat in section, lightly etched with shields and trophies; grip, made in one with the pommel and bound with plaques of ivory and pierced with four circles of brass. It has on either side, inset between the ivory plaques, a gilt, copper band inscribed:

DEVS · IN NOMINE · / · TVO · SALVVM · ME FAC ·
(God in Thy name make me safe)

The broad, flat blade has four and two hollowed panels from base to point; it is decorated at the base with groups of allegorical figures holding banners (? A Triumph) surmounted with busts, amorini and a line of foliage, finely etched and originally gilt; there is a bladesmith's mark on one side. The figures on the end of the pommel-cap are, on one end, a naked youth standing between curtains in a rectangular niche, and, on the other, a female figure lightly clad in classical dress bearing a spear in her right hand also in a rectangular niche (? Diana). The female figure closely resembles one on the pommel-cap of A499.

The punctuation marks of the inscription are crosslets as on A740. The blade appears to have been entirely re-etched (C. Blair, personal communication, 1975).

Italian (Ferrarese), about 1490.
Skelton I, pl. LXII, fig. 4 (?); Laking, European Armour III, fig. 852. Oakeshott, Archaeology of weapons, 1960, pl. 22b.
Provenance: Possibly that of Sir Samuel R. Meyrick.

The decoration upon this cinquedea resembles the work of Ercole dei Fideli of Ferrara. See also A743, 746 and 748.

The mark resembles that on the sword of Gian Giacomo Trivulsio, Marshal of France, now at Vienna (inv. no. A455), which Boccia and Coelho ascribed to Ferrara about 1499 (1975, figs. 242 and 278). A743|1|1|Cinquedea and scabbard, the arch-shaped hilt shod with gilt bronze, decorated with profile busts, cornucopias, a small figure of a winged horse, and a stag in low relief. The grip (made in one with the pommel) is faced with plaques of ivory (possibly later replacements; C. Blair, personal communication, 1975) and inlaid with four circular ornaments in brass; on either side, inset at the sides between the ivory plaques, is a band of bronze, or copper, gilt and inscribed:

NVNQVAM POTEST NON · / ESSE VIRTVTI LOCOS ·

The curved guard of steel, flat, lightly etched with the figure of Pegasus, scrolls and scale ornament. The tapering blade, of flat diamond section, has three and two hollowed panels from base to point; it is finely etched and gilt, with scenes the subject of which is unknown. Above these is a decoration of scrolled foliage, winged horses and a winged putto. The principal composition is inscribed P R M; and there is a bladesmith's rake-like mark, on both sides, 15.5 cm from the hilt; it is the same as that upon A741, 747-8.

Scabbard of black leather (cuir bouilli), the front tooled with interlaced strapwork in low relief on a granulated ground; in the centre a shield with the charges of a cross with its crossing voided of the field, or Checky of nine pieces. The back is delicately tooled with lines and engrailed ornament, and furnished with a pocket for a small knife and pricker; at the top it is pierced to form two loops for the thongs of a belt; about a half an inch of the point is missing, and it is now broken into two pieces.

Italian, about 1500
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The inscription around the edges of the grip also occurs on a 'cinquedea' at Windsor Castle (1904 Cat., no. 30), the scabbard of which bears the arms of the Bentivoglio of Bologna, and on another in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (no. J.777; Boccia & Coelho, 1975, fig. 200). A744|1|1|Cinquedea, having an arch-shaped hilt of horn, shod with bronze, plain except for a pair of mouldings at each side; curved flat guard; grip faced with plaques of brown horn inlaid with four circular ornaments in brass. The flat, tapering blade with three and two shallow panels from base to point, which appears to have been trimmed to a sharper angle than is usual; there are traces of etched scrolls of foliage on one side, and a bladesmith's mark 17.8 cm from the hilt. The same mark appears on A745. The gilt copper band inset on either side of the grip between the plaques is inscribed:

DEVS · FORTITVDO · M[EA] / VIRTVS · SVPER · OMNI[A]
(God is my strength, my courage over all)

Italian, about 1480.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 852.

The pommel-cap is rather less well made than usual. The punctuation marks of the inscription on the grip are flowers. As the strip is now fitted there is insufficient room for a final A in the inscription. The etching appears to be by an entirely different hand to that of either. The blade has apparently been considerably shortened. A745|1|1|Cinquedea, of large size. The arch-shaped hilt is shod with gilt bronze, decorated with a profile bust and nude female figure in low relief; the grip in one with the pommel, is faced with two plaques of ivory, inlaid on either side with four circular ornaments in brass; on the sides, inset between the plaques, are bands of gilt bronze inscribed:

AVXILIVM · A · SVPERIS / PRAEBENT · VICTORIAM
(Help from the Gods above given victory)

Curved, steel guard of flattened oblong section etched with scrolls and scale ornament. The blade of flat diamond section, with four, three and two hollowed panels from base to point. Etched on one side, the trial, scourging and crucifixion under triple arches, surmounted with a medallion representing Fortessa (Fortitude) and on the other a classical subject of nude male and female figures with the emblems of Justice above. Traces of gilding remain. The narrow panel up the centre of the blade is inscribed:

DEVS · ET · NATVRA · NIHIL · FRVSTRA · FACIVNT
(God and Nature do nothing in vain)

on the one face, and on the other:

INFICTV · VISSIMVS · MORIEMVR · IN PORTV
(We have lived unconquered and shall die in port)

There is bladesmith's mark 15.2 cm from the hilt; the same mark appears on A744 and 746.
Italian, about 1490.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 852.
Exhibited: Musée Rétrospectif, 1865, no. 1930 (Spitzer).
Provenance: L' art ancien, III, 368, Spitzer.

The decoration on this cinquedea resembles that upon one in the Museo Stibbert, Florence, which M. Charles Buttin has attributed to Ercole dei Fideli of Ferrara (Les Arts, Sept. 1910 28-9.) See also A741-3 in the Wallace Collection.

The female figure on one end of the pommel cap apparently has her arms bound behind her. A comparable figure occurs on A740.

The two halves of the inscription are each made with a different set of punches.
The mark on the blade resembles that on A744, but not that on A746. The same mark occurs on the blade of a 'cinquedea' in the Musée de I' Armée, Paris, no. J. 774, which Boccia and Coelho ascribe to Emilia, about 1490-1500 (1975, Fig. 200). The etching on both blades is very similar in style.
The same mark occurs on no. J.08061 in the Musée de l' Armée, but in that case the etching of the blade appears to be by an entirely different hand. A746|1|1|Cinquedea, the arch-shaped hilt of ivory, mounted with gilt bronze, decorated with a pair of lyre-shaped acanthus leaves in low relief; grip in one with the pommel, faced with two ivory plaques, with two circular filigree ornaments and with inlaid coins (see below) inserted. Inset at the side between the plaques are bands of gilt bronze inscribed:

CAVE · NE · VITORIA · / PRAEBENT · VICTORIAM ·

Curved guard of gilt bronze decorated with a delicate filigree scrollwork and seed pods. The hilt is inlaid with six Roman coins as follows:

Side A (with the composition of the Golden Calf on the blade)

Pommel: Tetricus Senior (268-273 A.D.). Bust of Tetricus wearing radiate crown. Inscribed:

IMP · C · TETRICVS P.F. [AVG]

Grip: Possibly Constantine II as Caesar (317-337 A.D.). Bust diademed. Inscribed

IMP. LICINIVS P.F. AVG.

Side B

Pommel: Valentinian I (364-375 A.D.). Bust diademed. Inscribed:

[D.N.] VALENTINIA[NVS P.F. AVG]

Grip: 'Urbs Roma'. Bust of the City of Rome, helmeted. (About 330-337 A.D.)

Guard: Constantine the Great (305-337 A.D.). Bust diademed. Inscribed:CONSTANTINVS P.F. AVG

The blade is of flat diamond section, with hollowed, sunk panels, five, four, three, and two from base to point. Decorated, on the one side, with the Worship of the Golden Calf surmounted with heads in a medallion supported by amorini, and above this in alternate pairs of panels, nude figures, bearing flags, emblems (one inscribed S P Q R), and finally, conventional leaves, all etched and richly gilt. The reverse side has been similarly decorated with a classical subject, nude figures and conventional foliage. The sharpness and depth of the etching suggest that it has been recut. The letter T is incised upon the altar in the first composition. Compare the letter T (? Taurus) on another. There is a bladesmith's mark on either side 14 cm from the hilt. The same mark appears upon A744-5.

Italian, about 1500.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 852; Yriarte, Le Graveur d' Epées de César Borgia.

The ivory scales are later replacements and are of the wrong form and size. The pommel-cap is probably also a replacement. The inscription has been doubted, as has the filigree work of the guard which is of characteristic 19th-century type with granulations (C. Blair and J. F. Hayward, personal communication, 1963). The scene on the blade identified as The Worship of the Golden Calf is perhaps more likely to have a classical or humanist source. The flag is, in fact, inscribed S.P.Q.B. The scenes on the reverse include a stag, two old men speaking to a soldier in classical armour, and two women and a man attending a woman who has apparently fallen to the ground.
Yriarte, 'Le graveur d'épées de Cesar Borgia', Les lettres et les arts, I, 1886, pp. 163-86 and 339-61, illus. on p. 179 (middle); and Yriarte, Maître Hercule de Pesaro, extract from Gazette archeologique, 1887-8, illus. p. 19. The mark does not resemble that on either A744 or 745 except very superficially. It bears a closer resemblance to that on the sword given by Pope Julius II to the Emperor Maximilian I in 1509 as a Knight of St. Peter (Vienna, inv. no. A453; Boccia & Coelho, 1975, figs. 293 and 295). A similar mark occurs on a sword made for a member of the von Kressenstein family, now in the Musée de Cluny, Paris (no. CL11811; Boccia & Coelho, 1975, figs. 294 and 296). The etching on all three blades is very similar in style, although not definitely by the same hand. The same mark occurs on a 'cinquedea' blade mounted in a 19th-century hilt in the Armeria Reale at Turin (no. H 7), the etching of which may also be by the same hand as that of no. A746 (Bertolotto in Mazzini, 1982, pp. 63-5, figs. 9-12) This mark also occurs on a 'cinquedea' blade in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan (inv. no. 2369; 1980 cat., no. 615), but in this case the decoration is in Goldschmelz. A747|1|1|Cinquedea, the arch-shaped hilt shod with gilt bronze, decorated like A746 with acanthus leaves in the form of a lyre in low relief; flat, curved guard; the grip, in one with the pommel, consists of two ivory plaques, inlaid with four circular pierced ornaments in brass; the bands usually inset at the sides, generally of gilt copper and inscribed, are missing. The ends of the pommel-cap are decorated in relief with lyre-like arrangements of acanthus foliage. The quillons bear traces of etched decoration. The style and arrangement of the etching of the blade is very like that of A748, but appears to be original.

The blade, of flattened diamond section, has two shallow holes from base to point and is etched with a representation of Leda and the Swan, and other classical subjects, surmounted with winged figures and foliage. Inscribed up the centre:

CAVE · NE · VITORIA · SIT · CAYXA · M ·
(Suggested translation: Take care that victory is not the cause of death)

FATIS · REGITVR · MORTALE · GENS
(The race of mortals is ruled by destiny)

There is a bladesmith's mark 17.7 from the hilt: the same mark appears upon A741, 743, and 748.

Italian, about 1470
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A748|1|1|Cinquedea, the arch-shaped hilt shod with gilt bronze, engraved with foliage. The grip, made in one piece with the pommel, consists of two plaques of ivory inlaid with four circular ornaments in brass (possibly a restoration); the sides, of gilt copper or bronze, are inscribed:

· EXITVS NON CAVSA · / QVERITVR BELLI ·
(It is inquired not what is the cause but what is the issue of war)

Curved guard, of steel, oblong in section, etched with scrolled foliage. The blade of flat diamond section has two hollows from base to point; it is deeply etched near the hilt and gilt, comprising four upright panels of figure subjects (one shows a bear erect) with scrollwork above, and a narrow band of vase and flower ornament up the centre; there is a bladesmith's mark on both sides, 16.5 cm from the hilt, the same as that upon A741, 743 and 747.

