Szabó Miklós, Petres F. Éva: Decorated weapons on the La Tene Iron Age in the Carpathian Basin. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 5; Budapest, 1992)
III. THE HUNGARIAN SWORD STYLE - The classification of the material
1986. 244 This fact in itself indicates the difficulties in the research of this theme. Fig. 24 Münsing en-Rain, bronze Certosa brooch, tomb 62 (after Hodson [1968] pi. 28: no. 851) The axis of the ornament on the reverse is a large S-shaped tendril to which are appended curved triangles filled with hatching and dotting both inside and out, and which themselves often sprout tendrils. The patterns adjoining the lower stem of the central tendril form well-recognisable palmette leaves. This would suggest that the entire composition is derived after all from a Mediterranean prototype, i.e. it is a variation of a standard design, a palmette frieze framed by tendrils. At the same time, a comparable level of abstraction is unknown either in Classical or in Hellenistic Greek art. The lower stem of the S-tendril metamorphoses into a fantastic crested bird's head whose beak — in a spirit true to the whole ornament — then curves into a spiral. That the hatched triangle motifs can also be derived from the palmette is proved not only by the way of composition (cutting, rotation, etc.) and the interpretation of the more naturalistic details of the Cernon-sur-Coole scabbard, 245 but also by other Celtic works which, from a stylistic point of view, can be regarded as links between the assumed prototypes and the ornament of this piece. The bronze mount on the iron sword scabbard from Nantes on which the elements of a lyre-palmette linked with hatched triangles can be clearly recognised is very instructive in this respect. 246 The ornamentation on the reverse of the Cernon-sur-Coole scabbard (the pattern on the front plate is extremely fragmented owing to corrosion) is organically connected to the suspension loop. The oval loop-plates bear a symmetric motif that can be seen as a combination of the lyre pattern, this clearly being an innovation of the Waldalgesheim Style as shown by the decoration of a Certosa-type fibula recovered from grave 62 of the Miinsigen cemetery (Fig. 24). 247 The ornamentation of the spearhead from grave 57 of St. Sulpice (Fig. 25) illustrates the theriomorphic variant. 248 It follows from the above that on the scabbard from the Marne the Sword Style decoration and the Waldalgesheim ornament appear together. The complex technical execution of the Cernon scabbard offers invaluable starting points for investigating workshop relations. Two different techniques can be discerned. Slightly raised " relief line" ornaments were either made with a template or a matrix (as for example on the suspension-loop) or with a yet unidentified tool which was used for removing the excess material around the pattern. Most ornaments, however, were engraved: the main lines of the composition were drawn with a rocked tracer which left a deep furrow reminiscent of a cord imprint. In addition there also occur "simple" lines of similar or slightly lesser thickness, as well as light hatching. The surface was carefully polished (lengthwise) and often covered with guilloches or fine cross-hatching in the context of the pattern. 249 J. Hunyady has correctly noted that this exceptionally important find can be linked to sword scabbards from the Carpathian Basin. 250 This link was later confirmed by P.-M. Duval's micro-philological analyses. 251 A new element was brought into the analysis of the problem by the publication of the Drna/Darnya sword from Slovakia (Cat.no. 82; Pis 84, 85). While L. Zachar primarily concentrated on typological and chronological issues and emphasized the Middle La Tène features of the sword scabbard, 252 Megaw undertook the art historic analysis of the piece. 253 According to him the bird head on the suspension loop can be seen as the equivalent of a signature. 254 However, more caution is called for in defining the exact nature of the connection, and it would for the time being be more prudent to simply register the fact that the Cernon and Drfia scabbards belong to the same artistic circle. 255 There is still no forthcoming answer to the question of which of the two, geographically distant, findspots lies closer to the manufacturing workshop(s). The criterion of localisation can hardly be the distinctive bird's head motif. A closer scrutiny of the characteristic motif of both scabbards, the hatched curved triangles, definitely offers a more realistic perspective. Neither should technical differences be neglected since these definitely suggest two distinct craftsmen. It is an entirely different matter that one of them, the Drfia master
