Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/343

 must have been very similar to that of the back-edged sword employed in combination with the buckler. Many of these swords are said to be of English make, and very possibly they may be; for though their enrichment is fundamentally that of the late XVIth century Italian school, it is carried out in a heavy style, which is not displeasing, and which lends to them a certain rugged and workmanlike appearance. In the Royal Armoury at Windsor are three swords that admirably illustrate the form of decoration to which we refer. Of these, the sword that is reputed to have been worn by King James I of England is probably the most representative (Fig. 1378). The hilt might belong to the closing years of the XVIth century; but the very fine blade associated with it, a blade made by Clemens Horn of Solingen, bears the date 1617. The pommel of this King James I sword is of inverted pear-shape, and is hollow, and constructed of five spiral scrolls à jour. The knuckle-guard is flat, swelling in the centre, where it is pierced with a diamond-shaped aperture. The quillons are short and flat, with ribbon pattern ends; from ill-treatment they are now possibly more incurved than as originally made. The single bar is constructed on the same principle, and the shell is framed in similar ribbon-pattern bands. The decoration of the hilt consists of trophies of arms, festoons, and bouquets of flowers and fruit, boldly engraved, and gilt upon a russeted groundwork. The whole of this ornamentation is bordered by a beading incrusted in silver. The under side of the bars is entirely gilt, and punched with small circles. The grip of wood has its original binding of silver wire. The sword has its original scabbard of black leather, with an enriched ferrule mount.

It is not our intention to enter into a lengthy description of the technical skill of the bladesmiths whose blades are in the hilts we illustrate, or to discuss the historical associations of the blades themselves; that is a task which the author must leave to others. But so associated with these types of English hilts are the blades made by Clemens Horn, and such a remarkable example of his craftsmanship is that in the sword under discussion, that we cannot help feeling that in describing this specimen we shall practically be covering the whole field of this famous blademaker's work. The blade in this hilt has a strongly chamfered cutting edge; the surface is blued, etched, and gilt with lengthy but broken Latin inscriptions, due to the introduction of small panels of various ornaments, griffins, stags, lions, hearts, and minute scrollwork. On the ricasso is stamped twice the unicorn head, the mark of Clemens Horn. Neither the date of Horn's birth nor that of his death is known; but, judged by his dated blades, he must