Italian, about 1480.
Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1868, p. 420, no. 7, pl. facing p. 414; De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 9 and pl. 1; Laking, European Armour III, fig. 952.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

C. Blair suggested that the etching was either 19th-century or had been re-worked (personal communication, 1975). A749|1|1|Cinquedea, composed of a circular pommel, similar in form to that on A738, of gilt bronze with roped edge, sunk centre with a profile bust on either in relief; curved guard of gilt bronze, formed like acanthus leaves; grip of wood, spirally fluted, with remains of binding with copper wire woven to a basket pattern; flat blade with three, two and one hollow panels from base to point; the surface was at one time decorated with etached and fire-gilt figures and scrolls like A738-9, but little of this now remains.

Pommel and guards 19th century; blade possibly Italian, about 1500.
Provenance: A Beurdeley? (Une dague Vénetienne niellée, 1,500 fr. (with other pieces); Receipted Bill, 21st February, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
Pommel and guards 19th-century; blade possibly Italian, about 1500.

A similar hilt is on a dagger with a 'cinquedea'-like blade in the Hohensalzburg; this or another very like it was in the von Berthold collection (sold Heberle, Cologne, 25-26 May 1898, lot 407, repr. in cat.). Another is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (no. 26.145.59; Dean, Daggers, 1929, no. 86, pl. XXXII). A750|1|1|Dagger, the hilt composed of a hollow wheel-pommel, chased with conventional flowers and a face in the centre of one side; hollow, gadrooned grip swelling in the centre; plain, curved guard of oblong section: the whole of copper gilt. The blade is broad and flat, double-edged and crudely etched with gilt scrolls; the letters E T, deeply stamped on one side only. Not unlike a cinquedea in form.

Entirely 19th-century.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 81
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A751|1|1|Dagger of cinquedea type, having a steel hilt formed of two addorsed eagles in the round, springing from Corinthian capitals; in the centre of the grip on either side are medallions with defaced heads in relief; slightly curved guard of oblong section, roughly chased with leaves and a granulated ornament. Flat, broad, triangular blade tapering to a point; there are traces of a bladesmith's mark, possibly a head, near the guard. The blade has been much scoured.

Probably entirely 19th-century, except for the two pommels which may be French, 16th-century.

J. F. Hayward, in a review of the 1962 Catalogue in the Times Literary Supplement, 26 July 1963, suggested that the eagle-headed pommels might have come from two knife-handles. A knife of the type to which he referred was in the Spitzer Sale, Petit, Paris 17 April-16 June 1893, lot 2419, repr. in cat. A752|1|1|Dagger with scabbard, of the so-called ‘Landsknecht’ type, the blackened hilt made up of a convex, rosette-shaped pommel fitting over the grip like a cap; grip of conical form tapering towards the guard, bound with iron wire and divided into vertical sections by four twisted strands; the three trefoil-shaped arms of the guard curve over the blade and are decorated with scale ornament and applied masks; the blade of flattened hexagonal section with doubly fluted ricasso, the latter bears the maker's mark (the letter R) inlaid in brass: the dagger A812 appears to carry the same mark.
Scabbard of semi-circular section, of blackened steel embossed with nude female figures in high relief surrounded by scrolls, the two panels being divided by 'puffed and slashed' bands of strong iron wire, with six similar bands at the bottom ending in a turned finial; at the back two loops for suspension; there is also a pocket for the byknife (now missing).
German, about 1550.
Skelton II, pl. cxi, figs. 1 and 2.
Provenance: Sir S. R. Meyrick.
A similar dagger was in the von Berthold collection (sold Heberle, Cologne, 25-26 May 1898, lot 406, repr. in cat.). A756|1|1|Dagger with scabbard, of the so-called ‘Landsknecht’ type, comprised of a hexagonal, pear-shaped pommel, made in two parts, with button; hexagonal grip swelling at the centre; both pommel and grip are of steel plated with silver, decorated with classical figures on a blued ground; short guard ending in baluster-shaped knobs plated and very lightly engraved; blade of diamond section with central groove and trebly grooved ricasso; steel scabbard plated with silver and decorated with representations of Abraham and Isaac, Lot and his Daughters, the Judgement of Solomon, Mars and Venus, and arabesques, on a blued-steel ground; three steel loops at the back for suspension; knife and pricker, each forged in one piece, the handles having wooden grips; the fourth pocket of the scabbard is empty; it was possibly designed to contain a fork.

The decoration of the steel has been executed by means of overlay of silver in reserve against a background of grey steel. The outlines and details of the motifs are picked out with engraved lines. On the top of the pommel are foliage scrolls; on the body of the pommel are lion-masks amid strapwork alternating with naked humans, all amid foliage scrolls. On the front of the grip is a representation of Mars, and on the back a grotesque mask, each flanked by panels of foliage. The guard is hatched with plain silver. The decoration of the scabbard is in the same technique.

German, about 1570-80.
De Beaumont catalogue, no. 98; Norman & Barne, 1980, p. 252.
Exhibited: probably no. 1937 in the Musée Rétrospectif, 1865. L' art ancien, I, 26 (Nieuwerkerke).
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The decoration of this dagger and of A758 is comparable to that on a pair of wheel-lock cavalry pistols at Vienna, dated 1574 (Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, inv. nos. A554-5). Presumably they belong to similar garnitures which would originally also have included priming flasks and cartridge boxes, and possibly swords, all decorated en suite. A very similar dagger is depicted in the portrait of Frederik II of Denmark by Hans Knieper, dated 1588, at Frederiksborg Slott (inv. no. 2171). A764|1|1|Scabbard for a dagger in the so-called ‘Landsknecht’ style, of bright steel, semi-circular in section, boldly embossed, chased and pierced. The composition is in three parts; at the top stands a man holding an axe over his shoulder surrounded by harpies, lions crowned, and eight spiral ornaments; at the bottom is a framed opening and more curls. The back is chased with the axe, T and set-square symbols symbolizing the carpenter's craft and the letters C S, with foliated ornament below; two iron loops, crossed, for suspension. Compare the scabbard, no. A766, which is of similar design, and probably from the same hand.

German, second half of the 16th century.
Provenance : E. de Rozière sale, Pillet & Juste, Paris, 19-21 March 1860, lot 135, repr. in cat. A765|1|1|Scabbard of a dagger of the so-called ‘Landsknecht’ type, of blackened steel, semi-circular in section, boldly embossed, chased and pierced. The composition is in three parts: at the top stands a man holding an axe over his shoulder surrounded by harpies, lions crowned, and eight spiral curls; in the middle a double-headed eagle among similar spiral ornaments; at the bottom is a framed opening and more curls. The back is chased with the axe, T- and set-square symbols symbolizing the carpenter's craft and the letters C · S, with foliated ornament below; two iron loops, crossed, for suspension. Compare the scabbard A766, which is of similar design, and probably from the same hand.
Entirely 19th-century. A767|1|1|Scabbard for a dagger of the so-called ‘Landsknecht’ type, of copper, semi-circular in section, elaborately embossed and chased with great finish, illustrating in three scenes the story of the Prodigal Son; the back etched with an arabesque, and furnished with a loop for suspension; the brass terminal with heads and fruit in high relief is very like the terminal of the scabbard of A766. It is unlined. The flat back is engraved with scrolled foliage incorporating birds and fruit; it has been described by Sir S. R. Meyrick in considerable detail.
Swiss, about 1590.
Skelton II, pl. cxi, fig. 3; Meyrick Catalogue, no. 241.
Provenance: Sir S. R. Meyrick.
Swiss dagger scabbards are frequently made of copper cast, chased and gilt, and it has been suggested that A767 is not an actual scabbard but rather a goldsmith's pattern, or maquette, from which actual scabbards were cast. The existence of a loop for suspension, however, and the brass ferrule, indicate that whatever the original purpose of A767, it has been turned at some time to practical use. A768|1|1|Dagger with scabbard, the gilt-bronze hilt made up of a vase-shaped pommel with projecting animals’ heads surmounted by a squat female bust, in high relief; oval grip, swelling in the centre and decorated in relief on either side with a female figure; small guard, oblong in section, scrolled at the ends; single side-ring, with a head as a bezel in the centre; blade, of flattened diamond section, grooved down the middle and inscribed IHS and having a mark which may be that of the bladesmith, with a trebly fluted ricasso also inlaid with a maker's mark in copper; scabbard, of wood covered on the outer side with gilt copper, pierced and chased in relief with a scene from the Legend of Virginia: Appius Claudius III on the Judgement Seat, the throne inscribed:

APPIVS / CLAV / DIVS

(The same composition, but slightly varied, appears upon the scabbard of dagger A769; see also A770-1.) The ferrule is composed of two dolphins; there is a locket and chain at the side and two loops at the back, for suspension; upon one of these is faintly scratched the letters V S, possibly the initials of an owner; the wooden lining of the scabbard is covered with red velvet and there are pockets in front for a knife and pricker (both now missing).
Schneider, 1977, no. 59; ‘entirely 19th-century’. The blade is in fact 16th-century, apparently ground down from a sword. The mouth and upper part of the scabbard have been squeezed to fit the rather narrow blade.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 104.
Provenance: Louis Carrand? Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The construction of the scabbard with separate edging bands stamped with candelabra foliage on a horizontally hatched ground, and with the frieze made of four or five separate pieces, one of which, the third figure from the tip, is largely a replacement in a slightly different coloured metal, all suggest that the scabbard may be genuine after all. It was accepted by J. F. Hayward (Virtuoso goldsmiths, 1976, pl. 693). The grip is undoubtedly 19th-century and a similar one is on a composite dagger in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (no. 26.145.95; Dean, Daggers, no. 135, pl. XLVI.).
Illustrated by Vollon in his Curiosités of 1868 (Sarin, 1980). A769|1|1|Dagger with scabbard, of the so-called ‘Holbein’ type. The hilt is of dark wood, ridged and swelling in the centre, surmounted by a gilt bronze mount at the top, and with a short guard of boat form also of gilt bronze, incised with scrolls and conventional flowers; blade of diamond section with maker's mark on one side.
Scabbard of wood, covered on the front with gilt bronze, pierced and chased in relief with Appius Claudius III on the Judgement Seat (The same composition, with slight variations, appears upon the scabbard of A768). The ferrule has two female heads on either side and there are two flat loops at the back for suspension; the wood at the back is covered with green velvet, and there are pockets in the front for a knife and pricker (both now missing).
The design and workmanship of this dagger and scabbard resemble A770, and are probably from the same hand; the dagger also bears the same bladesmith's mark. See also the daggers and scabbards A768 and A771.
Schneider, 1977, no. A57; entirely 19th-century.
L' Art Ancien V, no. 586 as belonging to Spitzer and exhibited by him at the Musée Rétrospectif, but it has not been identified among his loans.
A genuine scabbard of this pattern is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. 2188-1855 (loc., cit., no. 58), and is dated 1590. A770|1|1|Dagger with scabbard, of the so-called ‘Holbein’ type. The hilt, of dark wood, is covered on the front with gilt bronze, pierced and chased in relief with a scene from the legend of William Tell; the ferrule similar in every way to A769; wooden back covered with green velvet; two flat loops at the back for suspension.
In design and workmanship this piece resembles A769, both are obviously from the same hand; the dagger also bears the same maker's mark. Compare also the daggers and scabbards A768 and A771.
Schneider, 1977, no. A109, mark illus. fig. 171; entirely 19th century.
A similar example, dated 1582, was in the collection of F. Engel-Gros (sold Paris, 30 May-1 June, 1921, lot 206).
A genuine scabbard of this pattern is in the Historisches Museum, Basel, no. 1870-1083 (loc. cit., no. 93), which Schneider dates from about 1570. A771|1|1|Dagger with scabbard, of the so-called ‘Holbein’ type. The hilt is of a form similar to those of A769-70 and 809, but the wood is of brighter colour and the gilt bronze mounts are not engraved; blade, diamond-shaped in section, with single groove and two more grooves near the hilt. The hilt, if not the whole dagger, appears to be a restoration.
Scabbard of wood, covered on the outer side with gilt copper, pierced and chased in relief representing the Dance of Death; ferrule decorated with a lion's mask between scrolls in relief; plain red-leather back with two loops for suspension, the upper one of them is dated 1573. The scabbard contains a knife and pricker (or steel) with wooden grips, gilt-bronze tops with female heads in low relief; the knife bears a mark on one side.
Schneider, 1977, no. 126; entirely 19th century.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 103.
Exhibited : Musée Rétrospectif, 1865, no. 1936. L' art ancien, I, 26.
Provenance: A Beurdeley (Un poignard dont le furreau est ciselé à jour représentant le danse Macabre. Epoque Charles IX; 650 fr,; receipted bill, 30 May, 1865); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
A genuine scabbard of this pattern in a Swiss private collection is dated 1570 (loc. cit., no. 119). A809|1|1|Dagger, of monumental form. The hilt is composed of five pieces of bovine horn; the grip of square section, architectural in design, the base and capital (pommel) decorated with acanthus leaves in low relief and topped with a ball; secured to the tang by a diamond-shaped, brass washer; short guard of oblong section ending in scrolls; curved shell-guard; heavy blade triangular in section, and back-edged, with strong, forward cutting edge, and with a narrower, chamfered edge on the other side. The ricasso and the chamfered edge are etched with arabesques and inscriptions heavily gilt:

