The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Pricked Spur

Pricked Spur

1200s
steel
Overall: 19 x 8.4 cm (7 1/2 x 3 5/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1953
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

Before they were made of metal, the earliest spurs were probably thorns that were attached to the back of the heel.

Description

The spur was an essential part of the knight's equipment. Fastened to his heels by means of straps and buckles, it was used to prod a horse into action. This example represents the oldest type recorded, the "pricked" spur, so-called because its neck terminated in a spike. The pricked spur was replaced during the Middle Ages by the "rowel" spur, with a rotating spiked wheel.
  • Thill; Vienna
    ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber; Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. cat. #527 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: p. 233, J7 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. cat. no. 74, p. 166.
    Louis, William Noel, and Daniel H. Weiss. The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2002. pp. 84, 188, fig. 1, cat. no. 30
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 79, p. 186
  • The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 27-December 29, 2002).
    Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Pricked Spur|url=false|author=|year=1200s|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1953