Curb Bit
According to contemporary equestrian manuals, the mouthpiece of this bit was designed for a horse with good mouth, a thick tongue, with a ‘mediocre support’ on the bit.
If its general shape, with its leaf-shape scrolling combs, corresponds to most of the curb bits produced at that time in Western Europe, the pierced decoration is typical of the production of South-East Germany and Saxony in the 16th and 17th centuries. The relative lower quality of this pierced decoration, however, as well as the style of the almost abstract scrolling vines, indicate that this object belongs the late, declining period of this tradition.
If its general shape, with its leaf-shape scrolling combs, corresponds to most of the curb bits produced at that time in Western Europe, the pierced decoration is typical of the production of South-East Germany and Saxony in the 16th and 17th centuries. The relative lower quality of this pierced decoration, however, as well as the style of the almost abstract scrolling vines, indicate that this object belongs the late, declining period of this tradition.
Artwork Details
- Title: Curb Bit
- Date: ca. 1700
- Culture: German
- Medium: Iron alloy, tin
- Dimensions: H. of each 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm); W. of each 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 5 oz. (1049 g)
- Classification: Equestrian Equipment-Bits
- Credit Line: Gift of Stephen V. Grancsay, 1942
- Object Number: 42.50.477
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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