Pair of Rowel Spurs

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This pair of spurs is decorated overall with a gold damascened grotesque decoration featuring motifs of a kind of organic strapwork style called Schweifwerk. This style, popular in the German and Dutch-speaking lands, as we see for example on the ornament prints made by the Dutch artist Esaias van Hulsen, was also practiced by some other artists in Europe, particularly in France, including the designs made by the French Jacques Hurtu and Etienne Carteron. In the first half of the 17th century, the fashion trend for gentlemen was to wear boots and spurs even non-riding circumstances, including for dancing or walking around at court. Spurs became then more than equestrian tools, but pieces of male jewelry often enriched by the same goldsmiths also working on armor and weapons. Their decoration was sometimes intended to match the sword hilt and the general outfit and horse tack of their owner. These trendy accessories were also a significant mark of status for gentlemen, sometimes nonetheless copied by the bourgeoisie. This fashion progressively disappeared after the mid 17th century.

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.

Metropolitan Museum of Art