ASSES · BIEN · FAICT · ET · PAR · SAISON
(He does well enough and in season)

QVI · FAICT · SON · FAICT / TOVT · PAR · RAYSON
(Who does his deed all by reason)

TV · FVRIE · CEDAS · CEDENDO · VICTOR · ABIBIS
(Yield thou to madness, by yielding thou shalt go away victor)

ESPOIR · NA · LIEV · OVFORTVNE · DOMINE
(Hope has no place where chance is master)

On the back of the blade:
DE · PEV · A · PEV
(From little to little)

and on the edge of the ricasso:
A B T

There are traces of a mark (?), but these are more likely the remains of engraved decoration.
French, second half of the 16th century.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 87 and no. 107; Viollet-le-Duc, V, pp. 320-2.
Provenance: Louis Carrand (une dague française à manche de corne et à lame gravée à inscriptions et doré, 1,000 fr.; receipted bill, 13 April 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
This class of cutlery is discussed by C. Blair (1974, no. 61). A811|1|1|Dagger, made up of a trilobate pommel, like the head of a demi-fleur-de-lys; hexagonal horn grip with shoulder; small, steel guard slightly curved and ending in prominent, spirally fluted knobs; blade of diamond section for most of its length and back-edged near the hilt.

Probably German, about 1530.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 89.
Provenance: E. Juste? (Dague à quillons recourbés se terminant en boules, 150 fr.; receipted bill, 14 January, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

A similar dagger is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (no. 26.145.70; Dean, Daggers, 1929, no. 99, pl. XXXVII, but captioned as no. 98). Another with a very similar hilt, found in the River Limmat at Zurich, is in the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum (1980 cat., no. 462). A812|1|1|Dagger, the steel hilt made up of a flat, disk-shaped pommel decorated with petals in relief; very short guard, the rosette-shaped ends of which are bent parallel to the blade; horn grip rusticated in squared facets, the centres of which are spotted with pewter nails.

The blade is of diamond section, stiff and with the point strongly reinforced; short, doubly grooved ricasso, on which a maker's mark, the letter R, is inlaid in copper alloy.
Swiss or German, about 1530-40.
De Beaumont Catalogue, no. 85; Viollet-le-Duc, V, p. 319.
Provenance: E. Juste (Dague de XVe siècle à manche en corne sculptée à noeuds comme celui de la dague du Musée de Dijon, 300 fr.; receipted bill, 16 June, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The mark of the letter R also occurs on the Landsknecht daggers A752 and A777, and two Swiss daggers of 'Holbein' type in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Dean, cat. of daggers, nos. 12 and 15), the former, ex-Reubell Collection, being dated 1567; and on a dagger formerly in the Cozens-Smith Collection.

A like dagger is in the Musée de Dijon (Dijon, no. 1491, p. 423); another in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (no. W1758 reproduced by Hefner-Alteneck, Waffen, Taf. 59), the find site is unfortunately unknown. A series of five daggers in the Musée de l' Armée (Robert, II, J783-7, pp. 172-3 and pl. 10, S 134) also bear, with one exception, the letter R as a maker's mark. One is dated 1561, another 1563.

What is probably a pommel of this type is represented in the portrait of Friedrich Rorbach, painted by Conrad Faber in 1532 (Art Institute of Chicago, no. 1935-296). A880|1|1|Serving knife, of horn, mounted in gilt and enamelled metal. On either side of the pommel is a coat of arms in translucent enamel; azure, three keys or, differenced with a label or, probably those of Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of Burgundy under Philip the Good from 1422 until his death in 1462. The arms are repeated on the collar round the forward end of the grip; the ground on both pommel and collar and an oblong strip inlaid on either side of the grip is gilt, decorated with flowers in red, blue and green enamel.
The broad blade has a curved edge and straight back inclined at the point; it bears a cutler's mark on one side.
In shape and workmanship this knife resembles A881. It bears no motto. This and the following are examples of the knives used in pairs by the esquire-carvers with which to cut the food and serve it to their masters.
French, before 1429 (?)
Bailey, Knives and Forks, 1927, fig. 1 (3).
Provenance: Philippe Vaillant de Meixmoron sale, Contet, Dijon, 27 April-7 May 1868, lot 985, 3,150fr., Carrand (marked catalogue in the Metropolitan Museum, New York). De Mèixmoron of Dijon; Louis Carrand (Un superbe couteau à trancher gothique, dont le manche garni d' argent émaille et doré, est aux armes du Cancelier Rollin, 4,000 fr.; receipted bill, 1 June, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. Offered by the Count to the South Kensington Museum in 1870, for purchase at 100. Receipt dated 7 October, and marked in pencil: £100; 2,500 fr.

According to the late Mr. A. Van de Put these arms are those of either:
(1) Nicolas Rolin before 1429; or of
(2) Guillaume Rolin (his eldest son and successor), used by him after 1429 and before the death of his father in 1462. Nicolas Rolin (1376-1492 and before the death of his father in 1462. Nicolas Rolin (1376-1462) was Chancellor of Burgundy and Brabant in 1422, and may have carried these arms during the lifetime of his elder brother, Jean who died in 1429. From then, until his death in 1462, the Chancellor was chef de nom et d'armes of his family, and these arms cannot possibly refer to him between those dates.
This famous picture, Vierge au Donateur, in the Louvre by Jan van Eyck (no. 1986) is believed to give the portrait of Nicolas Rolin as donor; and he is again depicted, with his wife, on the triptych by Rogier van der Weyden, in the Hospital of St. John at Beaune. The Chancellor's arms upon this picture (anno 1446) are naturally without any brisure or label, which might characterize the insignia of an elder son, or of a collateral branch of the family. A881|1|1|Serving knife. The rosewood grip is mounted with silver gilt inlaid with translucent enamels. On either side of the pommel, and on the collar, are the arms of Philip III (‘the Good’), Duke of Burgundy (1396-1467), which he assumed after his marriage with Isabella of Portugal in 1429-30. It was in her honour that he instituted the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the collar of the order (composed of the flint and fire-steel of Burgundy) encircles the shield. The surrounding gilt metal is inlaid with flowers in red and blue, and on the strip of the same metal inlaid along each side of the grip is an oblong strip enamelled with the duke's motto (also assumed upon his marriage with Isabella):

AULTRE NARAY

The broad blade has a curved edge with a straight back, very slightly inclined at the point; it is thin and flexible, in excellent condition and bear's the cutler's mark in copper. This knife is very light in weight, well proportioned, and of fine workmanship. Compare the serving knife A880.
French, 1430-5.
Viollet-le-Duc II, 77-9 Lièvre, Musées et collections, 1 ser., pI. 86 Bailey, Knives and forks , fig. 1 (2).
Provenance: Count Alessandro Catellani (couteau aux armes de Philippe le bon, 2,500 fr.; receipted bill, 3 April, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
Offered by the Count to the South Kensington Museum for purchase in 1870 at £140. Receipted date 7 October, and marked in pencil: £140; 3,000 fr.
The blazon of the Grand écu de Bourgogne is briefly as follows: Quarterly: 1, 4, Burgundy modern; 2, Burgundy ancient impaling Brabant; 3, Burgundy ancient impaling Limburg; over all Flanders.
The full motto of Phillip the Good was Aultre n'auray Dame Isabeau tant que vivray ('Other will I not have, Dame Isabeau, while I live'). Isabella was his third wife; he had over a hundred bastards.
Entries in the Burgundian inventories suggest that this knife may have been made at Dijon. One under the date 13 February, 1374 (quoted by Dalton) appears to relate to similar knives:
Jacquot Le Topetet, coustelier, demorant à Dijon: 15 fr. pour 5 paires de cousteaux, eguaignez et garnis et d' esmail.
This Le Topetet was fourlisseur to the previous duke, John the Intrepid, from 1372 until his death in 1398; A881 may have been the work of his successor. The first twenty-four collars of the Golden Fleece, however, were made for Phillip by Jean Peutin orfèvre à Bruges (Kervyn de Lettenhove, La Toison d' Or, Bruxelles, 1907, p. 22), and this knife must have been made about the same time but the close connection of the dukes with Paris does not exclude that city as the place of origin.

The knife belongs to a very notable group:
1. Two in the museum at Vienna (one large and one small); they have the same arms and motto as A881, and is apparently identical in shape, style and workmanship. They bear the same cutler's mark. (Kevryn de Lettenhove, Toison d' Or (text), no. 38; Boeheim, Album I, Taf. XLI, fig. 2)
2. One in the Carrand Collection in the Bargello at Florence with the same arms and motto as A881, and very similar in shape, style and workmanship. (Firenze, Museo Nazionale, 1898, no. 855, p. 156; Sangiorgi, p. 30 and pl. 80).
3. A set of four knives in the British Museum (two large and two small), with incised leather scabbard, made for John the Intrepid (see O. M. Dalton, Archaeologia, LX, xvii, 14 March, 1907, p. 423; Guide to the Mediæval Room, 1907, p. 180). The larger of these knives is very close in shape, style and workmanship to A881. The same wood has been used for the grip, the enamels are of the same colours, and the shields and motto are similarly placed. The cutler's mark on the blade however, is a star, whereas the Wallace knife bears the mark of a cross surmounting a triangle of three dots (in copper).
4. Two in the museum at Dijon with the same arms and motto as A881, and with finely incised leather scabbard. (Viollet-le-Duc II, p. 79, but incorrectly described; Gonse, Sculpture, pp. 151-2).
5. One in the museum at Le Mans bearing the same arms and motto as A881, with incised leather sheath (made to contain two large knives and one small) with similar decoration. It is exceptionally large in size (Hucher, Bulletin de la Soc. d' Agriculture, Sciences et Arts du Mans, 1859; Viollet-le-Duc II, p. 79; Lettenhove (text), no. 37).
6. One in the Louvre (Département du Moyen Age et de Renaissance) with the same arms and motto as A881, but the briquet is replaced by a device composed of two Gothic letters, and united by a cord with tasselled ends.

Other knives are in the Real Armeria, Madrid, with the arms of Castile and Léon (G 161, 162), and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (ex-E. Foulc, Paris).
The marshalling of the arms of Brabant and Limburg was assumed not on the duke's marriage with Isabella of Portugal on 6 January, 1430 (new style), but a few months later on his coronation as Duke of Barbant on 5 October.
The name Jehan Peutin is sometimes, but erroneously, written Pentin.

