Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/199

 two. Its entire surface is covered with well-designed arabesques introducing terminal figures and griffin-like monsters, the groundwork of the design being filled in with a black pigment. Although the author has seen etching by the same hand on other plate armour, notably in the Nuremberg Collection, he is quite unable to credit it to any known armourer or armour artist. The date of this casque is about 1580, but the second one (Fig. 1254), though earlier in style, bears the date 1607.

German, about 1580. National Germanic Museum of Nuremberg

German, of a mid-XVIth century style, but dated 1607. National Germanic Museum of Nuremberg

Needless to say, many armourers of other nations whose works have not been identified produced similar simply etched casques; but the four we have enumerated are essentially German parade head-pieces. In the second half of the XVIth century many gorgeous casques of the more ornate type were produced in German workshops. There is in the Musée d'Artillerie of Paris a finely conceived casque, H 251 (Fig. 1255), described in the catalogue as being Italian of the middle of the XVIth century. But the question arises, is it Italian, or German produced under Italian influence? We ask this question as to its nationality on account of the very great resemblance its decoration bears to that seen on two suits in the Imperial Armoury of Vienna, one made for the Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, the other