Velvet horse blanket with hood, embroidered with... Lot 32

Velvet horse blanket with hood, embroidered with gold and silver thread and with a cast iron bit. Florence. Italy. 15th - 19th century. The embroidery applications in gold and silver threads are from the medieval period, end of the 15th century, but the structure of the velvet in red and yellow checkerboard is, in our opinion, from the 19th century. A similar model is kept at the Stibbert Museum in Florence, in the "della Cavalcata" hall. The horse blanket or dress was a large cover for decorating the horse, mostly for participating in tournaments, showing the emblems of their knights. Important noble families had their own coats of arms and colours, and dressed their horses in the same colours and coat of arms.