‡ A RARE ITALIAN SPETUM, CIRCA 1550-1600 INCORPORATING AN EXCEPTIONAL BLADE OF CIRCA 1300-50 with sharply tapering terminal blade of slightly hollow-diamond section over the upper and lower portions and of flattened-hexagonal section in the middle, inlaid in bright latten on each face with a bishop’s crozier, a brief cabalistic inscription, a cross and orb mark, a crested helm and shield and two further characters beneath (losses, areas of wear), recessed at the base, formed with a pair of strongly curved flat lugs, and tapering faceted socket pierced on each side for attachment (areas of pitting throughout), 100.8 cm overall Provenance William Borland Howard Curtis (inv. no. 503) The blade is of Italian form and the bishop’s crozier suggest it was decorated in Passau, Germany. The crested helm and shield suggest a likely Imperial Austrian attribution though the detail of the shield is not sufficiently clear to confirm this. A detached blade decorated with the arms of Austria and Bohemia made for Ottakar II, King of Bohemia and Duke of Styria (1230-78), is preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. A34). A sword with a blade decorated in the same manner, including the Austrian Arms, formerly in the Imperial Armoury Vienna and the Gwynn Collection, was exhibited Art of the Armourer, 1963, no. 60 (see Paggiarino 2016, no. 60 (A52), p. 284. The bright colour of the latten suggests a high gold or silver content.