Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/92

 yataghans of the XVIIth, XVIIIth, and XIXth centuries the same form of hilt can be seen reproduced. In the inventory made in 1560 of certain possessions of Francis II of France, entitled ''Inventaire des joyaux de la Couronne de France et du Cabinet du roi (Francois II) à Fontainebleau'', there occurs the entry:—''No. 643, Ung petit poignart à oreilles, façon d'Espaigne, où le bout n'est point, estimé XII''. The metal plates of the pommel were as a rule overlaid on their outer side with the same medium as the grip, that is to say, with horn, ivory, or wood; though they are occasionally met with made entirely of metal. Of this latter make are those seen on the small dagger found in the Thames at Westminster and now housed in the London Museum (Fig. 824), on the dagger, probably of Spanish origin (Fig. 825), in the collection of the Baron de Cosson, which dagger bears on its blade the name of its maker:, and on the dagger in the Wallace Collection (Fig. 826) which we believe to be of Venetian origin of about 1500.

We have come across no extant example of the true dague à oreilles that we dare assign to a date earlier than the middle of the XVth century.

Spanish (?), about 1490 Collection: Viscount Astor

Northern Italy, with its port of Venice, and Spain, appear to have been the districts in which these daggers were fashionable in the latter part of the XVth century, doubtless from the fact of the intercourse with the Orient of both these countries. Rare as are these graceful daggers, fine and splendidly-enriched examples exist in public and private collections. The finest we know of in England is that at Hever Castle in the Astor Collection. This specimen has a shield form engraved upon the ivory pommel disks; while the decoration upon the grip runs in diagonal bands. The gold damascening upon the exposed iron surface is minute in design, consisting of animals in conventional fashion and of inscriptions in compartments. The blade has unfortunately suffered from over-cleaning (Fig. 827). The Tower, the