"Rowel" Spur
Date1800s
Mediumsteel
Dimensions20.3 × 63.5 cm (8 × 25 in.), 10 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.982
DescriptionBright steel. Similar to, but not a pair with WAM 2014.981. Formed to fit either foot. Deep "U"-shaped heel band of flattened semicircular section, straight branches tapering to the ends. Flattened terminals of open trilobate form, lower lobe on each side fitted with domed stud in keyhole-shaped hole. Nearly circular anterior lobe of each is semicircularly divided for straps. Between heel-band & neck is large, flat irregularly circular plate bracket-cut at 6 points on edge. Plate is also pierced with 6 oval holes, each with short rectangular slot at sides. Neck is essentially an openwork rowel-box with kidney-shaped opening & pentalobate terminal (the double lobes of the kidney should orient downward, cf. Zschille and Forrer pl. 18). The rowel itself is held by a separate, thicker plate riveted to the rowel box. This holds large rowel of 8 triangular, tapering points of oval section radiating from rosette center.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.
On View
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1800s
1700s
1800s
