**AN ITALIAN HALBERD, EARLY 17TH CENTURY, PROBABLY VENETIAN with tapering central spike of diamond section formed with an openwork basal collar, forward-leaning curved axe-blade pierced with a series of shaped apertures, pierced triangular rear spike, the head decorated over its surface with chiselled scrolls (pitted), and a pair of straps, on a wooden haft 77 cm; 30 1/4 in head Provenance Clarence H. Mackay, Long Island, New York, sold Gimbel Brothers, New York, 31 October 1941, no. J-69 JWHA Inv. No. 2664