This pair of spurs is decorated overall with a gold damascened grotesque decoration featuring motifs of a kind of organic strapwork style called Schweifwerk. This style, popular in the German and Dutch-speaking lands, as we see for example on the ornament prints made by the Dutch artist Esaias van Hulsen, was also practiced by some other artists in Europe, particularly in France, including the designs made by the French Jacques Hurtu and Etienne Carteron.
In the first half of the 17th century, the fashion trend for gentlemen was to wear boots and spurs even non-riding circumstances, including for dancing or walking around at court. Spurs became then more than equestrian tools, but pieces of male jewelry often enriched by the same goldsmiths also working on armor and weapons. Their decoration was sometimes intended to match the sword hilt and the general outfit and horse tack of their owner. These trendy accessories were also a significant mark of status for gentlemen, sometimes nonetheless copied by the bourgeoisie. This fashion progressively disappeared after the mid 17th century.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Pair of Rowel Spurs
Date:ca. 1630–60
Culture:possibly French or German
Medium:Iron alloy, gold
Dimensions:Spur (a); L. 6 in. (15.2 cm); W. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm); Diam. of rowel 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm); Wt. 4 oz. (10.2 g); spur (b); L. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm); W. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm); Diam. of rowel 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm); Wt. 4 oz. (10.2 g)
Classification:Equestrian Equipment-Spurs
Credit Line:Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Object Number:14.25.1730a, b
William H. Riggs, Paris (until 1913; his gift to MMA).
Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–March 18, 1953, no. 41.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 18–June 7, 1953, no. 41.
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 1953–April 1954, no. 41.
Louisville, Ky. Speed Art Museum. "A Loan Exhibition of Equestrian Equipment from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 4–July 3, 1955, no. 100.
Seattle, Wash. Seattle Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11, 1982–June 6, 1982, no. 41 (14.25.1730b).
Denver, Colo. Denver Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 18–October 10, 1982, no. 41 (14.25.1730b).
San Antonio, Tex. Witte Museum of the San Antonio Museum Association. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 13, 1982–February 5, 1983, no. 41 (14.25.1730b).
Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 24–July 31, 1983, no. 41 (14.25.1730b).
San Francisco. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1983–January 28, 1984, no. 41 (14.25.1730b).
Detroit, Mich. Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 4–June 17, 1984, no. 41 (14.25.1730b).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Man And The Horse," December 3, 1984–September 1, 1985.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1953. p. 17, no. 41.
Grancsay, Stephen V. A Loan Exhibition of Equestrian Equipment from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Catalogue. Louisville, Ky.: Speed Art Museum, 1955. no. 100, ill. (14.25.1730a).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Helmut Nickel, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Leonid Tarassuk, and American Federation of Arts. The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Exhibition. New York: The Federation, 1982. pp. 80–81, no. 41, ill.
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