Showing posts with label MET. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MET. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Cheiron - lecture on Medieval curb bits and hinged bits

 Salvete Omnes

MET German curb bit


Cheiron Journal has many podcasts on their Yt channel, and today I would like to point your horses to this presentation on the Medieval Curb and Hinged Bits..



The lecturer also uses my  own art from 2012 (eg used here  - a spade bit diagram with explanation


.some Medieval bits






John Clark's article on the archeology of Medieval bits in England.

Valete

Monday, August 25, 2025

Frank Henderson Ledger - Arapaho fame and honor

Salvete Omnes,

the glyph of a rider and horse in the top part of the page gives out the identity of the artist portraying himself astride his war horse


a quick trip to the Great Plains via some free available drawings by an Arapaho artist 'Frank Henderson'(1862-1885) [and his friends] in the collection of Metropolitan Museum.. American anthropologist Alfred Kroeber was the researcher who spent years observing the Arapaho tribe, and observed that the tribal warriors, warrior societies and their families sought martial exploits in war as the means to obtain fame and honor.



As the Nicelle Beauchenne Gallery biography states:  the true Arapaho identity of this artist is unknown, that he came from Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Agency, Darlington Indian Territory. It was most likely done during the period of post 1874-5 war in the Southern Plains, where US Army units defeated the tribal warriors and forced all the belligerents into the Indian Territory, where they were to create a new reality for themselves, no longer free hunters of bison and horse-cutting raiders, under the goverment agents and their might. 

The researchers concluded that the Henderson Ledger contained drawings by many artists, became a gift for his former teacher, Martha Ker Underwood. The ledger was exhibited in NY (Acevedo Gallery) in 1988, researched, unbound and pages sold off. The Hood Museum at Dartmouth College (Dartmouth, MA) and MET. 



The page 172 from the ledger graces the cover of this book
 


the researchers uncovered that at least one of the artists who created images within the Henderson Ledger can be found in Vincent Price Ledger.

Valete

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

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

Friday, January 31, 2025

Saddle from the MET AD1400-1420

 Salvete Omnes,

another beautiful Central European (Bohemian or Hungarian? ) parade, bone-ivory, saddle the great American museum - here the site.

Dimensions: Overall ((a) Saddle): 13 5/16 × 20 1/2 × 13 5/8 in. (33.8 × 52.1 × 34.6 cm) 

Overall (b-blanket): 30 7/8 × 27 1/4 in. (78.4 × 69.2 cm)


note the beautiful eagle 










enjoy

Valete

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Saddle circa AD1400 - MET

 Salvete Omnes,

a parade saddle from MET -  

Dimension:
H. 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm); L. 20 in. (50.8 cm); W. 16 in. (40.6 cm)









enjoy

Valete

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Saddle from MET circa AD1450

 Salvete Omnes,



another beautiful XV century bone parade saddle from the New York City museum 



From the MET comes this description:

The shape, with its low, splayed cantle (rear of the seat), was characteristic of eastern European saddles, but the exact place of origin and original purpose of these examples of elaborately carved bone are unknown.










Dimension: H. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm); L. 22 in. (54.8 cm); W. 17 in. (43.2 cm)
Enjoy

Valete

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Polish saddle and sword - XVII century from MET

Salvete Omnes,

the new AD 2025 has taken off quite nicely for the Americans with the new POTUS - America, I  do hope for thee & for me -:) .

ad rem, great American museum MET has two Old Polish items - sword and saddle - on digital display.
They are both unusual as they belong to the parade type, richly adorned and made with highest skill and mastery by the respective artisans. 

first, the saddle - H. 18 1/2 in. (47 cm); L. 22 1/4 in. (56.5 cm); W. 22 3/4 in. (57.8 cm); Wt. 11 lbs. (5 kg) - I wonder about the dating - AD 1664. It seem very late for this type of saddle. There is a seemingly similar saddle in Sweden, taken as trophy from Polish Commonwealth during the Deluge. 

the horn, very Mexican, has an image of a hunter? or soldier in a Western dress



there may be a coat of arms under the horn plate, inside the horn, of the city of Gdansk





a nice lancer - perhaps a Polish winged hussar with a lance 

                                                                        ***

the sabre /saber with scabbard ('pochwa' in Polish) and carrying belt ('Rapcie' in Polish)- associated with the Saxon court and perhaps with our king Augustus the Strong. Very splendid horseman's weapon. 






Valete