Description: | Fire-steel (length 2 1/4 ins); small and thin; large and elaborate hand-hold in form of two lions sejant, facing one another and supporting, over the head of a greyhound sejant between them, a feathered canopy (or crown); the whole very finely cast in bright steel, with slight engraving; probably heraldic. [NB: one of fifty-seven specimens (nos. 367-423) believed to be all Spanish, some of considerable antiquity. Most of them were formerly in the Lavedan Collection. The series is remarkable for the excellent artistic design and the fineness of the steel-casting exhibited by many of the examples - these being special features of Spanish steels, which often bear names, initials, or armorial bearings, showing the pride taken in them by their owners.] |