LRF's point is well taken, the smoothness, expertise and artistry of the cutting strokes will determine the quality or lack. When a lion is confused with some sort of mythical creature, then IMO the aesthetic value of the engraving becomes null & void regardless of the high quality of the style and layout.
Also FWIW, in my experience ~99% of all firearms engraving examples that I've seen have been copies of designs from other milieus. It's surprising sometimes when I actually come across the original source of some engraver's latest creation, but it DOES happen. There are entire chapters of engravng books devoted to the techniques of copying or 'lifting' designs to be replicated, the practice is univerally accepted.
Dictionaries and encyclopedias often have attractive line drawings of animals & figures, while other commercial art sources are advertisements and posters. Frequently copies or 'lifts' of artwork in different materials from different sources are used by the engravers to create a design that appears original but is actually a combination of 'standard' components that have become more-or-less commonly used.
Examples are the various border treatments such as thick-&-thin, muleshoe, oak leaf, etc; other anatomical examples are quite common on the Euro 'guild' guns, some of their 'ducks' look like cartoon clones of each other and many of the jumping rabbit scenes are equally identical and somewhat cartoonish. And therefore very b-o-r-i-n-g.
Regards, Joe
