make, both in the construction of its parts and in the adornment of its surface. We were inclined to think that it might have originally possessed leg defences which are now lost; for the hang of the tassets is such that they scarcely appear to be set upon the tace plate as if only to be worn with trunk hose. But on reference to the inventory we are about to quote, we find no leg armour mentioned. The surface decoration of this rich little harness, certainly the most ornate in the royal collection at Windsor Castle, is arranged in the following manner. The whole of the exposed steel surfaces are blued, and upon this field, dispersed evenly over the suit, are bands one inch wide, running parallel one with the other, but meeting in the centre of the breast- and back-plate to form chevrons. These bands have upon them, outlined in encrusted silver points or pearls, a continuous series of oval and oblong hexagonal panels, the interiors of which are entirely gilt. Each of these panels is drilled with four holes, by which was formerly attached some applied ornament of precious metal which has since been abstracted, possibly for its intrinsic value. The bands on which these little cartels are placed alternate, the one being of plain blued steel, the other occupied almost entirely by minute scroll-*work executed in gold azzimina damascening. These bands are divided by narrower bands, each three-eighths of an inch wide, decorated with a punched and silvered design borrowed from the classical corded moulding; these again are bordered on either side by a double line composed of small dots. The borders of the various plates have around them a series of brass hemispherically-headed rivets which formerly retained in position the padded velvet lining. All the buckles are damascened with scrollwork in gold azzimina. What has been abstracted from this little suit, and what the lost applied enrichments were the fastenings for which appear all over its surface, we cannot now say. But there is one little clue that will perhaps afford some guidance. In certain portions of the suit, where one plate has to fit so closely over the other that no space for an applied ornament exists, the oval and hexagonal panels have a rosette-like form deeply engraved upon them and fully gilt. Therefore it is not unlikely that this rosette ornament was repeated in each cartel, but applied in embossed gold. Only one thing can we feel at all confident about as regards the history of this little half suit; we feel certain that it is referred to in the 1660 inventory of the Tower as part of certain armour "remaineing in severall Trunckes within the office of the Armory at the Tower," the item in particular being: "Small armour for horse and Foote, richly guilt, with bosses of gold and corded with silver, consisting of backe, breast, Taces, Murrion, close head-peece, Pouldrons and vambraces,
