The German inscriptions are a romantic dialogue and translate in part, "I hope for dear summertime; wait––be willing [in favor of] me; smile, love, smile." The lady holds a falcon, symbol of Minne (courtly love), because it was believed to return to its master by affection and not by force. In the nineteenth century, this saddle was part of the collection of Tratzberg Castle in the Austrian Tyrol.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Detail
Detail
Proper left
Detail
Detail
Detail
Proper right
Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Parade Saddle
Date:1400–1450
Culture:German or Tyrolean
Medium:Bone, polychromy, wood, birch bark
Dimensions:H. 14 1/4 in. (36.3 cm); L. 18 1/2 in. (47 cm); W. 18 in. (45.7 cm)
Classification:Equestrian Equipment-Saddles
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Object Number:04.3.249
Inscription: Inscribed on the left side, on the main panel: OCH HOF --- DER LIB / EN ZVMER TZEIT (I hope - [for] the dear summer time); On the left side of the front panel: WART --- WOL MICH (wait --- be willing [in favor of] me); On the left side of the rear panel: LACH LIB LACH (smile, love, smile); On the right side of the main panel: FREI DICH --- IN DEM ARS / IS VINSTER (rejoice --- in the arse it is pitchdark); On the right side of the front panel: MIT / GANTZEM WILLEN (with [my] whole will); On the right side of the rear panel: WOL MICH / NV WART (be willing [to accept, or to be in favor of] me / now wait).
Franz III Graf Enzenberg, Schloss Tratzberg, near Jenbach, Tyrol, Austria (1852–after 1873); [Brüder Egger, Vienna, in 1894]; Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (by 1901–04; sold to MMA).
Vienna. Welt-Austellung. "Welt-Austellung," May 1–October 31, 1873, no. 233 This saddle descried as "Sattel mit Elfenbeinplatten belegt, darauf Figuren und Inscriften. 15 Jahrh. Grosse Seltenheit," lent by Franz Graf Enzenberg, in Innsbruck.
New York. The Cloisters Museum & Gardens. "The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages," March 28–June 15, 1975.
Lind, Karl. "Die österreichische kunsthistorische Abteilung der Wiener-Weltausstellung." Mittheilungen der K.K. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Baudenkmale (1873), pp. 207–208, fig. 85.
Welt-Austellung. Officieller Kunst-Catalog. Vienna: Verlag der General-Direction, 1873. p. 30, no. 233.
von Schlosser, J., Wendelin Boeheim, and Countess de Valencia de Don Juan. "Elfenbeinsättel des ausgehenden Mittelaltars." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses Band 15 pp. 260–294.
Cosson, Charles Alexander. Le Cabinet d'Armes de Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino. Paris: E. Rouveyre, 1901. p. 48, no. E. 5, pls. 20-21.
Laking, Guy Francis, Sir, Charles Alexander Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. III. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920. p. 171, fig. 978.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "An Early Sculptured Saddle." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 32, no. 4 p. 92, n. 5.
Enzenberg, Sighard. Schloss Tratzberg: Ein Beitrag Zur Kulturgeschichte Tirols. Schlern-Schriften, Vol. 183. Innsbruck: Wagner, 1958. pp. 3–110.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages. New York: Dutton, 1975. pp. 271, 275, no. 276, pl. 14.
Eisler, J. "Zu den Fragen der Beinsättel des Ungarischen Nationalmuseums. I." Folia Archaeologia 28, part 1 pp. 189–209.
Eisler, J. "Zu den Fragen der Beinsättel des Ungarischen Nationalmuseums II." Folia Archaeologica 30, part 2 pp. 205-44.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 421–439; fig. 107.5.
Boccia, Lionello G., and Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna. L'Armeria del Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna. Busto Arsizio, Italy: Bramante Editrice, 1991. pp. 111–112, no. 214.
Radway, Robyn Dora. "In the Name of Saint George: Ivory Saddles from the Fifteenth Century." Master's thesis, Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2009. pp. 50–51, 89, no. 11, figs. 43–44.
Schröder, Maria. Die Beinsättel des 13. bis 17. Jahrhunderts: Reitzeuge als Sinnbilder ritterlich-höfischer Ideale. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 2024. pp. 23, 27, 39, 42, 63, 189–91, 306–9, no. 23, figs. 80–83.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