Philip the Good (1396-1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until 1465. During this period, the Burgundian Court became a brilliant cultural centre, admired, envied and emulated throughout Western Europe. Philip himself became one of the Duchy’s most famous and successful rulers; by the end of his reign he had virtually doubled the Burgundian lands, and ensured that Burgundy itself had become a byword for all that was noble and powerful. This serving or carving knife was as much a visible symbol of the Duke of Burgundy’s wealth and taste as a mere item of cutlery; it would have been used as part of a set of such knives, conspicuously and with great ceremony during important state occasions and banquets. A882|1|1|Serving knife, similar in form to A880-1. Handle of silver gilt, decorated, with flowers in translucent enamels, purple and green; on the pommel, and at the collar, is a coat of arms of Charles I, Seigneur de Gaucourt Lieutenant and Governor of Paris (?1482), who married in 1454, Agnes (alias Colette) de Vaux de Saintines (d. 1471). The arms may be described as Ermine a barbel in pale gules (Gaucourt) or three (i.e., one and a half) moor's heads (2 and 1) ppr bound about the temples argent (Vaux)– both coats dimidiated. Blade with curved edge and straight back, rounded near the point. It bears a cutler's mark on one side.
French, 1454-82.
Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 1 (1).
Provenance: Louis Carrand (un couteau de la même époque (XVe siècle) à manche d' argent armorié et émaillé. This knife, with un grand collier en argent du XVe siècle, dit collier du roi de l' arc (see no. III J508), was purchased by the Comte de Nieuwerkerke for 2,000 fr. and un coffret en émail XVIe siècle, attribué à Leonard Limousin, given in exchange. Receipted bill, 2 February, 1870: Comte de Nieuwerkerke. Offered by the Count to the South Kensington Museum for purchase in 1870 at £80. Receipt dated 7 October, and marked in pencil: £80; 2,000 fr.
In early editions of this catalogue these arms were stated to be those of Sire de Dancourt, Grand Master of Artillery to Philippe le Bon, based on the spelling of the name on the receipt given to the Comte de Nieuwerkerke by the Council of Education in October, 1870. It would appear, however, from a note contributed by Mr. A. Van de Put (Notes and Queries, 15 January, 1916, p. 41) that Dancourt is almost certainly a mistranscription for Gaucourt. The misspelling ('Dancourt' or 'Daucourt') has resulted in the name Dancourt being inserted in two works of reference (see Bouton, Nouveau traité des armoiries, 1887, p. 457; and Rietstap, Armorial général, Supplément, 2nd ed., II, 1887). No province for Dancourt is cited, and it is clear that Rietstap and his coadjutors had not encountered the name before, hence its appearance in the Supplément.
Charles de Gaucourt was one of the principle French bibliophiles of the 15th century, and various MSS. have been traced to his library. (A. de Laborde, Les manuscrits à peintures de la Cité de Dieu de Saint Augustin, II, 398.)
Mr. Van de Put has also pointed out that all existing seals of Charles I, Seigneur de Gaucourt, bear his paternal coat, without the impalement of his wife's arms of Vaux. A883|1|1|Serving knife, with a handle of flattened octagonal section, heavily mounted with brass and inlaid with panels of polished antler; engraved along the back strip:

BON · FRED · VM · DICH

('Good peace [cheer] about thee')

Arch-shaped pommel with short beak; grip inlaid with strips of polished antler and rosewood, and four ivory panels, carved in low relief, representing St. Barbara (?) and other saints the forward end of the brass hilt is extended at right-angles to support the blade; heavy broad blade, single-edged and straight-backed. It is decorated with a band of Goldschmelz along the hollow, bordering the back edge, and is stamped with a maker's mark in the form of an arrow.
Tyrolese, made by Hans Sumersperger, c. 1500.
Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 6 (2); Hayward, 'Early German cutlery' Apollo Annual, 1949, pp. 60-3, fig. Ill a, but with the caption interchanged with fig. Ill b.
Provenance: Joyeau (?) (Un couteau d' écuyer trachant, du XVième siècle, 520 fr. [with un socle reliquaire]; receipted bill, 19 November, 1865); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
A like knife, bearing the same mark, is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (De Cosson, Dino Collection, pl. 17, G45).
This knife belongs to a group which Dr. Bruno Thomas has identified with Hans Sumersperger of Hall, near Innsbruck, who worked for the Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) and made his State sword, now in Vienna (Met. Mus. Bulletin, New York, February, 1955). The State Sword (das Lehnenschwert) of Maximilian I in the Imperial Treasury at Vienna (inv. no. XIV.4) is dated 1496 and signed 'Hanns von Hall'. B. Thomas (Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 1963, pp. 41-62) lists a number of additional weapons attributed to Hans Sumersperger of Hall, which do not include the knives and their présentoir in the Museo Correr, Venice. They include the so-called 'Hunting Sword' of Maximilian I in Vienna (inv. no. D11); a hand-and-half sword in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, (no. G58); a 'Landsknecht' sword formerly at Karlsruhe (no. G59); the ceremonial sword of Hans Siebenhirter as Master of the Order of St. George, dated 1499 (Landesmuseum für Karnten, Klagenfurt); a two-handed sword formerly at Ambras, now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (no. W872); a ceremonial sword in the National Museum, Copenhagen (no. 4580; Thomas, Vaabenhistoriske Aarbøger, 6 b-c, 1950/1, pp. 105-84); a sword-blade in the Bargello, Florence (Thomas and Boccia, Österreichische Florenzhilfe, Historische Prunkwaffen, 1970, p. 48, pI. 6); a knife blade in the collection of John Hunt, found in the Thames, which Thomas suggests might have been a present to Henry VIII from Maximilian I; and a five-piece table garniture in its case, at Stift Kremsmünster, Upper Austria. A884|1|1|Serving knife, one of a pair with A885, and a set with sheath A886. Flattened octagonal handle mounted in brass engraved with conventional flowers and the transverse bands, twice, the Gothic letter V, or O; the grip, inlaid with two mahogany panels which carry diamond-shaped plaques of antler. It is enlarged to form a pointed pear-shaped pommel, which is pierced with a circular filigree ornament (an openwork pattern, like a rose window, made up of brass strip), and ends in a finial of leaves; broad blade with straight back, rounded at the point, and inlaid on one side with an involved swastika in brass, and stamped with a maker's mark.
German, about 1470.
Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 6 (1); Hayward, 'Early German cutlery', Apollo Annual, 1949, pp. 60-3, Fig. I.
Provenance: E. Lowengrad (une trousse à 2 couteaux du XVième siècle, 2,000 fr.; receipted bill, 21 May, 1870); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
There is a similar knife in the collection of the late M. Pauilhac at Paris, but M. Buttin regarded this as a clever copy; and compare one in the Kunstgewerbe Museum at Frankfurt-am-Main.
The swastika in this form has a very long history. Mrs. V. Pritchard has produced instances at Jumièges of the mid-11th century, and at Vercelli, 12th century, and it occurs in graffiti in the churches of Steeple Bumstead and Faversham in England. A very similar knife is in the Electoral Armoury at Dresden, but with a different bladesmith's mark (Uhlemann, Armi antiche, 1967, pp. 3-26, fig. 13a). A885|1|1|Serving knife, one of a pair with A884, and a set with sheath A886. Flattened octagonal handle mounted in brass engraved with conventional flowers and the transverse bands, twice, the Gothic letter V, or O; the grip, inlaid with two mahogany panels which carry diamond-shaped plaques of antler. It is enlarged to form a pointed pear-shaped pommel, which is pierced with a circular filigree ornament (an openwork pattern, like a rose window, made up of brass strip), and ends in a finial of leaves; broad blade with straight back, rounded at the point, and inlaid on one side with an involved swastika in brass, and stamped with a maker's mark.
German, about 1470.
Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 6 (1); Hayward, 'Early German cutlery', Apollo Annual, 1949, pp. 60-3, Fig. I.
Provenance: E. Lowengrad (une trousse à 2 couteaux du XVième siècle, 2,000 fr.; receipted bill, 21 May, 1870); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
There is a similar knife in the collection of the late M. Pauilhac at Paris, but M. Buttin regarded this as a clever copy; and compare one in the Kunstgewerbe Museum at Frankfurt-am-Main.
The swastika in this form has a very long history. Mrs. V. Pritchard has produced instances at Jumièges of the mid-11th century, and at Vercelli, 12th century, and it occurs in graffiti in the churches of Steeple Bumstead and Faversham in England. A very similar knife is in the Electoral Armoury at Dresden, but with a different bladesmith's mark (Uhlemann, Armi antiche, 1967, pp. 3-26, fig. 13a). A886|1|1|Sheath of leather, coated with gesso, painted green, with the mouth red, and tooled with scrolled foliage, the background punched; there is a third pocket for a small knife or steel (now missing). At one time furnished with a cap, and there is a loop at the back for suspension. It bears a parchment label with the following inscription:

Di[e]se Credentz messer sein des Werdurch leuchtigisten Grosmechitgisten juersten und[h]errn. . . .Ahansier friederichen [h]och löblichister säliger gedächtnus ge [wes]. . ..en. anno In 1561 jar zum Gtift Gurk. . . .umb. Diese. . . .anden herr Victor Waligers.

This would appear to record that these serving knives (belonged ?) to the most serene and mighty Prince and Emperor Frederick, of blessed memory, and were (transferred ?) to the charitable foundation of Gurck (? Gurk in Carinthia, Austria)… in the year 1561.
German, about 1470
Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 6 (1); Hayward, 'Early German cutlery', Apollo Annual, 1949, pp. 60-3, Fig. I.
Provenance: E. Lowengrad (une trousse à 2 couteaux du XVième siècle, 2,000 fr.; receipted bill, 21 May, 1870); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A887|1|1|Serving knife, with a handle of walrus ivory of oblong section widening slightly towards the pommel; carved in high relief with the figure of a lion holding a small dog in its paws; thin, flat blade, pointed with curved edge and a maker's mark.
Italian, about 1350 (?)
Viollet-le-Duc II, 76-8; Uhlemann, Armi antiche, 1967, pp. 3-26, fig. 7.
Provenance: Louis Carrand (?) (...un autre couteau à manche d' ivoire du XIVe siècle, de trois cents francs; receipted bill, 13 April, 1867; Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
A like serving knife is in the Carrand Collection in the Bargello, Florence (Sangiorgi, pl. 80), and another is in the Musée de Cluny, Paris. One was in the Earl of Londesborough's Collection (Fairholt, Misc. Graphica, pl. XXIII), with the lion devouring a monster.
The authenticity of this knife has been doubted by the late Mr. C.R. Beard in an article in the Connoisseur, April, 1938, where he compares it with other knives of the same kind formerly in the Zschille and Carmichael Collections (sold Christie's, 1902, lot 6), and a pair in the Louvre. In his opinion these examples have been made by adapting the handles of ivory gravoirs of the 14th century, of the kind represented by a complete specimen in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Longhurst, Cat. of Carvings in Ivory, II, p. 50), to fit genuine knife blades of the 14th century. The forger has taken as his pattern the authentic knives (with hafts of similar form topped with animals, like those in the Bargello) in the former Spitzer Collection (vol. III, Coutelerie, no. 1, and sale, 1893, lot 2315). Mr. Beard believed that the tapering of the haft and a slight tilt to the pommel betrays a gravoir origin, although the forger has done his bet to modify such traits; whereas a more solid a symmetrical shape denotes the genuine knife-haft. He suspects the hand of Carrand père, whose skill as a restorer has been alluded to above (see Introduction), in the assembling of these attractive pastiches. A888|1|1|Serving knife, of the same form as A880-2, but smaller. The handle is mounted in gilt bronze, oblong in section, chased with scrolls and hatching, the sides having silver plaques delicately nielloed with figures in Italian costume of the 15th century: on one side a youth holding a book above a lady in a long robe, on the other, a lady in a pleated dress above a youth with a sword; a shield bearing on a fess a demy bull rampant beneath. The flat, pointed blade has a curved edge and straight back, and is inlaid with a bladesmith's mark in brass. The nielloed decoration is in the style of the famous goldsmith and engraver, Maso (Tommaso) Finiguerra of Florence (1426-64).

