The consignor indicated this crossbow originated from the German principalities circa 1520. Our view differs in that it is our opinion that it is late 19th Century Victorian. Several similar German and Austrian hunting crossbows are confirmed from the late 15th century and first half of the 16th century. It has an iron bow/prod and front ring, safety cord and red and blue poms, and cord wrap and blue pom on the lever style trigger. The tiller/stock is a mix of hardwood and bone/stag horn panels with a variety of engraved designs and images, including fanciful beasts and grotesque masks, a bare breasted female bust with scrollwork "skirt" on the left, a male bust in armor on the right with coordinating scrollwork lower, a scene of a knight lancing a dragon with a castle and town scene in the background on the cheekpiece, an unknown heraldic shield on the butt, an Ottoman man armed with a jambiya that appears surprisingly unaffected by the crossbow bolts sticking out of his ribs and left foot, and a variety of beastial and floral motifs are on the top panels along with a woman holding a sword in her right hand and a man's severed head near the center.