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North Italian, third quarter of the XVIth century Collection: Mr. E. Kennedy

mark, which has not been identified, is stamped on the ricasso. A slight variation of this type, which has almost the appearance of belonging to a different family of weapon owing to the addition of a modern and too short a grip to the hilt, is that very fine sword in the collection of Mr. Ernest Kennedy, which was formerly in the Spitzer Collection (Fig. 1332). The quillons are long and diagonally curved; while the guard shows the duplicated ring form of defence. The pommel is large and spheroidal, to balance the heavy fighting blade of the weapon. Like the whole of the hilt, the ricasso of the blade has a russeted surface heavily encrusted in silver with cherubs' heads, arrangements of leafage, etc.—a North Italian style of ornamentation of the latter part of the XVIth century which found particular favour in England, and to which we shall have to refer later. Spitzer recorded no