According to Stone's pages of examples (p.585, #10) a similar form with the basket/cage type toe protection is identified as German, 17th c. (with question mark suggesting the date uncertain). As far as I can see with all the stirrup forms I have found, the 'German' attributed ones are the only ones with this 'caged' feature.
While obviously the provenance of these, which we of course do not know, would certainly lend to better classification, if they are from Europe then we might presume the German origin.
If these might be from the U.S. as I suggested earlier due to the geometrics in the footplates resembling cattle brands, I would note that German presence here in the 1840s and 50s was quite prevalent, especially here in Texas. If that were the case, these could be 'western' equivilants of the earlier German forms.
|