AN ITALIAN MORION IN THE 'SPANISH' FASHION, CIRCA 1580, formed in one piece with an almond-shaped crown rising to a short 'stalk' and a flat integral brim projecting to an obtuse point front and rear (the former pierced with a later wiring-hole), its edge formed with a plain inward turn accompanied by a narrow recessed border, the base of the crown encircled by twelve iron lining rivets with brass rosette washers (two rivets and three washers missing), and its surface retaining much black from the hammer finish overall, 19.0 cm Provenance John Wallace, circa 1960 Probably from the group described by a workman as "stacked like flowerpots" in the basement of a store in Oxford Street, London in the 1960s. The shop concerned had been owned by the distinguished arms and armour dealer Fenton and Sons who had reportedly acquired a large number of these morions from Ireland between the wars. They were offered for sale at £2, 12s 6d a piece. It is fair to speculate that they are relics of the Elizabethan wars in Ireland, though this cannot be claimed with absolute certainty. Property from the Collection of a Distinguished Scholar and Collector