‡ A RARE NORTH ITALIAN BROADSWORD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 15TH CENTURY, PROBABLY VENETIAN with broad straight double-edged blade of pronounced flattened section, stamped with three small marks within a central fuller framed by a pair of further fullers over the lower third on each side, steel hilt comprising écusson, rear quillon with flattened globular terminal formed with an additional bar curling along the plane of the blade, forward quillon extending at a right angle to form the knuckle-guard and drawn-out at the base to form an additional loop-guard, the knuckle-guard of flattened section, cut with pairs of decorative notched lines and with leaf-shaped terminal, square pommel drawn-out to a low domed boss front and back, and leather-covered wooden grip, perhaps the original, 95.3 cm blade Provenance Doctor George Douglas A large number of similar swords are preserved in the Armoury of the Doges Palace, Venice and the former Imperial armoury now in Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Many of the swords in the Doge's Palace are impressed 'CX' on the grip for the Consiglio Dieci. The Council of Ten was established in 1310 following a revolt and was intended as a temporary Government body. However, it became permanent in 1334 with powers that increased substantially and, a century later, was overseeing the Republic's diplomatic and intelligence services as well as managing its military affairs. The hilt is a variant form of Norman type 6. See Norman 1980, pp. 69-70, plate 9, and Franzoi 1990, p. 86, no.151, fig. 43 and fig 237 for similar bladesmith’s marks.