232 Centaur ; 



Joseph Clare. — Turning for the moment from the con- 

 sideration of bits, snaffle, &c., we would draw our readers 

 attention to the well-known wares of Mr. Joseph Clare, of Lower 

 Forster Street, Walsall. Curriers are dressers of leather after the 

 hides are tanned, the hides are cut up to suit the different 

 purposes for which they are required. They have to undergo 

 many processes before they are ready for the " Turn-out " such 

 as tallowing, blacking or staining, enamelling and japanning in 

 many different colours. This latter art may be said to have 

 attained almost complete perfection, as a glance at the many 

 really splendid specimens of well-prepared hides shown by this 

 firm will prove. 



J. Tonks & Co.'s Specialities are Saddle leather. 

 Hogskins, skirt hides, backs, middlings and shoulders, &c. 

 Harness leather. Black and brown hides and backs for stout 

 and light straps. Belt leather. Sec. Bridle leather, flat rein 

 backs, bridle and collar rein backs, bridle butts and stirrup butts, 

 &c., all qualities. Patent leather. Horse hides, horse fronts, flap, 

 winker and border middlings, enamelled hides, coach backs, splits, 

 seals, &c. 



Messrs, Urch & Company. — The proprietors of three 

 distinct establishments for the manufacturing of Harness, Saddles, 

 Saddle-trees, Bits, Bridles, and all the paraphernalia belonging to 

 the equipment of horses for the stable, carriage, and field. Messrs. 

 Urch, of Long Acre, London, are to be reckoned among the 

 great manufacturers of London. The British public are as fond 

 of horses as any nation in the world, and in no country does the 

 hunting field present a nobler aspect than in England. Messrs 

 Urch's hunting saddles are those adopted by our first-class sports- 

 men, and it is an interesting fact in connection with this estab- 

 lishment that from the tree, the web, the iron, and steel to the 

 " pig-skin," all is of their own manufacture and preparation. So, 

 also, with their harness, every set is made on the premises, from 

 the rough material to its complete perfection ; and in no city, 

 town, or province, is fashion more correctly studied, or harness, 

 whether for the tilbury or dog-cart, the state carriage or the 

 brougham, the four-horse drag or the barouche, better " turned 

 out " in all the details which are met for attraction, as well as for 

 thorough service. This firm has also invented a new style for 

 ladies' side-saddles, which, by a flexibility in the seat and a 

 special adaption of the crutches, enables the rider to feel at ease 

 and actually enjoy rest from that fatigue which on the old- 

 fashioned side saddle is inseparable from a long experiment of 

 horse exercise. ISTor is their attention solely devoted to harness, 

 or to saddles and bridles, but horse clothing in every variety is 

 found at their establishment, so that in a business which in the 

 ordinary nomenclature of a trade is styled a harness factory, 



