Equestrian Spur 11 Stainless Dots & Shank With Custom Name & Black Finish By Tom Balding Horse Tack. Equestrian Spur 10 Floral With Custom Brand & Brown Finish By Tom Balding Horse Tack. His work has been featured on Antiques Roadshow on PBS television stations. Equestrian Spur 1 Tuxedo Overlay with Brown Finish By Tom Balding Horse Tack. Bianchi spurs are also displayed at the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles, California. If you don't find what you are looking for here on our site, please call or email us. The bottle-opener spur also became known as the ‘Victoria Spur’ and is still copied by spur makers today.Įxamples of Joe’s work can be seen in many Texas museums, including Victoria’s Museum of the Coastal Bend, the Coryell Museum in Gatesville, the Haley Museum in Midland, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. We carry many products not yet shown here. Joe Bianchi was a major influence on early Western spur makers due to the design of his hand-forged ‘bottle-opener’ spurs which he did not invent but which he popularized among many spur makers of his day. Evidence of this is the guarantee in each of his pocket-sized catalogues: “All spurs and bits made by me are fully guaranteed and any that prove defective will be replaced or neatly repaired without charges, provided the defective parts are returned to me.” Being meticulous in his work, Joe would even discard spurs or bits that were not just perfect. Like most craftsmen of the time, Bianchi chose to fall behind in production rather than sacrifice the quality of his work which is legendary. Joe was well-liked and respected in the community, and although his shop was a local hangout and visitors were always welcomed, he was all business when he was at work. O’ Connor Guards, formed during the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Joe Bianchi was also very active in civic affairs including the volunteer fire department and the D. As a devout Catholic he would always gladly repair any item that the parochial schools brought to him.
One of his biggest jobs was making wrought iron benches for the city square and fencing for the city of Victoria.
While Joe is best-known for his spurs and bits, which have become quite collectible, he could do most anything with iron and did general repair work also. Joe Bianchi Handmade Bits and SpursĪfter an injury shoeing a mule put Joe in the hospital, he decided he would focus on making spurs, bits, and branding irons and discontinue the back breaking work of shoeing horses and mules. Paul continued blacksmithing until the Spanish influenza took his life in 1919. As early as 1896 Paul and Joe had formed a partnership and worked together until Joe’s marriage to Mathilde Urban on February 22, 1905, at which time Joe built a house and a shop next door on South William Street. The youngest of the four brothers, Joshua, later became an engineer for Southern Pacific Railroad, while Paul, the second of the four Bianchi brothers went right to work blacksmithing and Joe stayed on the farm since he was just fourteen years old when the family arrived.
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