What is this?

[Zacman3669]

I have no clue here at all ant ideas people??

 

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[releventchair]

Rein turret with the swinger broke off and missing?

Edit: Terret , not turret. Sigh.

 

[Zacman3669]

What's a rein turret?

 

[releventchair]

Some are simply round openings for horse rein to go through.
Others are more decorative.

The National Horse Brass Society - Terrets (Swingers)

 

[Old Pueblo]

This might help:

 

[Zacman3669]

Thankyou so so much would you have an idea of age?? Xxx

 

[Old Pueblo]

Since you're on the other side of the pond, I cant help you there. Your guys' history goes back quite a bit further than ours does here in Southern Arizona. It looks fancy though, maybe Victorian or older?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

As an addition to the diagram helpfully posted by Old Pueblo, here's a modern photo showing rein-guides, which are the rings on the thick black leather strap/harness in the photo. They are for wagon/coach/buggy-pulling horses' harness. The terrets/rein-guides keep the long reins from drooping down along the horse's sides, where the reins could snag on something. The "swinger" terrets, like you found, are a fancier version of the simple ring terrets/rein-guides.

The other photo shows simple rings and another variety in the middle, in which the ring has an opening, for ease of inserting the "bearing rein" seen in Old Pueblo's diagram.

 

[The_Piratess]

Could it possibly be a finial?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It is definitely an "incomplete" and bent "swinger" fly-or-head terret. It is the 4-leaf-clover version seen at lower left in the "Fly & Head Terretts" advertisement at the link posted by Releventchair. Here's the link again. Scroll down to the advertisement chart which shows many variations of "swinger" terrets.
The National Horse Brass Society - Terrets (Swingers)

Or, look at this small copy of the advertisement (posted below).

To help you get the idea of a "swinger" terret, here's a photo of one with an actual bell as the "swinger" part. The swinger is "framed" by the terret's main body, and it swings (rocks back and forth) whenever the horse is in motion.

Lastly, here's a US Patent diagram for an exotic version of rein-guide a.k.a. terret. Note the distinctive shape of its threaded base, for mounting on the thick leather-&-wood "across the back" harness.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thankyou so so much would you have an idea of age?? Xxx

Yeap its a swinger, & might be as old as late 19th C.