Tweet
This part of the site has been slow for awhile so....allow me to add a bit of "red-meat" to stir some interest. The following is my research on Somerset saddles.....a pre and post-war pattern:
.....Emerging in popularity east of the Mississippi and largely in the South about this time was yet another English type saddle: the Somerset. The Somerset is a little vague but it was most certainly invented at the behest of the British Noblemen from the Somerset family of Gloucestershire England who claimed the title of the Duke of Beaufort. Lord Charles Somerset, the second son of the 5th Duke of Beaufort, was a British General, politician and governor of South Africa. At some point in his career the General had lost a leg in military service. Due to this affliction and the later onset of the infirmities from old age, he had commissioned a saddle to provide him a more secure riding seat. The subsequent “Somerset” saddle was fashioned from a simple English saddle but with a buff leather seat, knee and leg rolls on the front and rear of the saddle skirt. The British version of the Somerset saddle enjoyed only limited popularity among the majority of English horseman due to its reputation for use by older men and new riders requiring a safer seat. Nevertheless, sometime before 1840 the Somerset made its appearance in America where it was immediately popular as an attractuve alternative to the flat English saddle. American saddle makers had accepted its padding virtues on style points and also enhanced it with longer skirts, a slightly higher cantle and pommel and thus a deeper seat. The Somerset became a fashionable variation following in the “American” style saddle and a consistent staple of commercial saddle production well into the 20th century.
SOMERSET: Originating in England in the early 19th century at the behest of Lord General Charles Somerset, the second son of the 5th Duke of Beaufort. The English Somerset saddle was fashioned from the standard English saddle for elderly and inexperienced riders with a buff leather seat, knee and leg rolls on the front and rear of the saddle skirt. It arrived here sometime in the 1830's or 40's and was quickly “Americanized” to include a higher pommel, cantle and longer skirts. By the 1850's it was firmly established as its own pattern differentiating it from the common flat English Hunt saddle. The distinction is that while the American Somerset utilized an English tree its slightly elevated peaks allowed for a deeper seat and usually added a wider variety of enhanced leather treatments than typical English saddles. In popularity it quickly developed as the successor to the high cantled “American” (c. late 1700's forward) saddle pattern.
After the Civil War, the American saddle had completely faded which allowed the Somerset to replace it entirely as the alternative pattern between the harmonious, flat English saddle and the Kilgore. The Kilgore did not use an English tree but was built with bars that usually extended beyond the higher pommel and cantle peaks. Often appearing similar to the Kilgore in post war commercial catalogs, beyond the tree configurations the Somerset is most often differentiated by a more modest pommel and a low, graceful, (sometimes almost flat), seat and cantle closer to English saddles.
Variations and enhancements to the Somerset depicted in post war catalogs almost always included knee rolls sometimes cantle rolls and stitched down seats, under padding, fancy tooling, assorted skirt treatments and sizes, open wood or metal stirrups but rarely with fenders. Catalog saddle makers of the period blended so many styles the Somerset can easily be confused with both the English and the Kilgore and, occasionally even Spring Seat saddles. Appearances were sometimes differentiated only by name. However, the basic configuration of an English tree with varying but higher pommel and cantle as well as an enhanced finish is what most makes the American Somerset.
Illustrations...
Illustration #1: Somerset Tree from a post war catalog. Very similar to the basic English tree the American Somerset featured slightly higher peaks allowing for variations in the height and shape of the Somerset’s pommel and cantle.
#2: Pre to Civil War era Somerset saddle. The pattern is typical of the period with its skirt pattern, high pommel and cantle. Also scratched into the pommel is the name “J.Dodd” and “1863"
#3: Amazing well preserved early pattern Somerset c. 1850's with wool saddle cloth, quilted seat pad and under padding. Tennessee State Museum.
#4: Common “plain” Somerset saddle from the 1875 catalog of Haribson & Gathwright, Louisville, Ky.
#5: Photo of Negro holding horse: This is a cut out from a photo entitled "New York Herald Headquarters in the field, Culpepper Va. 1863" It is a photo of a reporter from the NY Herald. This horse and Negro were in the background but it give us a nice view of a Somerset type saddle in use during the war.
