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Saddle (selle) (Front)

Saddle (selle) (Front)
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Top, detail

Front, detail

Left side

Right side

Back

Right side, detail

Left side, detail

Right side, detail

Left side, detail

Left side

Right side

Back

Top

Detail, left side

Left side, detail

Subject
Secular.

Repository Institution
www.royalarmouries.org

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London, Tower of London (Royal Armouries)

Inv. VI.95

Bone (bone analysis conducted by Sonia O'Connor, Research Fellow at the University of Bradford has concluded that it came from a mammal, a cow or a horse);stag's horn (border);leather;birch bark

Height: 375mm
Width: 530mm
Depth: 370mm (front); 485mm (rear)
Weight: 3175g

Right side: winged dragon with a scroll in its mouth; hand holding a scroll; hybrid creatures (monsters); foliated decoration.
Left side: crouching monster with a scroll in its mouth; hand holding a scroll; hybrid creatures (monsters); foliated decoration.
Cross of saint George at the point of the bow.
Engraved inscriptions in Gothic script and South German dialect: on the right side 'ich hoff des pesten/dir geling' (I hope for the best [fortune]/to your success); on the left side ''hilf got/wol auf sand jorgen nam' (God help me/Forward in the name of St George). Two scrolls at the back of the cantle: 'im ars /is vinster' (in the arse it is black).

Watts 2005-2006: Central Europe, c. 1410-1440.
Royal Armouries 2012: Probably Austrian or Hungarian, c. 1440.


Attribution
Unknown

Polychromy - Gilding
Polychromy: inlays of black, red and green mastic (analysis has shown that some areas now appearing as black were once a vivid green).

Reverse
Engraved on all sides.

Comments
Both the English Order of the Garter and the Hungarian Order of the Dragon were placed under the patronage of saint George. This saddle and other ones belonging to this group is related to the Order of the Dragon, founded in 1408 by Sigismundus of Luxemburg, king of Hungary from 1387 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433. The order had, as its emblems, a dragon with his tail wrapped around his neck and the red cross of saint George.

Provenance
May have been a present made by Sigismund, king of Hungary, to king Henry V when they met in London in 1416: following this encounter, Sigismund was made by Henry a knight of the Order of the Garter in 1416 and Henry, in turn, was made by Sigismund a knight of the Order of the Dragon in 1419 (M. Veró in Budapest and Luxemburg 2006). Collection of the Tower of London.

Bibliography
J. von Schlosser, 'Elfenbeinsättel des ausgehenden Mittelalters', in Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses, 15 (1894), pp. 260-294, no. 1. Fully accessible online as part of the Heidelberger historische Bestände:
R. Brydall, 'Notice of Armour and Arms at Eglinton Castle, Three Scottish Swords, etc.', in Transactions of the Glasgow Archeological Society 4 (1903), pp. 38-48 (p. 41).
K. Watts, 'Une selle médiévale d'Europe Centrale au Royal Armouries', in Armes et cultures de guerre en Europe centrale (XVe siècle - XIXe siècle), Les Cahiers d'études et de recherches du musée de l'Armée 6 (2005-2006), pp. 49-66.
M. Verő, 'Bemerkungen zu den beinsätteln aus der Sigismundzeit', in Sigismundus rex et imperator: Kunst und Kultur zur Zeit Sigismunds von Luxemburg 1387-1437, exhibition catalogue, Budapest and Luxemburg, 2006, pp. 270-278 (p. 277, no. 13) and no. 4.69 in the catalogue.
http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/jbksak1894/0318 [accessed 24/07/2013].


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