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Pair of Rowel Spurs

ca. 1350
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 373
This very decorative pair of spurs was probably used during parades or other ceremonial purposes.Their pierced decoration consists of alternated trefoils and quatrefoils. On the external side of the left spur, a rosette bears an enameled shield bearing the arms of an unidentified family (the rosette is missing on the right spur). Each rowel is adorned with a glass cabochon in its center.

This pair of spurs was said to have belonged to a member of the French family de Goth (Or, 3 fasces Gules), but this shield actually bears a border Gules (red) that does not match with this identification. Its so-said provenance from a tomb of the now demolished collegiate church of Villandraut, France, unfortunately cannot be proved. The decoration of these spurs is also close to 14th-century Italian examples.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pair of Rowel Spurs
  • Date: ca. 1350
  • Geography: Villandraut
  • Culture: French or Italian
  • Medium: Copper alloy, enamel, gold, glass, glass paste
  • Dimensions: L. 5 1/4 in. (13.34 cm); spread of sides, 3 1/2 in. (8.89 cm); Wt. 6 oz. (170.1 g)
  • Classification: Equestrian Equipment-Spurs
  • Credit Line: Gift of Amory S. Carhart, in memory of his father, Amory S. Carhart, 1926
  • Object Number: 26.80.1–.2
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

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Rowel Spur (Right), Copper alloy, gold, possibly French or Italian
Rowel Spur (Right)
possibly French or Italian
late 13th–first half 14th century
Rowel Spur, Copper alloy, enamel, gold, French or Spanish, Catalonia
Rowel Spur
French or Spanish, Catalonia
ca. 1400
Helmet (<i>Spangenhelm</i>), Iron, copper alloy, gold, Byzantine
Helmet (Spangenhelm)
Byzantine
6th century
Harness Pendant, Copper alloy, possibly French
Harness Pendant
possibly French
ca. 1400
Rowel Spur (Left), Copper alloy, gold, enamel, French
Rowel Spur (Left)
French
ca. 1400

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