(Editor’s note: DeeDee Wood is the owner of Black Cat Curiosities, an online antiques research and sales venue.)

As we enter into the month of “Luck of the Irish,” horse brasses can be included among “lucky items” category, much like horseshoes or talismans. (Photo courtesy DeeDee Wood)

A horse brass is a decorative medallion made of brass that adorns the harness of a horse.
For show and pageantry, as well as for status symbols of the past, the horse brass has a rich history rooted deep in Roman and European traditions.
In archeological digs, Iron Age equivalents of more modern brass medallions are found. Made from iron and mainly bronze, due to their metallic nature, they can still be found intact today.
Called phalera, these Ancient Roman harness decorations existed as the first examples of adornment and protections for an important source of battle and societal trade routes, (the horse being the moving mechanism of the day, from battle use, trade routes, transportation and ancient farm work).
As we enter into the month of “Luck of the Irish” and St. Patrick’s Day, horse brasses can be included in “lucky items” category, much like horseshoes or talismans.
A brass, found on the martingale, head harness or other parts of the parts that show or contain riding mechanisms of a horse, depict scenes, places, mystical creatures, Irish, English, Welsh or European symbolism, and more.
The possibilities of what can be found on a strapped-on embellishment like a horse brass are endless, with protection and superstitious symbolism for luck and protective symbol for the rider and horse.
Examples of the symbolism of protection on one of these amulets of the past include the evil eye, (to ward off evil), shamrocks, (an Irish tradition to provide good luck), and other talismans and symbols to ease the idea of ill will or bad luck while on a horse or in battle.
During the use of draft horses in England and Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, status symbols were important for the conveyance of prestige and positional societal roles.
Symbols of this power and message were portrayed in the horse brass, with such depictions as family crests, royal busts of heads of state, estate symbols, family genealogical symbols and other ways to express the trades of the estate or families.
These earlier brasses were utilized as not only utilitarian, but as a rich conveyance of these symbols and messages, as well as still continuing the ornamentation and superstitions of the era.
Pageantry, decorative artistic symbols, representation and messages are the keys to brasses of this time period.
Collections and the art of collecting these shiny antique objects continues to this very day.
A wide variety of symbols, stamps, processes and uses prevail in the world of horse brasses.
What was once an item actually used on the harness equipment of a horse became also a cheaper production item made with lower quality brass during the revolution of industry in the latter part of the 19th century. Displays, leather straps, (a copy of a martingale), and groupings of the brasses formed a unique interest in an equine artifact.
Brasses have many techniques and ways they are made.
The earliest brass medallions were cast brass, a process of metal smithing and casting in a mold, performed by highly skilled artisans.
Stamped brass followed the cast version, offering a lighter version not made in a mold, but rather, stamped out from lighter weight sheets of brass, both providing economical savings and lighter weight hardware for the horse carrying that load.
Both cast and stamped brasses exist, but mainly what is available on the market today is an economical, souvenir-style vintage brass, made mainly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This is a nod to the work horses of old from Europe that actually had hand-crafted brasses on their harnesses and equipment.
It is interesting that an ornament, often overlooked on a large animal with much detail and embellishment, even in today’s representations of formal occasions of equine celebrations, has such deep roots in ancient European folklore, superstition, and status management.
The conveyance of a particular time period in a history that blends tradition, industry and representation of trade and lineage told the story of the the horse brass.
Brasses can be found, yet still, in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and themes out in the marketplace.