New-York tribune., 1921-11-15
Sword Display
Proves Lure to
Lovers Of Art
Beauty of Weapons Shown at
American Galleries Turns
Visit Into an Adventure
and Fires imagination
800 Pieces To Be Sold
Cataloguers' Description of
blades Packed With Invi.
tati0us to the Romantic
BY Royal Cortis.oz

BY Royal Cortissoz
From certain point of view there
ls something anomalous about art
criticism at an exhibition of arms and
armour. The subject embraces 20 much
n'e9e than lies. within Its province.
But, happily it does not exclude that
which is the constant object of the art
critics search, beauty, nor is 1t with
out the appeal to the imagination which
wsii do more than anything else to
turn visit to an exhibition into an
adventure. The American Art Gal
leries sre just now Splendid with
swords 1t gives them an unusual
interest and charm. Three collections,
unnamed, are drawn upon for about
three hundred pieces. They will be
sold next Friday and Saturday after
moons. DR.. Bashford Dean, who writes
the catalogue, characterizes this as ian
extraordinary opportunity" 1t is that
not only for the amateur. but for the
layman. Indeed, DR.. Deans ministra-
tions at the Metropolitan Museum
ought to have prepared many New
Workers to look at these objects with
keen appreciation.
There are two types of cataloguers
whose writings make delectable read
ing, those who have to do with roses
and those who have to do with arms.
A good deal of the pleasure one gets
from these weapons ia due to the de-
scriptions accompanying them. The
haiberd (No. 1929 is not mere hal
berd. 1t is blade with beak and
apex wids (there is eloqucnce in that
word "beak"), and the description goes
on to point out that il is etched every
where with "foliate sprays" over a
dotted background. Moreover. "the
joined by crown, the briquettes and
the cypher FA and r emperor Fer
dinand | and Anna of Bohemia Hun
pary).' 1t is more or less recondite,
of course. We make no pretense of dis
coursing on the blade that is "lanceo-
late" on partisans and spontoons, on
spotums, burganets, quillons and the
like. But there is kind of romantic
excitement in pursuing the lure, in
studying the details Of 'burganet
Of lobster-tail type, with bowl futed;
skirt-like tassets." He would be dull,
indeed, who could resist this terminol-
ogy.
Consummate Craftsmanship
The beauty to which we have alluded
| is the beauty of form and of consum-
mate craftsmanship. Look, for example,
at the Polish black half armor (No.
| 1869 with it's winged burganet or he'll
met. 1t is impressive simply in it's
picturesque silhouette; its linear grace
is superb. Look also at another piece
in the group of helmets. the morton
| (No. 305), which is Of sixteenth CEN
having been worn by an officer Of the
State Guard of Christian II. The tiny
heads encircling it and the other gilded
decorations might have been produced
by a sculptor. 1t wakes memories of
certain drawings of Leonardo's, as
does the French morton (No. 303l OF
the same period.
The armorer was an indefatigable
decorator, sometimes celebrating posi-
lively pictorial motives. There is a
halberd here (No. 1863 which bears
on one side Of it's "apical blade" the
figure of the risen Christ. The con-
ventional ornamentation is as rich as
that employed by workers in the
cious when it is fashioned by one Of
the old masters. Witness the array Of
swords. These are of many types and
some Of them are, like some of the
daggers. bleak, murderous looking
weapons But others are models Of
pure grace and loveliness of form, as
deadly as the terrible maces which
figure in the exhibition, but exquisite,
too.
The italian rapiers are the princes in
this group, with their infinitely taper
ing blades and their ornate hilts.
There is one from seventeenth century
Naples lNo. 260), quantity bearing on
its blade the letters I. H. S., for which
we must give DR.. Deans description Of
the hilt, beautifully decorated with
each spiral being usually beast, bird,
or head; the cup of deep model, it's
border nicked by one quillon and per-
forated by the other. Quillons, branch
and pommel decorated by Ale work en-
torsade." 1t is the kind of blade that
must have been carried by man Of
high blood in one of Hewlett's Little
Novels of italy" Now it is only
trophy on the wall, but it serves as
key to the tempestuous world Of the
Renaissance. The exhibition is packed
with such invitations to romantic
revery. It is composed Of 50 many
pages from history. And running
through it all is the magic Of the
metal worker who was an artist.
Japanese Color Prints
There is curious sensation to be
had in turning from the arms and
armor to the Spaulding collection of
Japanese color prints, which is dis
played in several Of the galleries at
this place. 1t means turning from war
to bric-a- -brac, from things maculine
and magnificent to things dsinty and.
by comparison, shallow and unimpor-
tant. One has to shake off one at
mosphere before yielding to another
With the transition made one sees. that
this collection has distinction. IT ia
very large, running to more than seven
hundred prints, and the Impressions
vary III quality from a high degree Of
hneness to the merely ordinary. But
the average is remarkable and it is
maintained over an unusually wide
field. The masters are present in force.
the materials Of landscape. of genre
and OF floral composition. Hiroshige
is gloriously represented, and. of
course, Hokusai. There is good
catalogue in this case, as in the other
Mr. Frederick w. Gookin has compiled
it, and buyers will appreciate the
o.