Ceramic centre horse brasses were produced from 1870 to 1950’s. These beautiful brasses come in many colours, red, blue, white, black, navy and many of them are striped red, white, and blue. The back of a ceramic can provide identification of the age of the brass. The older ones have two metal prongs soldered on the back, holding the ceramic centre in place. The newer ones, 1930 to early 1950, have a bolt and screw, holding the ceramic in place.

Almost all ceramic brasses were stamped. Only a few of the later ones, 1940's to 1950's are cast brasses. Their extreme rareness is obviously a product of the fragility of the ceramic itself.

The collector today can still find horse brasses dating back to the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria but they do grow increasingly scarce. The Golden and Diamond Jubilees of Queen Victoria were occasions that produced many commemorative brasses, as too did her death in 1901. As invariably happens when any class of object becomes popular, copies are made. Dates on brasses should not be taken at face value, and many copies were manufactured after World War II when brass again became readily available. It has been estimated that some two dozen different designs of horse brass were made to mark Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee in 1977, and collectors should certainly not ignore this type of modern brass.

Commemorative brasses were very popular, especially those celebrating Queen Victoria’s reign. Brasses were also struck for Churchill and Victory 1939-1945.

Newly Manufactured Brasses

Newly manufactured brasses are usually a result of casting because of the lower production cost. Nickel and German silver (brass with a little silver added) has also been used for making decorative pieces on harness. Modern brasses copying old designs are seldom so well finished as their earlier counterparts; neither does modern brass tend to hold its polish for so long. Although fakes do exist it would be true to say that most modern brasses do not pretend to be anything other than what they are.

Manufacturers

· Thomas Crosbie had a catalogue, The Birmingham Pattern Book of Harness and Carriage Mountings circa 1885

· Mathew Harvey, Walsall

· Thomas Newton, Walsall

· William Overton, Walsall, (W.O.W. cast in the back of his brasses)

· Stanley Bros, Walsall

· Hampton & Scott

· Shuttock & Hunter, Bristol

Designs

Circle

These were the easiest to start with. They, frequently, had a raised area in the centre and were often regarded as representing the sun.

Sun Horse Brass

Crescent

This is one of the oldest designs seen. It was used with the points upwards or downwards or as a triple design (three crescents with points in three directions). The crescent was also used to frame other designs.

Crescent Horse Brass

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