 | An image should appear at this position in the text. To use the entire page scan as a placeholder, edit this page and replace "{{missing image}}" with "{{raw image|A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 5).djvu/123}}". Otherwise, if you are able to provide the image then please do so. For guidance, see Wikisource:Image guidelines and Help:Adding images. |  |
Fig. 1520. Hilt of "small" or court sword
The work of Gottfried Leigebe of Berlin, about 1670. Collection: H.M. the King, Windsor Castle
shows Volumnia before Coriolanus; in the other Quintus Curtius is represented leaping into the gulf. These compositions are framed by elaborate strapwork, introducing grotesque masks. The ricassi of the hilts have in them oval panels in which are chiselled in the highest relief combating Roman warriors. The pas-d'âne takes the form of griffins' necks, on which are seated statuette figures of satyrs. These satyrs constitute the quillons. The shell-guards are like those seen on the XVIIIth century "small" sword, and may be described as roughly oval in form, the inner being smaller than the outer, their outlines constituting figures of amorini holding cornucopiae and bound captives, which are almost identical in treatment with, and no doubt copied from, those depicted on the tomb of Ferdinand I de' Medici by Pietro Tacca at Leghorn. The panels of the shells, both outside and inside, contain elaborately chiselled battle scenes, which, however, it is impossible to identify. The hilt of the Stockholm sword is mounted on a triangular blade and possesses its original grip; while that at Windsor, in the opinion
