PemberEducator
Cadet
- Joined
- May 31, 2023
Hello all,
I'm looking for your thoughts, expertise and any information you have to offer.
I found this breast collar in our museum's attic. As you can see it was in poor condition with dry rot. I have treated the leather and cleaned the brass rosettes. (See photos)
1) Does the buckle appear to be Civil War style? It's not smooth like a manufactured buckle. There are bumps in the metal.
2) From research I learned that rosettes were not on the black leather, brass heart collars or could they have been if it was a private purchase?
3) I have also learned that typically there is a martingale and this one has a tassle-like ornament. The end of the ornament I believe is old cording and not leather. It continues to break off. The small leather strap is torn and is very fragile and I can't see it being used as a functional piece. Perhaps the martingale strap was made of cording but from what I've read they used leather for the whole collar?
4) Could this be CW era but used as a celebratory collar and is not a relic of war?
FYI, our founder, Franklin Pember, had a first cousin who was a harness maker in Nebraska in 1886-1920. He made collars as I've researched and found ads in old newspapers. It's possible that he made this collar and gave it to Franklin when he came to visit between 1910-1919. I don't know what buckles looked like in the late 1800's to early 1900's. It's also possible that it was gifted to the museum at any time. We have no information on it.
It's also possible that a brass heart is missing from the center which would have been over the top leather heart but then again maybe not.
I heard that reenactments became popular in the 1960's. If this collar was used for a reenactment, would it be in such poor condition from the 60's to now? Wouldn't there be a manufacturer's tag? There are no makers marks.
Thank you for your time!
Best,
Bernie
I'm looking for your thoughts, expertise and any information you have to offer.
I found this breast collar in our museum's attic. As you can see it was in poor condition with dry rot. I have treated the leather and cleaned the brass rosettes. (See photos)
1) Does the buckle appear to be Civil War style? It's not smooth like a manufactured buckle. There are bumps in the metal.
2) From research I learned that rosettes were not on the black leather, brass heart collars or could they have been if it was a private purchase?
3) I have also learned that typically there is a martingale and this one has a tassle-like ornament. The end of the ornament I believe is old cording and not leather. It continues to break off. The small leather strap is torn and is very fragile and I can't see it being used as a functional piece. Perhaps the martingale strap was made of cording but from what I've read they used leather for the whole collar?
4) Could this be CW era but used as a celebratory collar and is not a relic of war?
FYI, our founder, Franklin Pember, had a first cousin who was a harness maker in Nebraska in 1886-1920. He made collars as I've researched and found ads in old newspapers. It's possible that he made this collar and gave it to Franklin when he came to visit between 1910-1919. I don't know what buckles looked like in the late 1800's to early 1900's. It's also possible that it was gifted to the museum at any time. We have no information on it.
It's also possible that a brass heart is missing from the center which would have been over the top leather heart but then again maybe not.
I heard that reenactments became popular in the 1960's. If this collar was used for a reenactment, would it be in such poor condition from the 60's to now? Wouldn't there be a manufacturer's tag? There are no makers marks.
Thank you for your time!
Best,
Bernie
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