Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 5).djvu/161

 on a suit we have already described (Vol. i, page 207, Fig. 241). This is the work of a firm of the name of Nolden of Solingen, makers of certain military equipments, but who also copied XVth and XVIth century plate armour. They curiously specialized in horse armour, and many chanfrons with their crinets cleverly made and rusted can be traced to their workshops.

A German forgery. Ex collection: Prince Charles of Prussia, and in 1883 transferred to the Zeughaus, Berlin

By Nolden of Solingen. Late XIXth century

Before we refer to the latest and most deceptive type of forgery, a forgery that until recently puzzled even the most competent expert, we will devote some little attention to forged weapons. Those of early make (Fig. 1559) are as puerile as the English boiler-plate helmets and armour already referred to. Absurd ivory-hilted daggers and swords with scabbards of the same medium, decorated with bogus portraits and inscriptions, were at one time eagerly bought up by the enthusiast. Swords, unwieldly and impracticable, furnished with impossible hilts and with blades little better than hoop iron, met with a similar welcome (Fig. 1560, a and b). Certain weapons in the