Horse Muzzle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This muzzle is composed of a basket made of several pierced iron panels riveted together, with two kidney-shaped openings at the front for the horse’s nostrils. It hung on the horse’s head by means of a leather headstall. It is decorated with rosettes in openwork, while the iron is shaped to ressemble ragged staves and bramble rods. The crown (the upper part of the basket) is inscribed with a motto in Latin, SI DEUS NOBISCUBM CANTRO, a misspelled and abbreviated version of the popular statement Si Deus Nobiscum Quis Contra Nos (If God is with us who is against us?). Below, a cartouche bears the date 1552. Horse muzzles were used to preventing stallions from biting. Such pieces, however, seem to have above all been used as lavish equestrian ornaments, particularly in fashion in eastern Germany in the second half of the 16th and the early 17th century. Dated 1552, this example is one of the very first muzzles of this type produced. This pierced decoration is typical of the work of the spur makers living in the southeast of Germany and Saxony in the 16th and 17th centuries. Despite their name, spur makers not only made spurs, but also small equestrian hardware like bits, stirrups, muzzles, cavessons or curry-combs, sometimes adorned with the same intricate decoration.

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