Buffalo vel bison hunting III - bison skinning or dressing - The Eastmans

 Salvete Omnes,

Seth Eastman's drawing engraved

the last chapter on hunting bison - the process of skinning of bison etc.
In this chapter Mary Eastman brings forth much more information from the colonial and frontier annals, 

Mary ends the chapter the the ominous saying stated to her by 'an aged Indian' -'When there are no more buffaloes, there will be no more Indians.'

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  the illustration drawn by Seth provides some more detailed information on the equestrian, two grazing buffalo runners,  in the background -

they seem to be outfitted with the native saddles with stirrups and one horse has a bison hide blanket, while the 'flea-beaten gray' has more elaborate harness with a crouper. In some of the Eastman's paintings these  fringed croupers appear as well. The can be seen in the perido art - from George Catlin, Paul Kane, Bodmer, A.J. Miller or Rindisbacher. 

Valete 

Buffalo vel bison hunting II - bison winter hunt by the Eastmans

 Salvete Omnes, 

continuing from the last post, Mary and Seth's chapter on the bison hunt (and deer)  in the winter, in the snows and frozen conditions.

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tbc

Valete

Buffalo vel bison hunting I - bison chase by the Eastmans

 Salvete omnes,

the grey horse chasing the bison has some splendid horse tack

a quick 'lope' to frontier America, when the Eastmans, Mary and Seth, 

lived and wrote and Seth painted and drew the aboriginal people of Minnesota country, where Seth was a commanding officer at Fort Snelling, Minnesota - 1841-49.

They knew the Dakota Indians, of the Eastern division of the greater Sioux Nation, Seth already spoke the language, serving at Fort Snelling during the 1830-32 there, and  in 1831-2 he was married to a prominent Dakota family's daughter  named Stands Sacred with whom he had had a daughter Winona and thus Seth would be the grandfather of the famous doctor, pastor and writer Charles Eastman.  Upon leaving the Minnesota frontier in 1832/3 for West Point post he 'divorced' his Dakota wife. 
Mary learned to speak Dakota language and learned of the Dakota Sioux lore and customs etc. 

In 1854, while living near Washington, D.C., Mary wrote and Seth, then already a veteran officer in the US Army,  illustrated  a book titled 'Chicora and other regions of the conquerors and the conquered.'

from that book come there pages on buffalo(bison) hunt on the plains - 

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to be continued 

Valete

Ulrich von Liechtenstein and chivalry - Codex Manesse

 Salvete Omnes,

on the Valentine's Day perhaps it could be good and proper to see some chivalry, medieval romance &courtly love and who could be better that the XIII century German knight and poet Ulrich von Liechtenstein. Sir Ullrich, scion of the ministrialis * class family and himself a minnesinger or troubadour, authored the famous collection of poems titled Frauendienst ( Service of Ladies), which was translated into English by J.W. Thomas in 1969. You can borrow the 2004 edition from Archive Library. There are articles on sir Ulrich and his poetry on Academia.

there is humor in Ulrich's poetry - eg  the lady trick a suitor by suspending him in the air

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and my most favorite plate of the Codex Manesse - our Piast prince Henryk Probus, where his horse's caparison bear letters that make a word - AMOR  which mean Love. 

ps * ministrialis class in Polish medieval society was represented by the włodyka   class (scartabellat). Below the wlodyka class there were the panosza (panozi or domicelli). They were absorbed into the naoblity (szlachta) or pushed into the peasantry etc during the closing up of the noble class in the XV century. 

Valete

Quian Xuan - late Song and Yuan painter

 Salvete Omnes,

a noble horse archer 

Quian Xuan (1235-1305) - was a painter and calligrapher during the Song and Yuan dynasties of China. He grew up during the conquest of Chinese states by Chingiss Khan and later creation of the Yuan, Mongol, Dynasty.  He is known by his intricate paintings of birds, landscapes, and mixing of the late Song style and ancient Tang one.   

Liao Dynasty period painting of the famous consort

Consort Yang mounting a horse while emperor is watching. - Smithsonian has a page devoted to this artwork.

Tang emperor and his eunuchs retainers

consort being helped to mount the horse . Note the dragon on the saddle's skirt

Yang Guifei was considered one of the Four Beauties of China, and subject of many paintings and artworks in the Chinese and Japanese arts. eg this Wiki Commons page.
During the An Lushan rebellion when imperial forces were all but defeated, the Tang guard soldiers surrounding the emperor forced him to order his favorite consort to commit suicide. She died in July 756 Ad, but went on to live as the object of art and poetry and novels in the Asian history etc. 

Valete

Tibetan Saddle XV-XVII centuries - MET

 Salvete Omnes,

a beautiful example of the Central Asian, Tibetan, horse equipment from the MET. 

The saddle is dated to the XV-XVII centuries, when Tibet had secular monarchies - the Rinpungpa (1435-1565) and Tsang (1566-1641). 

Dimensions: H. 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm); L. 23 3/8 in. (59.4 cm); W. 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm)

this saddle was on display during the famous exhibit - The Warrior of Himalayas - from 2006. The pillow that would cover the seat is absent/missing. 

In Polish saddlery tradition  we call this saddle type a jarczak (yarchak).

Valete

Anton Mauve - Dutch horses and cattle of the 1800s

 Salvete Omnes,

just a short entry but with plenty of equine and bovine characters.

Anton Mauve (1838-1888) is the author of these fine paintings and wonderful drawings. 

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drawings

enjoy

Valete