quote:
Horse Muzzle, German (Saxon), Dated 1562Steel framework to which are riveted openwork panels pierced in design of scrolls and horses with a rosace and ball in the center; retains traces of tinning; upper plate inscribed: VERBVM DOMINI MANNET IN AETTERNVM (The word of God remaineth forever) and dated 1562; original lining of leather with fragments of silk; buckle on either side at the top for the headstall; at back are pivoted inverted V-shaped bars joined by chains and with a supporting chain and ring at the top that was suspended from the chin stay.
Le Carpentier Sale, Drouot, May 31, 1866, lot 743.
Illustrated in Viollet-le-Duc, vol. 6, p. 81; also in Louandre, Les arts somptuaires.
Paris, 1857-58. Vol 2, pl.
Wt. 23 oz.
Riggs Benefaction
A muzzle of this type is represented in "The Crucifixion" by Lucas Cranach the Younger, dated 1573 (Dresden Royal Gallery, catalogue no. 1946).
The inscription on our [the] muzzle was the motto of the Duke of Saxony.