Curb Bit second quarter 14th century Franco-Neapolitan This adorned ceremonial horse bit was probably made for an important figure of the Royal court of Naples, at this time ruled by the French family of Anjou. The iron mouthpiece, according to contemporary equestrian manuals, was designed for horses with a hard mouth and widely-split lips. The U-shaped curb bar, attached to the mouthpiece and pierced with trefoils and quatrefoils, was placed around the lower jaw. It would have pressed the sensitive chin of the horse when the reins were pulled. The long gilded shanks are decorated with several four-sided knobs bearing dragons and birds on enameled backgrounds. The remaining large side boss is decorated with a square shield bearing a coat of arms: barry Or and Sable (gold and black), placed in a quatrefoil, and surrounded by gilded birds on a blue and red enameled background. The other boss, preserved in the musée de Cluny, in Paris, bears the arms of another family: Azure (blue), a ben