Fire-steel (length 3 1/4 ins)

Fire-steel (length 3 1/4 ins), turned up and tapering at one end; hand-hold, cast in relief in brass, in form of a nude kneeling child playing with a pair of rings or (?) quoits attached to a rope. [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.]