With the possible exception of the blade, entirely 19th century.
Gay, Glossaire, p. 474, fig. A

Provenance: Louis Carrand (Un couteau de table du XVe siècle, à manche d' argent niellé à figures, 600 fr.; receipted bill, 3 July, 1866); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The same mark occurred on the blade of a cinquedea formerly in the collection of the Baron de Cosson. A889|1|1|Serving knife (présentoir), the handle of bronze silvered, a flat oblong in section, tapering slightly towards the blade. It is decorated with panels of Renaissance vase ornament in low relief on a blackened background, the sides inscribed:

LACES CITA · PATIENTIA / FIT FVROR SE[A]PE
('Patience provoked often becomes rage')

There is a square gilt panel on either side of the pommel, one bearing a plain shield, the other inscribed:

NE QVID NI MIS
('Nothing too much')

The broad, flat, two-edged, symmetrical blade, rounded at the end, fits into the broadened socket of the hilt, which is engraved with foliage. It bears two marks, of which the second may be that of the maker; it resembles the mark upon the sword A699.

The authenticity of this piece has been doubted. The handle is very small for a presentoir.

Lièvre Musée Graphique (pl. 17); Lièvre, Musées et collections, 1 Ser., pI. 58 (Nieuwerkerke); Lièvre, Collections célèbres, pI. 86.

Provenance: D. A. Kuhn (?) (un présentoir du XVIe siècle, 600 fr.; receipted bill, 28 February, 1867–this bill may refer to the présentoir, no. A890) Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A890|1|1|Serving Knife (présentoir), the amber and ivory handle of octagonal section widens towards the pommel; the latter is also of ivory and amber; within the translucent amber are three circular ivory carvings enriched with gilding, representing the adoration of the Magi and other subjects; the grip, also of amber, is similarly underset with two ivory carvings (A female saint or mythological character and St. Anne bearing the Cross), and encircled with two narrow bands of ivory inlaid with amber spots. The gilt tang of the blade and the backs of the inset carvings, etched with dots and curved lines, are visible beneath the amber. The broad, flat, symmetrical blade, widening towards the end, is enriched with three trident-shaped bands of arabesques etched and gilt. It bears a cutler's mark on one side.

German (Konigsberg) about 1600.

See A. Rohde, Bernstein, ein deutscher Werkstoff, 1937, figs. 32-40; and
Blair, 1974, no. 119.
Provenance: D. A. Kuhn (?) (un présentoir du XVIe siècle, 600 fr.; receipted bill, 28 February, 1867, this bill may refer to the présentoir, A889); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
A similar example from Duff House is in the Banff Museum and dated 1618 (C. R. Beard, Trans. Banffshire Field Club, 1910-11). Another was in the possession of Lord Londesborough, and came from the Debruge-Dumesnel Collection (Fairholt, Misc. Graphica, 1857, pl. XVIII). J. F. Hayward compares the Wallace Collection example with a single-serving knife, also with amber handle, in the collection of Mr. Howard E. Smith (The Connoisseur, CXXXIV, November, 1954, p. 165). There is also a complete table set in the same style in the Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, Vienna (inv. no. D 207).
The contemporary name for this type of knife is a slice or a voiding knife. It was used in conjunction with a dish called a voider for clearing crumbs from the table cloth (C. Blair, personal communication, 1968). A891|1|1|Knife and sheath, the handle of gilt steel and complicated columnar form, the grip comprising a Corinthian capital pierced, chased and gilt surmounting a baluster of octagonal section inlaid with oblong plaques of mother of pearl; the pommel (associated) is of ivory carved as a grotesque animal's head and inlaid with brown and green spots; stiff back-edged blade with a band of etched and gilt scrollwork at the forte; traces of a cutler's mark remain on one side.
Sheath of leather tooled, on the one side, with diamond-shaped panels of tracery between cross bands of leaves, and painted on the other, with four compartments of figure subjects, gilt and slivered (now barely visible).
French, about 1590-1620.
Provenance: E. Juste (Couteau du 16e siècle à fourreau en cuir gaufrè, 1,000fr.; receipted bill, 24 December, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A892|1|1|Knife, of polished steel, skillfully made in one piece. The handle is chiselled in the round with a statuette of Temperance draped and pouring water from a ewer into a goblet held in the left hand; she stands upon a fluted vase supported by a naked male figure astride and grasping the entwined tail of a sea monster from whose mouth issues finally the blade, single-edged and slightly curved.

French (?), about 1600. A898|1|1|Knife, the handle of pink and white jasper, of flattened octagonal section, with silver mounts, each with a pierced border of trefoils, gilt, and on the cap pointillé ornament of flowers; single-edged blade, straight, flat, and with a nearly square end; at the forte, floral decoration, etched and gilt.

The blade probably about 1530; remainder 19th century.

The authenticity of this knife was doubted by C. R. Beard. Genuine examples of jasper-handled knives of this type are in the British Museum and in the National Museum at Copenhagen. A899|1|1|Knife and sheath, the oval-section knife handle of rock crystal with gilt mounts chased with interlaced strapwork involving quatrefoils; single-edge blade etched at the forte with scrolls, fully gilt; between blade and handle is a cup-shaped element chased with acanthus leaves; traces of a maker's mark on one side of the blade.
Sheath of black dog fish-skin tooled with gilt lines and a diamond-shaped panel. Engraved silver-gilt chape at the point end, and hinged ring for suspension near the mouth. It is too large for the knife associated with it, and probably does not belong.
The leather of the sheath is probably 19th-century.
Exhibited: Musée Rétrospectif, 1865, no. 1979 (Marquess of Hertford).
R. & S. Garrard's receipted bill of 21 March 1878 may relate to the restoration of this knife; 'Repairing crystal haft of Dagger 3s. 6d' (archives of the Collection). A900|1|1|Knife, one of a pair with A901, having a silver-plated handle of oval section decorated in very low relief with vertical bands of scrolled foliage involving flaming hearts pierced with arrows in saltire, birds and fruit, inscribed along the back:

· IN · TE · DOMINE · SPERAVI · H · R / S / S
('In Thee O Lord I have trusted')

On each side of the inscription band near the shoulder of the blade is embossed the letter S in the form known as S fermée.

Single-edged blade, pointed, and etched at the forte with an oval containing foliage and gilt. A cutler's mark, the letter Y, inlaid in copper on one side. Both this knife and A901 have the same decoration and inscription, and are of the same dimensions.

Italian, about 1550. A901|1|1|Knife, one of a pair with A900, having a silver-plated handle of oval section decorated in very low relief with vertical bands of scrolled foliage involving flaming hearts pierced with arrows in saltire, birds and fruit, inscribed along the back:

· IN · TE · DOMINE · SPERAVI · H · R / S / S
('In Thee O Lord I have trusted')

On each side of the inscription band near the shoulder of the blade is embossed the letter S in the form known as S fermée.

Single-edged blade, pointed, and etched at the forte with an oval containing foliage and gilt. A cutler's mark, the letter Y, inlaid in copper on one side. Both this knife and A900 have the same decoration and inscription, and are of the same dimensions.

Italian, about 1550. A902|1|1|Knife, made of steel in one piece. The handle, square in section, has been blackened and overlaid with tiny arabesques of gold and silver; the open-work pommel formed as a lantern and gilt; blade pointed and single-edged with a panel of silver and gold foliage at the forte, and a maker's mark on one side .

Italian (?), about 1590. A906|1|1|Chisel-shaped knife, with a handle of agate, square in section with grooved sides; rosette-shaped terminal of brass; short blade broader than it is long, with transverse cutting edge slightly concave, the upper part shaped as two dolphins and overlaid in gold and silver with foliated arabesques with a vase in the centre.

Italian, about 1620.

Provenance: Joyeau (Un outil fer gravé XVIème siècle, 150 fr.; receipted bill, 18 April, 1870); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

Called in a former inventory a ‘tobacco-cutter’. In reality this object is probably a broken serving knife. A907|1|1|Small knife, with a handle of white agate, polygonal in section, tapering towards the blade; gilt filigree button at the end, the forward, cylindrical mount of steel overlaid with minute arabesques in gold, the panels bordered with silver roping; the single-edged blade, with rounded point, bear's a cutler's mark on one side.

English, about 1620.

A dagger was the mark of the Cutler's Company of London, made obligatory after 1607. The half-moon mark may be that of Nathaniel Matthews, handed over to Moorehead in 1610, or that of Christopher Butler registered in 1606-7 (see Welch, History of the Cutlers' Company). A908|1|1|Knife, with an ivory hilt; the pommel carved to represent a female demi-figure in the round, the nipples inlaid in coral; blade of triangular section, partly back-edged; the wedge-shaped tang is inserted in the lower half only of the hilt and is held by three rivets, each surrounded by black ivory dots; a maker's mark on one side of the blade.

Probably Spanish, about 1660. A910|1|1|Knife, part of a set with fork A911 and case A912. The blade is single-edged and pointed, with a handle of amber (partly broken), turned and faceted, and having a gold-plated 'bolster' between handle and blade; the latter bears a maker's mark on one side.

French, about 1600. A911|1|1|Fork, part of a set with knife A910 and case A912, of two long prongs, similarly mounted in amber as A910.

French, about 1600. A912|1|1|Case of crimson leather tooled with gilt fleur-de-lys, etc., in the style of Nicolas and Clovis Eve (c. 1548-82 and 1584-1635); hole for suspension at the back, with two holes in the cap for a like purpose. The suspension cords were knotted through small tube-like projections at each side of the lower part and passed through similar holes in the cap, thus preventing its loss when the case was opened.

French, about 1600. A913|1|1|Trousse, comprising three small knives and a pricker contained in a sheath of black leather tooled with scrolls and conventional flowers and inscribed with the date:

16-(0)-18

The sheath terminates in a button ferrule of brass; a loop at the back for suspension. Inserted in the pockets are:

- Two single-edged knives; the handles with plaques of horn on the sides of the grips and decorated with brass mounts and bands of ivory stained green; vase-shaped pommels of ivory. A maker's mark on one side of each knife.
- One shorter knife and a small pricker or bodkin en suite, similarly mounted.
Flemish, dated 1618.
Provenance: Joyeau (?) (Une trousse, cuir gauffré et daté, contenant cinq pièces, les manches ornés d' ivoir, 1,400 fr. [with other pieces]; receipted bill, 3 December, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A914|1|1|Knife, part of a set with fork A915, having a silver handle, oblong in section and ornamentally pierced at the end. It is delicately engraved on the one side with the Judgement of Solomon (?) and below, Justitia. At the top a small oval panel enclosing clasped hands inscribed:…

of thavr or t mo

The symbol within the oval panel on the reverse side is too defaced for identification, but the inscription appears to read:…The symbol within the oval panel on the reverse side is too defaced for identification, but the inscription appears to read:…

... bivchew tr ...' (the w is very unclear).

On the other side is a scene representing Susanna observed by the Elders, and and below that a seated woman with a banner, who is labelled below 'fiducia' (faith).

The blade is single-edged, rounded and recurved at the point. There is a narrow, curled strip along part of the back edge.

Flemish, about 1620.

Provenance: Joyeau (couteau et Fourchette argt. De Théodore de Bry, 400 fr.; receipted bill, 27 7bre, 1867); Comte de Nieuwekerke.

The high finish and delicacy of the engraving upon the handles of this knife and fork are in the style of Theodor de Bry (1528-98), but their shape and general ornament suggest a later date; possibly they were the work of Johann Theodor de Bry, son of the above (1561-1623).

Compare similar examples in the Ridpath Collection (sold Sotheby's, 18-19 February, 1942, lot 220, ex-Trapnell) and in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 17). A915|1|1|Fork, part of a set with knife A914, having three prongs, the short middle prong being merely ornamental; silver handle like that of the knife. The subjects of the engraving on the handle are, in the oval panel, a winged hart radiant inscribed:

treuren . wt . alle

It is not clear where it begins.

