My question big question is. Is this an "over-cleaned" piece or a more modern production? In particular the stippled decoration of five petaled flowers (a wild rose, or other hawthorn?) and bees seems dubious. For clarification is this a historically appropriate subject and method for the Laz or the artisan who may have made this piece for them? The decoration on the back of the spine is nice and, in my opinion, does not look like the hand that stippled the blade.
I have attached some pictures, so this does not become one of those dead threads that one runs across when searching the archives for an obscure subject only to find that there is no context for the conversation 10 years later.
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