"Rowel" Spur
Culture
Mexican
Date1700s
Mediumiron, silver
Dimensions8 × 11 cm (3 1/8 × 4 5/16 in.), 6 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.984.1
DescriptionOne of a pair with WAM 2014.984.2. Blued, now russet, iron with silver. Short, heavy U-shaped heel-plate of semicircular section, with stout, roped branches having upcurved terminals with silver-domed strap hook studs in slots at top. Branches inlaid with silver bands engraved with circles. Short tapering neck/rowel-box similarly overlaid, with rounded terminals having crude, blunted 12 point rowel with undulating decoration. Silver-domed rivet is the axle.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.ProvenanceGeorge L. Maxwell purchased by John W. Higgins on November 28, 1928 from Anderson Galleries (NY), lot 168. Given to the Museum on July 1, 1954. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
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1700s