Horse Muzzle
This muzzle is composed of a basket made of several pierced iron and copper alloy panels riveted together, with two kidney-shaped openings at the front for the horse’s nostrils. It hanged on the horse’s head by means of a leather headstall.
On the front, a dragon leans over vegetal scrolls, its long tail coiling around the acorn adorning the center of the circular disc at the base of the basket, the disc displays two pairs of sea-lions holding pine cones (the sea-lion is the badge of the Imhof family). Each side presents a heraldic griffin and vines while the crown (the upper part of the basket) is inscribed with a motto in Latin, VERBUM DOMINI MANNET IN AETTERNUM (the word of God endures forever).
This Latin sentence was actually the motto of the Lutheran Reformation. It first appeared in 1522 at the court of Frederick III of Saxony and has then been used on many types of objects by Lutheran believers, especially at the Saxon court.
Horse muzzles were used to preventing stallions from biting. Such pieces, however, seem to have above all been used as lavish equestrian ornaments, particularly in fashion in eastern Germany in the second half of the 16th and the early 17th century. This pierced decoration is typical of the work of the spur makers living in the southeast of Germany and Saxony in the 16th and 17th centuries. Despite their name, spur makers not only made spurs, but also small equestrian hardware like bits, stirrups, muzzles, cavessons or curry-combs, sometimes adorned with the same intricate decoration.
On the front, a dragon leans over vegetal scrolls, its long tail coiling around the acorn adorning the center of the circular disc at the base of the basket, the disc displays two pairs of sea-lions holding pine cones (the sea-lion is the badge of the Imhof family). Each side presents a heraldic griffin and vines while the crown (the upper part of the basket) is inscribed with a motto in Latin, VERBUM DOMINI MANNET IN AETTERNUM (the word of God endures forever).
This Latin sentence was actually the motto of the Lutheran Reformation. It first appeared in 1522 at the court of Frederick III of Saxony and has then been used on many types of objects by Lutheran believers, especially at the Saxon court.
Horse muzzles were used to preventing stallions from biting. Such pieces, however, seem to have above all been used as lavish equestrian ornaments, particularly in fashion in eastern Germany in the second half of the 16th and the early 17th century. This pierced decoration is typical of the work of the spur makers living in the southeast of Germany and Saxony in the 16th and 17th centuries. Despite their name, spur makers not only made spurs, but also small equestrian hardware like bits, stirrups, muzzles, cavessons or curry-combs, sometimes adorned with the same intricate decoration.
Artwork Details
- Title: Horse Muzzle
- Date: second half 16th century
- Geography: possibly Saxony
- Culture: German, possibly Saxony
- Medium: Iron alloy, copper alloy, tin
- Dimensions: H. 10 in. (25.4 cm); W. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm); D. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 0.5 oz. (921.5 g)
- Classification: Equestrian Equipment
- Credit Line: Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
- Object Number: 14.25.1686
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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dated 1606
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