American
Riding Crop, 19th century
Oak with leather handle and silver bands, 78.1 x 2.2 cm (30 3/4 x 7/8 in.)
This long oak riding crop has remnants of brown leather on the handle, with a band of silver at the bottom and another band of silver separating the handle from the rest of the crop. The crop has a coil design carved into the wood, and it becomes thinner towards the end opposite the handle. An oval leather tongue, called a keeper, at the end of the crop prevents the horses skin from being marked when coming in contact with the crop.
Macknight Room
Commentary
Riding crops are used by equestrians to control their horses. This one belonged to Isabella Stewart Gardner, who learned how to ride horses as a child, and maintained a lifelong enthusiasm for equestrianism in multiple forms. She owned a racehorse named Halton, and included a charitable donation to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in honor of three horses in her will.