Defence for the left foreleg of a horse

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M.9-1945: Armour. Defence for the left foreleg of a horse, for heavy cavalry use. Unknown production, Germany. Formed of twelve downward-overlapping lames curved to the front of the horse's upper foreleg and shoulder, and increasing in width to its upper end. The upper edge of the top lame is slightly convex with gently rounded corners. It has a file-roped inward turn accompanied by a recessed border containing nine holes for lining-rivets, of which six are occupied by externally-flush rivets. The lower edge of the bottom lame also has a file-roped inward turn. The outer ends of the lame on each are fitted with externally-flush rivets that formerly served to secure a strap around the rear of the horse's leg. The first to eleventh lames have bevelled outer edges. The lames are connected to one another at their outer ends by externally-flush sliding-rivets. The lames were further connected to one another by a pair of internal leathers located a short distance within the sliding-rivets. The leathers were attached to each lame by single externally-flush rivets. The rivets for the outer leather are preserved in the ninth to twelfth lames, and for the inner leather, in the eighth and ninth lames. The leg-defence has a ' black from the hammer' finish, now much worn, particularly at the centre of its lower half. Steel, hammered, shaped, riveted, with file-roped, recessed border and bevelled decoration. Height, whole, 25.5 cm, maximum, width, whole, 29.1 cm, maximum, depth, whole, 22.1 cm, maximum, weight, whole, 1.02 kg, circa 1550. Provenance: From the armoury of the Princes Radziwill, Castle of Niescwiez, Poland. Notes: forming a pair or near pair to M.14-1947. M.14-1947: Armour. Leg-defence for the right foreleg of a horse. Unknown production, Germany. Formed of twelve downward-overlapping lames curved to the front of the horse's upper foreleg and shoulder, and increasing in width to its upper end. The upper edge of the top lame is slightly convex with gently rounded c

Image data

Accession Number: M.9-1945
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal length: 105
Camera: NIKON D800
Photographer name: Andrew Norman
Image height: 683 pixels
Image width: 1024 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 100.93kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 25/1
Captured: 2017:07:27 14:07:07

Key words

16th Century armour barding (horse) bevelled Fitz_AA German hammered leg defence metalwork military mottled patina patinated patination recessed riveted steel

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            "Defence for the left foreleg of a horse"
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