Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/217

 the medium of gesso duro has been employed with good effect. It is now patinated to a colour of dark ivory; though possibly it may originally have been entirely gilded and painted, an extra ornamentation of which only the faintest traces now remain. This saddle, which is of about the same date as the two last mentioned, would appear to be North Italian. Of the pronounced German type is a saddle in the Tower of London (Fig. 983), which, though it has been subjected to restorations, still remains an admirable specimen. It bears the following inscription in German: "Ich hoff des þesten (for besten) dir geling. Hilf Got wol auf Sand Jorgen nam" ("I hope the best [fortune] may attend you. May God assist you in the name of St. George"). There was formerly an example in the collection of the late Herr Richard Zschille which was simpler in decoration; but it would be safer to assign this to a rather later date than that of those just mentioned, possibly to the middle of the XVth century (Fig. 984), a date to which we may also ascribe a saddle-tree in the collection of Signor Bardini of Florence (Fig. 985).

It is as well to add here that the whole group of XVth century bone-covered saddles have been condemned as forgeries and as fabrications of a type that never existed. If, however, the so-called authorities who return this summary verdict had any powers of observation, they would certainly hesitate to make so foolish and senseless a charge, more especially as the evolution of this particular type of saddle can be easily traced. A theory is an excellent thing; but unless it is controlled by a practical knowledge of the subject on which it bears, it is apt to be extremely misleading.

Italian, first half of the XVth century Collection: Signor S. Bardini, Florence

Because in many cases these XVth century bone-covered saddles have a lining of that curious, though for such a purpose extremely useful medium, birch bark, they have been condemned as having been fabricated by making use of the foundations of old Persian and Turkish saddles, to which modern European enrichments of carved ivory and bonework have been added. Such a criticism, however, fails to take into consideration the fact that in nearly all countries birch bark was appreciated for its quality of not adhering to the