Comments?
Ken R Knopp
.....Emerging in popularity east of the Mississippi and largely in the South about this time was yet another English type saddle: the Somerset. The Somerset is a little vague but it was most certainly invented at the behest of the British Noblemen from the Somerset family of Gloucestershire England who claimed the title of the Duke of Beaufort. Lord Charles Somerset, the second son of the 5th Duke of Beaufort, was a British General, politician and governor of South Africa. At some point in his career the General had lost a leg in military service. Due to this affliction and the later onset of the infirmities from old age, he had commissioned a saddle to provide him a more secure riding seat. The subsequent “Somerset” saddle was fashioned from a simple English saddle but with a buff leather seat, knee and leg rolls on the front and rear of the saddle skirt. The British version of the Somerset saddle enjoyed only limited popularity among the majority of English horseman due to its reputation for use by older men and new riders requiring a safer seat. Nevertheless, sometime before 1840 the Somerset made its appearance in America where it was immediately popular as an attractuve alternative to the flat English saddle. American saddle makers had accepted its padding virtues on style points and also enhanced it with longer skirts, a slightly higher cantle and pommel and thus a deeper seat. The Somerset became a fashionable variation following in the “American” style saddle and a consistent staple of commercial saddle production well into the 20th century.
SOMERSET: Originating in England in the early 19th century at the behest of Lord General Charles Somerset, the second son of the 5th Duke of Beaufort. The English Somerset saddle was fashioned from the standard English saddle for elderly and inexperienced riders with a buff leather seat, knee and leg rolls on the front and rear of the saddle skirt. It arrived here sometime in the 1830's or 40's and was quickly “Americanized” to include a higher pommel, cantle and longer skirts. By the 1850's it was firmly established as its own pattern differentiating it from the common flat English Hunt saddle. The distinction is that while the American Somerset utilized an English tree its slightly elevated peaks allowed for a deeper seat and usually added a wider variety of enhanced leather treatments than typical English saddles. In popularity it quickly developed as the successor to the high cantled “American” (c. late 1700's forward) saddle pattern.
After the Civil War, the American saddle had completely faded which allowed the Somerset to replace it entirely as the alternative pattern between the harmonious, flat English saddle and the Kilgore. The Kilgore did not use an English tree but was built with bars that usually extended beyond the higher pommel and cantle peaks. Often appearing similar to the Kilgore in post war commercial catalogs, beyond the tree configurations the Somerset is most often differentiated by a more modest pommel and a low, graceful, (sometimes almost flat), seat and cantle closer to English saddles.
Variations and enhancements to the Somerset depicted in post war catalogs almost always included knee rolls sometimes cantle rolls and stitched down seats, under padding, fancy tooling, assorted skirt treatments and sizes, open wood or metal stirrups but rarely with fenders. Catalog saddle makers of the period blended so many styles the Somerset can easily be confused with both the English and the Kilgore and, occasionally even Spring Seat saddles. Appearances were sometimes differentiated only by name. However, the basic configuration of an English tree with varying but higher pommel and cantle as well as an enhanced finish is what most makes the American Somerset.
Illustrations...
Illustration #1: Somerset Tree from a post war catalog. Very similar to the basic English tree the American Somerset featured slightly higher peaks allowing for variations in the height and shape of the Somerset’s pommel and cantle.
#2: Pre to Civil War era Somerset saddle. The pattern is typical of the period with its skirt pattern, high pommel and cantle. Also scratched into the pommel is the name “J.Dodd” and “1863"
#3: Amazing well preserved early pattern Somerset c. 1850's with wool saddle cloth, quilted seat pad and under padding. Tennessee State Museum.
#4: Common “plain” Somerset saddle from the 1875 catalog of Haribson & Gathwright, Louisville, Ky.
#5: Photo of Negro holding horse: This is a cut out from a photo entitled "New York Herald Headquarters in the field, Culpepper Va. 1863" It is a photo of a reporter from the NY Herald. This horse and Negro were in the background but it give us a nice view of a Somerset type saddle in use during the war.
Comments?
Ken R Knopp
Attached Files
Comment