Pommel Plate for a Saddle in the Style of the Late Middles Ages

Due to its ambitious design, large scale, and bold use of gilding and enamel, this pommel plate is an excellent example of the fakes made in the late medieval and early Renaissance styles for which the Marcy workshop became notorious (for details of Marcy's career and the artworks connected with him see Claude Blair and Marian Campbell, Marcy: Ogetti d'arte della Galleria Parmeggiani di Reggio Emilia, Umberto Allemandi, Turin, 2008). The manner of the engraved decoration and enamels suggest the hand of Henri Husson (1852–1914), one of the most prolific craftsmen associated with Marcy. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection includes two finely decorated daggers in the fifteenth-century style (acc. nos. 23.149.1 and .2) that were identified as Husson's work by their donor, Jean Jacques Reubell. In addition to his work for Marcy, Husson had a legitimate and successful career as a goldsmith, jeweler and metalworker. Bashford Dean, founding curator of the Department of Arms and Armor, purposefully added several well documented late 19th and early 20th century fakes to the collection. This saddle plate makes a perfect addition to that group.