Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/310



The hilt is probably the work of an unknown Milanese armourer, middle of the XVIth century. Imperial Armoury, Vienna

an attribution with which we can hardly agree. This may have been the reason why the mistake of giving it a Spanish origin was made in the catalogue of the Spitzer Collection; in the past such flat azzimina damascening was mostly credited to Spain on account of the semi-Oriental influence which the Moorish occupation exercised on the art of that country. The blade of this hilt, though possibly not actually made for it, is a fine example of the work of Andreas Münsten, whose signature appears in the central groove.