Below this is a panel inscribed 'daniel ii'. On the other side in the oval, a tree inscribed:

het wycken . och . mocht

with St. Paul before Festus? And Sapientia below.

Flemish, about 1620.

Provenance: Joyeau (couteau et Fourchette argt. De Théodore de Bry, 400 fr.; receipted bill, 27 7bre, 1867); Comte de Nieuwekerke.

The high finish and delicacy of the engraving upon the handles of this knife and fork are in the style of Theodor de Bry (1528-98), but their shape and general ornament suggest a later date; possibly they were the work of Johann Theodor de Bry, son of the above (1561-1623).

Compare similar examples in the Ridpath Collection (sold Sotheby's, 18-19 February, 1942, lot 220, ex-Trapnell) and in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Bailey, Knives and Forks, fig. 17). A916|1|1|Trousse, comprising a knife and fork contained in a sheath of ivory. The sheath has been carved in high relief with longitudinal panels containing, respectively, on either side, King David and a nude female figure wearing a morion and holding a lance, the intervening panels carved with acanthus leaves and scrolls. The sheath has a silver locket stamped with the same marks as the knife and fork and engraved with an owner's name: ‘ H. White’ in Old English lettering; the terminal is turned and ends in an acorn; two loops and a silver chain at the side for suspension. In the pockets are:

- A single-edged knife of steel with plain handle of silver and of oval section, the blade stamped: W O R M U L The handle bears two small maker's marks.

- A three-pronged fork of silver with plain oval handle stamped with the same marks as the knife: the first is the letter V, the second (much rubbed) may be either the figures 1717, or 1714, or the remains of lettering.

Flemish, date uncertain.
The knife and fork are possibly of later date than the sheath. The V-mark resembles Rosenborg no. 4716, a 19th-century Dutch import mark used from 1814 to 1953. The second mark is a fasces, the petite garantie for silver used in the French Departments from 1809 to 1819, and in Holland from 1810 to 1814. A920|1|1|Knife of steel wrought in one piece, the handle of oval section deeply chased with floral ornament ad gilt, the single-edged blade bearing a winged cupid at the forte.
Italian in style, but of doubtful authenticity.
Lièvre, Musée Graphique (pl. 17); Lièvre, Musées et collections, 1 Ser., n.d., pI. 56 (Nieuwerkerke); Lièvre, Collections celebres, pI. 86. A923|1|1|Shears and case, the shears comprised of two blades made in one piece of steel, the handle of the blades being doubled back in a circle to form a spring; the blades are strongly etched with trophies, a dog and a rabbit.
The flat case is made entirely of steel, decorated with trophies of arms and a castle with three towers surmounted by a bird, deeply etched and formerly gilt; along the sides delicate arabesques and four small loops for suspension.
Italian, about 1560-70.
The knife, fork, and sheath A920-2, are of like design and workmanship. A923 also resembles a pair of shears and case which were in the Meyrick Collection (Skelton II, pl. CXI, figs. 4-5). A925|1|1|Poll-axe, having a blade with curved cutting-edge balanced at the back by a heavy coronel comprised of four strong, pyramidal projections. The top spike is of strong diamond section together with langets on the side straps extending down the staff. Other iron straps have been added on the remaining sides, so that the upper part of the staff is completely encased in metal.
Probably German, about 1430.
The blade has never been sharpened, and has little in the way of a distal taper. Similarly, the top spike is also quite dull, and seems always to have been. These features, combined with the provision of a coronel in place of a curved rear fluke, spike or hammerhead, give the impression that this weapon was made specifically as a ‘weapon of courtesy’, i.e., a rebated weapon for peaceful sporting combats or tournaments on foot.
Laking European Armour III, fig. 886.
Provenance: probably E. Juste, 'Hache a marteau avec pointe, du 15e siecle 40 fr.', receipted bill of 14 November 1868; Nieuwerkerke. A comparable axe is illustrated in a painting of The Crucifixion, dated 1429, from the Franciscan Church, Bamberg (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, inv. no. MA2625). A926|1|1|Poll-axe, the head composed of two parts: a triangular blade with straight cutting-edge on the one side balanced by an oblong hammer-head on the other, this last having on its face two vertical rows of squared projections, with a vertical strip of copper alloy between them. It is attached to the staff by four iron straps secured with rosette-headed rivets; on the top is a strong four-sided spike, the short, steel straps of which pass over the neck between the blade and the hammer, and the straps that secure them. The two parts are secured together by a bolt and nut with projecting, pyramidal heads. The foot of the staff is shod with an iron ferrule, hexagonal in section with a knob at the base.
The axe is decorated with trefoil piercings and the axe-blade is inlaid with vertical bands of copper alloy; a copper alloy strip down the face of the hammer is inscribed in miniscule lettering inlaid in slight relief on a hatched ground: de bon, together with a rough representation of a heart (of good heart) and foliage.
The wooden staff, and possibly also the rondel that protects the hand, are restorations.
French (?), about 1470.
Viollet-le-Duc VI, 17-18; Hefner-Alteneck, Trachten, 1879, IV, pl. 279; Boeheim, 376-7, fig. 447; Laking, European Armour II, fig. 887.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The statement made by Boeheim that A926 was in the Riggs Collection (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) is incorrect. There was a somewhat similar poll-axe in that collection, and a reference to it by Viollet-le-Duc (VI, 18-19) may have led to the confusion.
For hundreds of years the sword had been the weapon most closely associated with the knightly class, a symbol of aristocratic power as well as its instrument. With the development of full plate armour however, the sword became less effective in armoured combat. In the late fourteenth century a new weapon was created, far better suited to breaking through the hardened steel plates of an enemy’s armour. The pollaxe was not like other staff weapons, the vast majority of which were the arms of the lower classes developed from ordinary farm implements such as the pitch fork, scythe and flail. It was instead an exclusively knightly weapon, fine examples being as beautifully made as any sword.
Axes of this type found in England include an example in Saffron Walden Museum (no. 1836.56) said to have come from Bartlow, near Linton, on the border between Cambridgeshire and Essex. The Royal Armouries have three such axes; nos. VII.875, 1670 and 1827. The second is said to have been excavated in Cheapside, London, and the third is said to have been found near Banbury. The example at Cotehele House, Cornwall, may have formed part of the original armoury of the house. A comparable axe is in the Historical Museum at Bern (Wegeli, Inventar, III, no. 1340, tav. IV). This general type of pollaxe was used both for war and for tournament combat on foot, although it must be noted that the spikes and blade of this example are much sharper than those of the axe A925, which appears to have been made specifically for tournament fighting. A927|1|1|Poll-axe, with a large blade having a curved cutting edge, the inner edges engrailed; balanced at the back with a hammer with oblong, dentated face, like A926. The top-spike, of diamond section, is wide at the base and narrows to a slender four-sided section, stamped with the maker's mark on either side; two steel side-straps; modern octagonal staff spliced to a portion of the original staff within the side-straps. The blade and hammer are decorated with strapwork etching, now much defaced.

Italian (Venetian), about 1530.
Skelton II, Pl. LXXXIII, fig. 4.
Provenance: Sir. S. R. Meyrick.

Compare somewhat similar, but smaller, etched axes in the Royal Armouries (VII.64, .1353 and .1354), and in the Doge's Palace at Venice (Lucia series 9, nos. 183, 184), though the etching here is somewhat different in style (see Boccia and Coelho, 1975, pls. 267-9). A928|1|1|Halberd, the head forged in one piece and comprising an axe blade with curved cutting-edge, the inner edges scalloped; balanced by a slightly drooping fluke deeply stamped with the maker's mark; top spike of strong diamond section; split socket with two side-straps; fixed to the staff by two projecting pyramidal-headed bolts; octagonal ferrule at base of staff, which is studded with small brass-headed nails.

German, early 16th century.

Laking, European Armour III, fig. 926 (f). A929|1|1|Bill, having a spike of strong diamond section; the head of the usual form, with edged hook, salient forward edge and with a back-spike of diamond section stamped with the maker's mark on both sides; two lugs at the base; oblong socket (with bevelled edges) bound with a moulded copper alloy band; two side-straps. The surface is roughly incised along the back-edge with a series of crescents. Staff bound with spirally twisted, red and brown brocade studded with copper alloy-capped nails. Compare the similar bill A930.

Italian, early-16th century.

Provenance: comte de Nieuwerkerke.

Illustrated by Vollon in his Curiositiés of 1868 (see Savill, 1980).

A partizan in the Royal Armouries (Tower Inventory, VII-182), bears a somewhat similar mark, and it also occurs on an Italian halberd in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin (formerly in the collection of Museum für Deutsche Geschichte). A very similar bill with the same mark is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Kienbusch collection, cat., no. 521, pI. CXXI). Another is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon. The same mark also occurs on a Spiedo alla friulana in the Armeria Reale, Turin (no. J231; Mazzini, 1982, no. 208, n. on p. 370). A930|1|1|Bill, of the same type as A929, but the head slightly smaller in size. The face is incised or punched with a double rose with thorns on each side and crescent-shaped ornament. Near the back spike is stamped the maker's marks, on one side a split cross and on the other the letter S, and at the base of the blade the initials F L have been roughly cut. The socket is bound with two moulded copper alloy bands.

Italian, early 16th century.

This bill has been previously been described as English, no doubt on account of the Tudor-looking rose, but its form is that usual in Italy at this date.

The first two marks occur on a bill in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Z.O. no. 4130). The first mark occurs on a bill very similar to A930 in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Kienbusch collection, cat., no. 518, pl. CXXI). A932|1|1|Bill, with a long top-spike of diamond section; the head is of usual form with edged hook, projecting face below, and spike at the back; two sharp lugs at the base; flattened octagonal socket and two short straps, the whole made in one piece. It is decorated with monsters' heads, conventional flowers and scrolls, incised in such a way as to throw up a bur on a ground granulated and formerly gilt. The blade is deeply stamped with the scorpion mark bearing the letters I L O.

Italian (probably Milanese), early-16th century.
De Beaumont Catalogue, pl. 11 Laking, European Armour III, fig. 912.
Provenance; Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The scorpion mark with the letters I L O occurs on a bill in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and on another in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris (former Pauilhac Collection). An additional bill bearing this mark is in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Z.O. No. 4174). The same mark occurs on glaives in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Kienbusch collection, cat., no. 543, not illus.); Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli (1980 cat., no. 703); Rome, Odescalchi collection (inv. no. 1531; Carpegna, 1969, no. 370); Brescia, Museo Civico L. Marzoli (inv. no. 417; Rossi and Carpegna, 1969, no. 213). A decorated bill very like no. A932, which is now in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, (formerly the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte) does however bear this mark (inv. no. W2489; Müller and Kölling, 1981, no. 238).

A similar scorpion mark, but with the letter B, occurs on staff-weapons in the Royal Armouries (VII, 910, 928); Vienna; Turin, (J 135); in the Museo Stibbert (2485), and the Bargello, Florence (Gay, Glossaire Arch., p. 692); and the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Viollet-le-Duc VI, p. 26, Riggs).
Bills bearing a scorpion as a mark are frequently illustrated in Italian Renaissance paintings, for instance in the frescoes by Bernardino Pintoricchio in the Library of Siena Cathedral (1503-8). A935|1|1|Boar spear, with a large, leaf-shaped head with strong central rib; hexagonal socket, the whole made in one piece. Hinged to the socket is a moulded cross-bar, as on A936; two side-straps (of later date). The staff is plaited with leather thongs secured by round-headed nails, and partly bound with red velvet.Glaive, with a tall head with a curved cutting edge, double-edge towards the point; square socket bearing the maker's mark, four iron straps on the staff. The blade is inscribed and dated along the back-edge of each side:Glaive, with a tall head with a curved cutting edge, double-edge towards the point; square socket bearing the maker's mark, four iron straps on the staff. The blade is inscribed and dated along the back-edge of each side:German, about 1600.

