"Rowel" Spur

Date1800s

Mediumsteel

Dimensions9 × 23 cm (3 9/16 × 9 1/16 in.), 12 oz (weight)

ClassificationsArms and Armor

Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection

Terms

Object number2014.981

DescriptionSimilar to, but not a pair with WAM 2014.982. Formed to fit either foot. Bright steel. Deep, "U"-shaped heel band of flattened, rectangular section, the branches tapering, & transversely thrice fluted to long, open terminals. These have heart-shaped perforations & extend into rectangular, twice-slotted ends. At base of neck is large, 6-petalled steel plate, pierced with 12 shield-shaped & lobated perforations. Neck is essentially openwork rowel-box with beveled edges & pierced in a kidney-shaped opening (the double lobes of the kidney should orient downward, cf. Zschille and Forrer pl. 18). Hexlobated ends hold large, asymmetrical rowel of 12 crude, triangular points.
Label TextThe rowel spur, with its rotating star-shaped disk, was a medieval invention that first appeared in the 1200s. By the Renaissance it had become the standard form, and was exported to the Americas by European colonists.ProvenancePurchased by Museum on January 31, 1933 from Theodore Offerman (NYC) who bought lot #55 for $12.50 from the Morosini sale, October 10, 1932. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.

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