This mace bears the emblems and mottoes of Henry II (reigned 1547–59) and the signature of the Spanish-born swordsmith and damascener Diego de Çaias, who worked for the French court from 1535 to 1542 and then in England at the court of Henry VIII. The mace appears to have been made for Henry between the time he became dauphin (heir apparent) in 1539 and de Çaias's departure for England in 1542. The tiny multifigured battle scenes in gold and silver are characteristic of de Çaias's work.
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Title:Mace Made for Henry II of France
Damascener:Diego de Caias (Spanish, recorded 1535–49)
Date:ca. 1540
Culture:French
Medium:Steel, gold, silver
Dimensions:L. 24 in. (60.9 cm); W. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm); Wt. 3 lb. 8 oz. (1588 g)
Classification:Shafted Weapons
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Object Number:04.3.59
Inscription: Inscribed on the head between two flanges: DIDACVS DE ÇAIAS FACIEBAD (Diego de Çaias made it);
On one facet of the shaft: DECVS ET TVTAMEN IN ARMIS (glory and defense in arms) from Virgil's Aeneid, V, 262;
On one facet of the shaft: DONEC TOTVM IMPLEAT ORBEM (until [it] fills up the whole world), the motto used by Henry II of France with his device of interlacing crescents.
[Frédéric Spitzer, Paris, by 1878–d. 1890; his estate, 1890–95; Armes et Armures faisant partie de la collection Spitzer, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, June 10–14, 1895, no. 151, for Fr. 10,000, to Dino]; Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (1895–1904; sold to MMA).
London. South Kensington Museum. "Sepcial Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art," January 10–May 30, 1881, no. 396 (lent by M.F. Spritzer).
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Triumph of Humanism: A Visual Survey of the Decorative Arts of the Renaissance," October 22, 1977–January 8, 1978.
Davillier, Jean-Charles, baron. Recherches Sur L'orfèvrerie En Espagne Au Moyen Âge Et À La Renaissance: Documents Inédits Tirés Des Archives Espagnoles. Paris: A. Quantin, 1879. pp. 199–200.
Robinson, John Charles. Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881. London: Chapman & Hall, 1881. pp. 46, 87, no. 121.
Argaiz, Don José. Armería Del Difunto D. José De Argaiz. Madrid: s.n.??, 1889. cat. no. 132.
Spitzer, Frédéric. "Armes et Armures." In La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité--Moyen-Âge--Renaissance. Vol. VI. Paris: Maison Quantin, 1892. p. 61, no. 276, pl. XLI.
Galerie Georges Petit. Catalogue des Armes et Armures Faisant Partie de la Collection Spitzer. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, June 10–14 1895. no. 151.
Cosson, Charles Alexander. Le Cabinet d'Armes de Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino. Paris: E. Rouveyre, 1901. p. 81, no. H. 2, pl. 16.
Dean, Bashford, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catalogue of European Arms and Armor. Hand-book (Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)), Vol. 15. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1905. pp. 140–143, fig. 70 C.
Laking, Guy Francis, Charles A. de Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. IV. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920–1922. pp. 333–335, fig. 1398.
Dean, Bashford, and Robert T. Nichol. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, edited by Stephen V. Grancsay. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1930. p. 127, fig. 78.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Historical Arms and Armor: Twenty Plates. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1935. p. 2, fig. 17.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "A Damascened Eared Dagger by Diego de Çaias." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (August 1940), pp. 160–161.
Blair, Claude. "A Royal Swordsmith and Damascener: Diego de Çaias." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 pp. 156–165, figs. 9, 11–22.
Grancsay, Stephen V., D. Graeme Keith, and Dr. Charles Avery. The Triumph of Humanism: A Visual Survey of the Decorative Arts of the Renaissance. San Francisco: Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1977. Cat. no. 120, p. 87.
Norman, A. V. B. The Rapier and Small-Sword, 1460–1820. London: Arms & Armour Press, 1980. p. 331.
Pyhrr, Stuart W., Donald J. La Rocca, and Dirk H. Breiding. The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. p. 38.
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