Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 1).djvu/206

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In the Musée de Cluny of Paris is a falchion very much of the same type and which is of about the same date, though perhaps a little earlier, but it is in every respect a less elaborate weapon (Fig. 160).

A fourth falchion that we can record, this time with a pommel of a flattened shield formation and with straight quillons of rectangular section, was discovered during the restoration of the Castle of Milan in the eighties of the XIXth century. It is now in the museum of that castle.

Fig. 164. Sword, middle of the XIVth century

No. 10, Wallace Collection

Fig. 165. Sword, third quarter of the XIVth century

No. 8, Wallace Collection

Of the straight war sword, certain highly decorated weapons of the first half of this century exist, but they are extremely rare; though the more simple specimens are to be found in fair numbers, a circumstance which happily frees us from having to rely too much on missal and effigy for our illustrations. However, the type should be familiar to the enthusiast, as many are to be seen in our National museums. The museum of the United Service Institute, contained in the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall, supplies us with a fine example in the beautiful sword of about 1320-40, recovered from the