Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 5).djvu/167

 with the latest chemical knowledge, some really wonderful examples of armour and of weapons have been turned out from this atelier, which, judiciously placed upon the market, at first deceived even acknowledged experts. The heraldry represented was correct, and in many cases was in accordance with that which was known to have decorated some lost treasure or other, described in an actual historical inventory. Undoubtedly cultured brains were at the service of the makers of these latest works of art; for works of art they certainly are.

A Paris forgery of about 1890

We have no intention of giving any detailed enumeration of the many armour forgeries of this school which during the last twelve years have found their way into even the best of collections; we merely wish to supply illustrations of a few of them, just to show their type and the form of forgery attempted.

Our first experience of these forgeries de luxe was gained some fifteen years ago in Paris when, along with a famous German collector, now dead, we were taken to see a small collection of armour and of arms that one of the foremost dealers of the day had been commissioned to sell. It is only