Horse brass

These six horse brasses are attached to a section of red leather harness worn by a horse working for the Corporation of London in the late 19th or early 20th century. The Corporation of London is the local authority responsible for the City of London (also known as 'The Square Mile').

The origins of horse brasses are unknown, but from the middle of the 19th century they became increasingly popular as decorations fixed to working horses' harnesses. They were most commonly round and flat. During the 19th and early 20th centuries horses adorned with brasses were an everyday sight on London’s streets, reflecting the central role they played in London’s life and economy as the main method of short distance transport. Common designs included suns, wheat, horses, swans and heraldic images.

Horse brasses reached a peak in popularity just before World War I but during the 1920s, as motor vehicles replaced horses, they began to decline. By the 1950s they had all but disappeared from London’s streets. During their peak, however, companies often had their own brasses marked with their name. Railway and brewery company brasses were particularly common. Royal commemorative brasses were also popular, the first ones being produced to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.