The cross-bars of these two weapons (A935-A936) were probably added when the present identical shafts were fitted. A936|1|1|Boar spear, with a plain, leaf-shaped head with strong central rib; hexagonal socket, the whole made in one piece. Hinged to the socket is a cross-bar with turned mouldings; two side-straps (of later date). The staff is plaited with leather thongs (modern) secured by round-headed nails, and partly bound with red velvet.
German, about 1600.
The cross-bars of A935 and A936 were probably added when the present identical shafts were fitted. A938|1|1|Glaive, with a tall head with a curved cutting edge, double-edge towards the point; square socket bearing the maker's mark, four iron straps on the staff. The blade is inscribed and dated along the back-edge of each side:

MATER DEI MEMENTO MEI 1551

and has an etched panel mid-way containing the crossed timbers of Burgundy and the bricquet of the Order of the Golden Fleece surmounted by a crown and the letters F ∙ A on a granulated ground of the future Emperor Ferdinand I, as King of Bohemia and Hungary. The haft lacks its ferrule and is deeply incised with the initials WI and less deeply with the initials HA, presumably those of two different Archer Guards who carried this particular weapon.
German, dated 1551.
The ragged St. Andrew's cross passed, with other armorial Burgundian attributes, to the house of Austria after the marriage of the heiress Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, to Maximilian I in 1477.
In March 1551 Ferdinand I met his brother, the Emperor Charles V, at Augsburg in order to settle the question of the Imperial succession. As a result Ferdinand was designated the heir instead of the Emperor's son Philip II. O. Gamber suggested that the glaives of this type dated 1551 might be connected with this event, perhaps inspired by those carried by the Emperor's bodyguard (letter of July 1984). A939|1|1|Glaive, with a tall head with a single, curved edge, double-edged towards the point; oblong half-socket of rectangular section, with four iron straps secured by brass star-headed rivets. Decorated with an etched shield of arms encircled with the collar of the Golden Fleece, and surmounted by an archducal bonnet; above is the letter F. The haft lacks its ferrule, and is incised with the letter A, possibly the initial of the Archer Guard who carried it.
The arms are those of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529-95), second son of the Emperor Ferdinand I, and the founder of the collection at Schloss Ambras. It is possible that the glaives or Kusen of this pattern were made in 1555 when the Archduke was received into the Order of the Golden Fleece. (See Thomas, Vienna Jahrbuch, EXV, p. 62.)
German, about 1600-1615.
Skelton II, pl. LXXXV, fig. 7.
Provenance: Sir S. R. Meyrick.
Exhibited: South Kensington, 1869, no. 198. A951|1|1|Halberd, with a head with a tapering top-spike ending in a strong point of diamond section; axe-blade with straight cutting-edge, pierced with a cross, a short fluke forming an angle of about 45 degrees, stamped with the maker's mark; the blade split to form a socket and extended as two side-straps, the whole made in one piece.

Swiss, 1663-81.

The pierced cross is a feature of the late 17th-century halberds, known even at that period as 'Sempach halberds'. This example bears the mark attributed to Lambert or Lamprecht Koller of Würenlos in Canton Argau (1640-81). He made about 1,127 halberds for the Zurich arsenal between 1663 and 1681. He was in the service of the Abbey of Wettingen, and also made halberds for Schwyz (see Meier, in Stüber & Wetter, 1982, pp. 223-50, figs. 16-16b and 24b). Others with the same mark were, or are, in the Boissonas Collection, no. 41; in the Historical Museum at Bern, nos. 1411 and 1412; and in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin (formerly the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte). A952|1|1|Halberd, the head with a strong top-spike ending in a strong point of diamond section; axe-blade with oblique cutting-edge; small fluke stamped with the maker's mark; the head is split to form an angular socket and extended as two side-straps, the whole made in one piece.

German, about 1500.

This halberd is typical of the kind carried by German and Swiss infantry at the end of the 15th and first half of the 16th centuries. A975|1|1|War hammer, the head of two parts: (1) hammer of diamond section with dentated face and strong, four-sided beak on the reverse side; it is secured to the haft by short straps; (2) short, vertical spike of diamond section widening to form a square box which fits over both hammer and beak, and is secured with a bolt and nut. The edges of the box lightly serrated. Haft of oak shod with modern iron ferrule.
Possibly French, about 1450.
Viollet-le-Duc VI, 189. The iron ferrule to the haft is not reproduced; Laking, European Armour III, fig. 871
Provenance: Félix Petitprêtre (?) (marteau d'arme, 75 fr.; receipted bill, 13 March, 1869); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. This piece was formerly catalogued as coming from the Juste Collection, but the war hammer A976, answers more closely to the description given in his bill.
The large size of the head of this piece relative to the length of the haft suggests that it may originally have been mounted on a longer staff as a two-handed weapon.
This type of hammer (martel-de-fer) is the precursor of the bec-de-faucon, or Rabenschnabel. Designed to defeat plate armour, one is shown in the hands of a horseman in Uccello's picture of The Battle of San Romano in the National Gallery. An early instance is on a late 13th-century effigy in Malvern Abbey church. A976|1|1|War hammer, the head of two parts: (1) The hammer of hollowed diamond section with flat diamond-shaped face, balanced on the reverse side by a sharp beak (bec-de-faucon); (2) the leaf-shaped, vertical spike, springing from a faceted knob; this becomes a rectangular socket which passes over the neck of the head and continues down the haft in narrow straps, thus securing the hammer and beak. The grip at the bottom end is covered with velvet. The metal parts are minutely decorated with portrait medallions, scrolls, etc., etched and solidly gilt. On one side of the fluke is etched a shield charged with a lion rampant and a label of three points; on the other side is etched a device which appears to be a lance-rest of Italian type.
North Italian, about 1510.
Boccia and Coelho, 1975, fig. 266, and note on pp. 357-8.
Provenance: E Juste (Marteau d' armes italien à pointe, 200 fr. (with other pieces); receipted bill, 3 October, 1868); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The decoration is typical of Italian etched floral ornament on a hatched ground as practised between 1480 and 1520, and is very lightly bitten; the medallions which contain antique bearded heads are now indistinct. The haft has been shortened and the gilt, moulded ferrule (pommel) on the end is modern. A978|1|1|Mace, in the German ‘Gothic’ style, the head having six small flanges, each drawn out to an acute angle and delicately shaped, pierced with trefoils, and broken with small architectural mouldings. The head is surmounted by a leaf-shaped cap of copper alloy. Hexagonal haft, each plane inlaid with a strip of copper alloy; the grip, round in section, bound with cord and leather thongs, is protected by the flat steel guard of hexagonal shape; a circular disk at the end is secured by a rosette of copper alloy.
South German, about 1470.
Gazette des Beaux-Arts, lère, xxiv, 1868, p. 423, no. 181, and pI. facing p. 422, Hefner-Alteneck, Waffen, 1903, pl. 67 D, E, F. Viollet-le-Duc VI, pp. 197-8; Beaumont Catalogue, pl. 10; Laking, European Armour III. fig. 879.
Provenance: Georg Wittemann of Geisenheim; Louis Carrand (Une masse d' armes gothique en fer incrusté de cuivre, 300 fr.; receipted bill, 6 August, 1867); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A981|1|1|Mace, the head set with seven flanges, with shaped edges and strong pointed projections at the middle, and is surmounted by a pyramidal knop. The calyx of the terminal knob, the edges, the reinforced points of the flanges, and the lower ferrule of the head have been gilt. Octagonal haft of bright steel with two small shields in low relief, engraved with a cross on a quatrefoil, and the Roman letters S.P.Q.R. (Senatus Populusque Romanus) on a bend of the quatrefoil. There is a hole for the cord or thong. The surface of the grip is worked with a diamond design in relief, the end spirally fluted, with bands of gilding on the moulding.

North Italian, about 1550.
Viollet-le-Duc VI, 200.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

A comparable mace is held by Pase Guarienti in his portrait formerly attributed to Paolo Veronese, dated 1556 (Verona, Museo di Castelvecchio, inv. no. 267). A983|1|1|Mace, with a head of seven flanges, the edges shaped and engraved as pairs of dolphins on either side of a strongly reinforced central spike, the whole surmounted by a fluted knob. Tubular, faceted haft, alternate facets incised with parallel horizontal lines. It is pierced above the grip for a thong. Spirally fluted grip, the flutes separated by incised lines. Flat pommel with roped edge and fluted button. The surface was originally blued, while the dolphins on the flanges, the incised facets on the haft, and the moulding between the flutes on the grip, are gilt. The blueing is now largely replaced with black paint.

Probably Italian, about 1550.
De Beaumont Catalogue, pl. 10, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, lère, xxiv, 1868, p. 423, no. 182, and pI. facing p. 422.
Provenance: Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

A mace answering to this description, formerly in the possession of P. J. de Loutherbourg, the painter, was exhibited in the Gothic Hall, 1818, as no. 122, and in 1819 and 1820 as no. 128. A994|1|1|Partizan, with a long, tapering, two-edged head strongly ridged down the middle, with small curved projections in the lower part. The surface is decorated with a dotted ornament of scrolled foliage, straps and traces of gilding; a maker's mark of a dagger on each side; socket of ten facets pierced with two large, pyramidal-headed lugs; short side-straps. Faceted haft-ferrule.

Italian, about 1580.

Provenance: Louis Carrand (?) (une hallebarde gravée avec gland, 160 fr.; receipted bill [undated but attached to those of 1870]); Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A1022|1|1|Lance, of light wood, the lower part in front of the grip of octagonal section, with hollow, longitudinal flutes; the whole painted with spiral bands of red and white; conical lance-point. This type of lance was used for running at the ring and at the quintain.

Probably Italian, 17th century.

Laking, European Armour III, fig. 869 (right-hand portion).

Provenance: Probably Dubois de Bruxelles sale (Oudart and Barre, Paris, 28-29 February 1868), lot 218 or 219, both of which are described as 'lance de tournoi';"Article du procés-verbal, no. 1903, 120 fr. plus commission; no year is given, but probably 1868 in view of the sale mentioned above), to the Comte de Nieuwerkerke. A1023|1|1|Lance, of light wood, the lower part in front of the grip circular, with hollow, longitudinal flutes; painted red with a spiral band of white; lance-head in the form of a cross, the ends pierced as rings, gilt, the socket pierced with an oblong aperture and secured to the staff by two straps at the side. Bound in three places with leather straps. Used for running at the ring and quintain.

Probably Italian, 17th century.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 869.

Provenance: Springer; Louis Carrand (une bois de lance à courir la bague, 111 fr., plus commission; receipted bill [undated but with those of 1870]; this bill may refer to no. A1022); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The three straps bound round the shaft and firmly secured by nails are placed one before and one behind the hand, and the third at the upper end of the flutes. A row of nail holes four and a half inches above the butt of the lance shows where a fourth strap was once fixed. The first is to hold the vamplate, the second to catch on the lance-rest when the moment of impact approaches, when running at the quintain. The missing strap around the base of the lance was to act as a stop for the hooked side-plate on the right of the fore-arçon on which the lance could be rested; for instance, as on A34. A lance with its lower strap in position is illustrated in The Madonna in Glory with St. John the Baptist and St.George, painted about 1529-30 by Florigiero, in S. Giorgio, Udine (B. Berenson, Italian paintings of the Renaissance, Venetian school, II, 1957, no. 885).

The form of the head of A1023 is unsuitable for running either at the ring or the quintain and probably dates from a time when this piece had been converted to carry a flag.

Provenance: the Springer sale is actually mentioned in the bill, but it is recorded neither in F. H. Cripps-Day, Armour sales, nor in F. Lugt, Repertoire des catalogues de ventes, Troisieme periode 1861-1900, 1964. A1024|1|1|Spetum or trident, with a broad, tapering central blade of flat diamond section and triangular shape; large, outward curving wings; ten-faceted socket (the side-straps broken off); round ferrule with knob at end of the staff. The blade is decorated with a circle formed of crescents and dots in the manner found on "Fringia" blades and some Italian bills. At the top are a pair of marks that may, or may not, be those of the maker.

