personal adornment. The application of semi-oriental decoration to the hilt of a sword is very apparent in the case of that most beautiful sword which is the gem of the Ressman Collection in the Bargello Museum, Florence (Fig. 660). Not only is its enrichment semi-Arabic, but the actual formation of its pommel and its unusual grip protection are wholly oriental: indeed, it is the only sword hilt of this particular shape known to us, a shape which appears to be founded on the lines of those fine "ear pommel" daggers (Figs. 824 to 836) that were so readily received into use throughout Southern Europe towards the closing years of the XVth century. So high an authority as Baron de Cosson has declared that in his opinion this Ressman sword is the finest weapon from the points of usefulness, perfect balance, and appropriate and restrained decoration that he has ever examined and handled. The pommel consists in two discs set on the top of the grip at an angle, a formation which, though reversed, constitutes the guard drooping over the quillons. The latter are rectangular in section, and slightly curved in a diagonal direction. The blade is of the very finest type—broad, with a central groove, tapering to the point, etched and gilt at the hilt with a beautiful design essentially North Italian in character. The entire surface of the hilt is plated with silver and partly gilt, engraved with a form of ornamentation which, if met with upon some household vessel, would unhesitatingly be accepted as Hispano-Arabian, or even truly Moorish in origin. The vicissitudes in the former history of this most splendid sword are worth recording. It was discovered by a French infantry officer after the Lombardy campaign of 1859 and brought back by him to Versailles where his regiment was quartered. It remained in his possession until his death in 1867. His effects having been sold by auction, the sword was purchased by an art dealer for the sum of one hundred francs. It was almost immediately resold to M. Louis Carrand for the sum of ten thousand francs. Then partly by payment in money, and partly by exchange, it passed into the collection of Signor Ressman. It is now, as we have said, in the Bargello Museum of Florence, to which Signor Ressman bequeathed it with the remainder of his collection.
We give an illustration of another sword of Venetian origin (Fig. 674), which depends upon a similar quasi-oriental theme for its enrichment, but which possesses counter guards. It is dealt with later, on page 297.
That distinctive type of Hispano-Moorish sword, in which both decoration and shape are essentially Eastern, appeared in its earliest form
