Collection Insights
Mexican, South and Central American Equestrian Equipment
Detail of “El Hacendero Y Su Mayordomo”. Lithograph. Carl Nebel (1805–1855) (del.). Émile Lassalle (1811 – 1871) (lith.). Originally published in Carl Nebel, Voyage pittoresque et archéologique dans la partie la plus intéressante du Mexique. Paris: M. Moench, printed by Paul Renouard, 1836.
Since its founding in 1912, the Department of Arms and Armor has collected, studied and exhibited equestrian equipment, including horse bits, stirrups, spurs, saddles, and pendants, in addition to horse armor. Marina Viallon, the Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, recatalogued this material from 2016 to 2017—nearly eight-hundred objects in total, from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas—increasing the visibility and adding fresh depth to our understanding of this fascinating and lesser-known category of the Arms and Armor collection.
This Collection Insight spotlights her research on The Met’s equestrian equipment made in present-day Mexico, Peru, Chile, Guatemala and Argentina. Beautiful for its design variety and fine craftsmanship, the group of twenty-three spurs, bits, and stirrups illuminates the prominent roles horses and horsemanship played in certain cultures throughout Mexico, South and Central America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Browse the group online by clicking here, and a selection of exceptional examples are on view in Gallery 749.