Pair of Rowel Spurs
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.
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
- 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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Sword Pommel with the Arms of Pierre de Dreux (ca. 1187–1250), Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond
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12th–13th century
probably French
12th–13th century
Italian or Spanish
ca. 1300
Western European, possibly British
ca. 1300
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