Italian, about 1530.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 904.

Giacomo di Grassi, Ragione di adoprar sicuramente I'arme, Venice 1570, p. 108, called this type of spear il spiedo, which "I. G. gentleman" in 1594 translated as "lauelin" (fol. Q2). Boccia and Coelho (1975, pI. 138) illustrate a comparable weapon in the Doge's Palace, Venice, inv. no. 1416. They ascribe it to Friuli about 1480, and call it Spiedo allafurlana. ? Demmin, Guide, 1869, p. 466, No. 4 (Nieuwerkerke). A1026|1|1|Spetum, runka or trident, with long spike of stiff, diamond section; curved side blades terminating in points of diamond section; faceted socket with two straps; the whole of the head is wrought in one piece; octagonal haft-ferrule. The blade bears a maker's mark on each side.

Italian, about 1610.
Viollet-le-Duc VI, 25, fig. B.
Provenance: Louis Carrand (?) (Une corcesque, 100 fr. [with une hache pertuisarme]; receipted bill, 14 April, 1869); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.

The Italian name for this type of weapon is corsesca, rather than runka or roncone, from which the English word "runka" is presumably derived. "I. G. gentleman" translated la Roncha of Giacomo di Grassi (p. 104) as "bill" (P3).
Boccia and Coelho illustrate (1975, pI. 592) a similar weapon also with these marks in the Museo Civico, Bologna (inv. no. 700), which they call a corseche and date about 1600-20. Another is in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan (1980 cat, no. 712, with a list of similarly marked weapons). The same mark occurs on spetums in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and in the Museo Stibbert, Florence, no. 1987; also on two halberds in the Royal Armouries, VII. 977-8; another at Bern, no. 1528; and on a cutlass in the Keasbey sale, New York, 1925, lot 73. At Venice are four corsesche, of like form, bearing the same mark (J 243-4, 246-7).

It also occurs on a partizan in the Royal Armouries, bearing the arms of France and Navarre (VII-216). A1032|1|1|Crossbow. The steel bow is covered with gilt parchment painted with eight-petalled, conventional flowers in red and bound to the stock with a bridle of entwined cord and leather thongs; gilt iron ring at the top. It retains its original bow-string of twisted cord. The stock or tiller is of wood wholly veneered with plates of polished antler carved in relief with figures and coats of arms, the arms of the owner alone being painted in the flat. The stock is pierced with a steel pin with gilt ends (to engage the claw of the rack), and furnished with steel trigger (bearing the maker's mark), a steel plate upon which to rest the thumb when discharging the piece, a revolving nut of horn, a V-shaped foresight which is slotted and permitting of lateral movement (no doubt to allow for windage). It was spanned by engaging the string in the revolving barrel or nut which was then released by the trigger.
The subjects of the carving on the sides and underpart of the stock are: (1) at the fore-end St. George in armour standing on the Dragon under a Gothic canopy with roped styles, with the arms of Bavaria (chequy lozengy azure and argent) below. On either side of him are (2) the Emperor Maximinus ordering the beheading of St. Catherine; and on the other side (3) three men, two of them fighting with longswords. Below this comes a row of carved and painted shields encircling the stock, except on the upper side: (a) azure, a crowned lion passant regardant to sinister argent, (b) Bindenschild of Austria (gules, a fesse argent), (c) azure two bars argent, perhaps intended for Hungary ancient which is a barry of eight argent and gules, (d) gules, a horn argent, (e) azure, a fesse with three stars in chief argent, (f) azure or sable, a crescent argent (perhaps for Woellworth of Wurtemburg), (g) azure, a cross paté rising from a mound for Hungary modern, the field gules. Painted, not carved, on the top of the stock, are the quartered arms of Völs -Colonna, its former owners.
Below the binding of the nut on the left side are (4) a fool playing bagpipes; (5) a young woman being enticed by Folly from Wisdom; and on the other side (6) three armed men, two showing their backs, the centre one in full Gothic armour, possibly connected with (8) below; (7) a girl between two young men; on the other side (8) the martyrdom of St. Sebastian; (9) three nude figures, a male between two females; (10) Adam and Eve. Running along the underside under the trigger-guard are (11) entwined dragons, and on one side (12) a stag-hunt led by a horseman in armour and hounds, and a representation of St. George and the dragon.
The identification of the arms is qualified by the probability that some of the tinctures may have been altered at a later date.
German (Bavarian), about 1450-70.
The subjects carved in relief on this remarkable bow strongly resemble in manner engravings by the Master E, S., c. 1460, and his follower, Israhel van Meckenem, but there is no exact correspondence.
H. Wagner, Trachtenbuch des Mittelalters, Munich, 1830, Part 2, pl. VIII; Skelton II, pls. XCVI, XCVII; Meyrick Catalogue, no. 25; Laking, European Armour III, fig. 938.
Provenance: Fels; Sir S. R. Meyrick.
The castle of Völs is near Bozen (Bolzano) in South Tyrol. The Völs family are first recorded in Tyrol in the 12th century, became Freiherren in 1638, and counts in 1712. A branch was established in Bohemia in 1572. Christoph Leopold Colonna von Fels was Grand Huntsman (K. K. Jagdmeister) of Silesia, about 1700. Like other Tyrolese families, including Trapp of Churburg, they adopted as an augmentation the arms of Colonna of Rome without being related by blood.
The lever-trigger acts directly on the underside of the nut without any intervening mechanism. A fragment of the cow-horn spring remains by which the bolt was held in position. The mark is in neither Støckel nor Neue Støckel, but it resembles No. 6404 on p. 1456 in the latter, described as a Hausemark.
Exhibited: Manchester Art Treasures, 1857 (Planche, 1857, p. 15); South Kensington, 1869, no. 2 (The Illustrated London News, LIV, 1869, p.224, no.20).
Provenance: Völs family. The family castle near Bozen is called Prössels (Graf Trapp, loc. cit.). A1332|1|1|Horn, of a bull, polished and mounted with a rim and band of gilt copper, the edges cut into leaves, the surface incised with twenty-five triangular shields of arms hitherto unidentified.
On the band: (I) checky, (ii) a chief unduly and a fesse, (iii) paly, (iv) a saltire, (v) a chevron, (vi) five rondels between two bars, three and two, (vii) barry, (viii) three rondels, (ix) bendy, (x) gyronny on the rim: (xi) a bend, (xii) a lion rampant charged with a bendlet, (xiii) a cross moline debruised by a canton, (xiv) billety, a ion stantant (?) crowned, (xv) per pale, a cross moline, (xvi) two lions passant, (xvii) a bend, (xviii) quarterly, four rondels each charged with a cross, (xix) billety a lion or dog rampant, (xx) a cross moline charged with a bendlet, (xxi) a cross moline, (xxii) a fesse, (xxiii) barry of six, in chief three roses, (xxiv) a cross moline debruised by a canton (again), (xxv) per pale, a bend. The band is a later replacement, possibly of the 19th century. From the point of view of identification, therefore, the shields of arms with which it is decorated must be ignored.
The tinctures are in places indicated by hatching. This horn is not pierced for a mouth-piece because it was a drinking horn, not a hunting horn. There are traces of another band having been fitted, to which the legs would have been fixed. (The 1962 catalogue states the following: Both rim and band carry a ring for suspension; the mouthpiece (now missing) was, although pierced transversely, only partly pierced at the tip so that it was impossible for the horn to have been blown, and it would appear to have been more in the nature of a relic, possibly with a special territorial significance).
North European, possibly English, about 1400.
Possibly a receipted bill of E. Lemer of 11 December, 1865, ‘Une corne, 80 fr.’ (Comte de Nieuwerkerke), but this might also be A1334 or, less likely, A1331, since the unusual nature of this last would probably have been specified.
Dr. and Mrs. E. A. Gee have recently suggested very tentatively, in view of the absence of tinctures, that the arms on the rim could be identified as follows: (XI) Mauley (or a bend sable); (XII) either Sutton of Holderness (Az. a lion rampant or debruised of a bend or gobony arg. and gu.); or Tochetts of Tochetts (Arg. a lion rampant or debruised of a bendlet gu.); (XIII) Copley of Doncaster (Arg. a cross moline sa. and a canton gu.); (XV) Bigod (Party per pale vert and or, a cross moline gu.); (XVI) Paynell (Or 2 lions pasant az.); (XVII) Scrope of Danby (Az. a bend or); (XIX) Bulmer (Arg. billety gu., a rampant gu.); (XX) possibly a cadet of No. XIX; (XXI) Sampson (Or a cross moline sa.); or Colville (Arg. a cross moline gu.), or Copley of Sprotborough (Arg. a cross moline sa.), or Godard (Erm. a cross moline sa.); (XXII) Tweng of Mickleby (Arg. a fess gu.), or Campaigne (Arg. a fess sa.); (XXIII) Constable of Burton Contable bore barry of six or & az., it could therefore represent a cadet branch, or it could be a much differenced Meinell coat (Az. 3, sometimes 2, bars gemell and a chief or); (XXIV) see XIII, or a cadet of XXI; (XXV) Well of Well (Per pale gu. & sa., a bend arg.). All these families were related by marriage to the Mauleys (no. XI), or lived on their fees or, at least, were their close neighbours at the very end of the XIV century. The horn could therefore have belonged to Peter VIII de Mauley (1378 - 1415). A1332 formed part of the collection of the Comte de Nieuwerkerke, and can be identified in the painting by Tetat van Elven of one of his rooms, inscribed 1866, now in the Museum of Compiene (no. C51-004; Savill, 1980, and see note under A65). A1336|1|1|Fragment of a monumental brass, representing a mail-clad left leg from the below the knee to the toes, the pair to A1337. The representation of mail incised upon the surface takes the form of vertical lines between which are a series of arcs, running in alternate direction in each row. The spurs have short necks and large eight-pointed rowels. The straps of the spurs are sunk below the surface of the plate, and were possibly filled with enamel.
Possibly Flemish, about 1330.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 969, Portfolio of the Monumental Brass Society, VII, iii, pl. 13.
Provenance: Springer; Louis Carrand (deux jambes d'effigie sepulchrale en bronze XIIIe, 40 fr.; receipted bill, undated); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The rowel spur came into general use during the second quarter of the XIV century. Mail as the sole armour of the feet and lower legs was still being represented on effigies in England as late as that probably of Roger Salaman (died 1343-4), in Horley Church, Surrey, and on brasses as late as that of Sir Hugh Hastings (died 1347), in Elsing Church, Norfolk. A1337|1|1|Fragment of a monumental brass, representing a mail-clad right leg from the below the knee to the toes, the pair to A1336. The representation of mail incised upon the surface takes the form of vertical lines between which are a series of arcs, running in alternate direction in each row. The spurs have short necks and large eight-pointed rowels. The straps of the spurs are sunk below the surface of the plate, and were possibly filled with enamel.
Possibly Flemish, about 1330.
Laking, European Armour III, fig. 969, Portfolio of the Monumental Brass Society, VII, iii, pl. 13.
Provenance: Springer; Louis Carrand (deux jambes d'effigie sepulchrale en bronze XIIIe, 40 fr.; receipted bill, undated); Comte de Nieuwerkerke.
The rowel spur came into general use during the second quarter of the XIV century. Mail as the sole armour of the feet and lower legs was still being represented on effigies in England as late as that probably of Roger Salaman (died 1343-4), in Horley Church, Surrey, and on brasses as late as that of Sir Hugh Hastings (died 1347), in Elsing Church, Norfolk. A1344|1|1|Plaque, of steel, embossed and boldly chased with an equestrian figure in a slashed costume, bearing a sceptre, and wearing a crowned bonnet, probably representing the Emperor Charles V within a framework of scrolled strapwork with cornucopias at the base; at the top three rivets with heads shaped as bearded masks; at the bottom is an oblong slit governed by a spring-catch. The plaque, which is oblong in shape, with the lower part rounded, must have formed the lid of some utensil not yet identified. It is too large for a bullet pouch, as formerly suggested.
German, about 1550.