Two Gilded Harness Mounts - Even Seen or Found Similar Before?

[Erik in NJ]

Hi,

This summer up in MA I unearthed two of these about 5 feet from each other. Today on an older property that's being demolished, my first signal was the round rosette about 6" deep. Ornate design, appears to be pewter as it's crumbling and also appears to have been gilted.

On other side of house where more demolition has been, I found what I thought was a spur, but it seems to be another rosette in the shape of a 16 pointed star! Tiny inlays that resembled pearls, but are probably something else. This one was gilted too. Appears younger as there are two casting tabs. There seem to be three words cast into it -- last is a number 2802.

All of them so far have been approx. 2" x 2".

Any info on these would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to get an approximate timeframe. Are they pewter? How should I clean them? I don't want to destroy them. Thanks!

 

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[NJLargeCent]

I used heated peroxide as well. I was trying to see if there was any detail to it. It really started to crumble after 1 short soak, so I stopped. I regret trying to clean it as it had a nice patina on it pre-cleaning. At least it's in 1 piece. Thanks for sharing your find.

 

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[SC Keith]

Nice rosettes you dug Eric!

 

[CRUSADER]

These are 18th C horse furniture (harness mount) or rosettes as you say.
UK Finds Database - - - UKDFD

 

[BuckleBoy]

I have dug these as well, and they seem to be silver plated pewter or pot metal. I cleaned mine with aluminum jelly and it came out really well.

Regards,

Buckles

 

[SusanInColumbia]

The larger rosettes (> 2" in diameter) were likely harness rosettes rather than bridle rosettes. Hope this helps.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I have dug these as well, and they seem to be silver plated pewter or pot metal. I cleaned mine with aluminum jelly and it came out really well.

Regards,

Buckles

Hi Buckles....thanks for the tip on the aluminum jelly....a few of these seem to be gilded. Do you think the Al Jelly will be gentle enough to retain the gilding?

Thanks, Erik

 

[Erik in NJ]

The larger rosettes (> 2" in diameter) were likely harness rosettes rather than bridle rosettes. Hope this helps.

Hi Susan! Welcome to the forum....I'm very glad that we have a rosette expert here! Thank you for the book reference--I'm very interested in picking up a copy and learning as much as I can. I'm also glad that you can help with the proper terminology as I think it's important for us to get this right. I'd love to hear of any more information that you might be able to uncover regarding these rosettes. They really are miniature works of art and it's always a real treat when I unearth one.

Best, Erik