Bit Boss

Unknown

first half 17th century · Copper alloy · Arms and Armor

Bit bosses were ornamental elements decorating both sides of a horse bit. This circular bit boss is adorned with a domed faceted center and a rim presenting a frieze of pointed lobes. This object belongs to a large group of bosses featuring a series of rims and centers combined in different ways. The exact center of production of these bosses is still unclear. If the motifs used are Italian, the scale of the production and the process of combining a series of rims and center recalls contemporary German practices. Some of them, however, are identical or very similar to bosses seen in several early 17th-century Netherlandish paintings, a likely origin for the manufacture of these objects.

Artist

Unknown

Date

first half 17th century

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

probably Netherlandish

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Gift of Stephen V. Grancsay, 1942