51/199/1-2

These two hames form the wooden frame of a horse harness, which would be attached to a padded leather collar, and have various hooks through which chains would be passed. Their large size suggests that they were probably for cart horses.

2 hames [a pair]: wood, metal

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – The origins of these hames are unknown. These rather large hames, probably for cart horses, are of carefully shaped wood and are shod in the various places where the strain is greatest with pieces of metal. Each hame is 27.1 inches in length. There are three sets of hooks through which various chains were placed. Within 4 inches of the top is a small staple; at the centre where the wooden part is thickets, there is a pair of staples, through which are threaded a large chain. At the tip, at the end of a sheet of metal there is another length of chain threaded through a pair of hooks. See 51/382.', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/199 // NAME: HAMES // NEG NO.: 35/176 // STORAGE: '

Wood, Metal