Property from an Important Private Collection A RARE LARGE CENTRAL EUROPEAN DECORATED SPORTING CROSS

Property from an Important Private Collection A RARE LARGE CENTRAL EUROPEAN DECORATED SPORTING CROSSBOW (GANZE RÜSTUNG), LATE 16TH/17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY BOHEMIAN with heavy steel bow struck with a mark (Neue Støckel 6451) on the belly to the right of the tiller, retained by later cords with green pom poms (loose), small iron stirrup and fitted with a portion of an early string of twisted cord and sinew, strongly formed tiller veneered over its full length with a framework of scrolls and bouquets of fruit, inlaid with engraved staghorn panels on each side comprising two differing coats of arms at the top, three pairs of half-length portrait figures in contemporary dress, a further portrait on the left and the figure of Ceres on the right, all on a ground of minute staghorn pellets framed by tightly scrolling staghorn tendrils carrying ball flowers left natural and enriched with green stain, framed top and bottom by a slender ropework frame, the top veneered in engraved staghorn decorated with scrolls, bouquets of fruit and a herm, fitted with bolt-rest, bone nut, and later iron bolt-clip, a pair of lugs for a cranequin, the underside veneered over its full surface and decorated with the standing figure of Venus on her scallop shell, a bouquet of fruit centring around an aperture for the cocking rod, a mannerist mask, further bouquets of fruit and an amorous couple above a heart (the tiller with small cracks and repairs, some inlays perhaps replaced in early working life), iron trigger-guard, and folding trigger 73.0 cm; 28 3/4 in tiller The arms are perhaps those of Berka z Dubé and Zajícové z Hazmburka. The style of inlay is reminiscent of firearms from Thuringia and Saxony from the last quarter of the 16th century though the overall scheme of design and its execution is more subdued. The head dress on many of the figures is related to illustrations of 17th century Burghers of Silesia and Bohemia, a fact that is reinforced by the two coats-of-arms, almost certainly for man and wife that would appear to be from those lands. The manufacture and decoration of crossbows was often subject to conservative design as evident in this example, clearly echoing the richly decorated examples of neighbouring Saxony. The tradition of crossbow shooting lasted many centuries and continues to this day in many parts of Europe, notably in Saxony. See Breiding 2013, p. 15.