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Bit (bridle component): HEN.M.168-1933

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 31 (Armoury)

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Bit, bridle component, 17th century.

Notes

History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex

Legal notes

J.S. Henderson Bequest

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart

Dating

17th Century#
Circa 1600 - 1700

Note

A bit was essential to control a horse and were often very decorative. The large cross piece was put in the horse’s mouth and the metal chains went round the back of the horses head. A leather strap was fitted to the upper rings and this was put over the horse’s head to hold the bit in place. The reins would be attached to the rings at the bottom.

Materials used in production

Steel

Identification numbers

Accession number: HEN.M.168-1933
Primary reference Number: 18738
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 14 April 2021 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Bit (bridle component)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18738 Accessed: 2024-11-08 19:20:01

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18738 |title=Bit (bridle component) |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-08 19:20:01|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-18738

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