Finding Horse Decorations! (Identifying Finds, Photos +)
“Buttons from Gulliver’s pants” – this is the name that unexperienced detectorists sometimes call these finds, but of course they are wrong.
Before you on this picture you can see a brass decoration buckle from a horse harness, or as we diggers like to call them, “horse buckles”. Such decorations were an invariable attribute from every farmer in the distant and not very distant past, and these days it is a pleasant find in the fields where our ancestors once plowed and sowed.
These decorations were made by local blacksmiths from copper or brass for approximately the same patterns, so “horse buckles” are very easy to identify by its characteristic shape and ornaments, no matter in which part of the world it is found. Sometimes there are fairly large samples, and this is no longer a “horse”, but rather an “elephant” one would think .
Even older harness decorations were cast, but approximately from the middle of the XIX century they were mass-stamped. By the way, these metal plates, fastened to the straps, carried not only the function of the harness, but also were a kind of amulet for the horse, a sort of remnant of the past from distant pagan times.
The most rare and valuable finds are bells, which sometimes carry the names of the masters who produced them.
In general, these items do not represent much interest for some treasure hunters, although some horse lovers create beautiful compositions and panels that pleases the eye.
Have you ever found a horse buckle? Did you make a beautiful picture with it? Send it to us!
All the posts about identifying finds we collect here!
