Horses in the Polish Renaissance and Baroque Poetry I

Salve,

I hope to start this thread on the horses in Polish pre-1795 poetry. Our ancestors loved horses and showered their wealth and affection  on their splendid animals. Turkish, Tatar, Arab, Hungarian, Moldavian and Spanish horses were praised and coveted, while our winged hussars rode some of the most beautiful and expensive stallions and geldings in the country.
Let us start with this poem  by Polish XVII (17th) century poet Jan Andrzej Morsztyn  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Andrzej_Morsztyn , some of his poetry in English http://staropolska.pl/ang/baroque/JA_Morsztyn/index.html
The title could be translated "On the Spanish Mare" and this is not a mere description of a horse, but a full of  mythological allegory poem on best qualities of Polish-born Spanish horse. Hope to translate it into English.. !ojala!

NA KLACZ HISZPAŃSKĄ

Nie mają takiej andaluskie stada,

Byłaby takiej Asturyja rada,

Nie pasie takiej napolska murawa,

Jaka się klaczą przechwala Warszawa.

Hiszpańska-ć wprawdzie chodem i nazwiskiem,

Ale się w kraju rodziła nam bliskiem

I słusznie Polska będzie tym chełpliwa,

Że jej córką jest klacz tak urodziwa.

Znaczne w niej kształtu wizerunki wszelkie:

Głowa niewielka i uszy niewielkie,

Oczy wypukłe, wesołe pojrzenie,

I kłus wspaniały, i żywe chodzenie,

Pierś - ach, pierś! - piękna i zupełna w mierze,

Zad jak ulany i gibkie pacierze,

Tusz do popręgu i kark niezbyt chudy,

Nóżka subtelna, podkasałe udy,

A kosa jasna i obfita grzywa

Blaski złotego przenosi przędziwa.

O, jak to piękna, kiedy wzniósszy głowę

I złotą grzywy puściwszy osnowę,

Buja i między zazdrosnymi stady

Swych rówienniczek zawstydza gromady!

Godna zaiste ciągnąć i wóz słońca,

I stać w królewskiej stajni nie od końca;

Godna, żeby jej sam wystrzygał uszy

I róg wybierał koronny koniuszy.

Teraz niech Neptun kształt na się przybierze

Gładkiego konia, jak gwoli Cererze;

Teraz niech Jowisz, zalotów niesyty,

Końskimi stan swój okryje kopyty,

A więcej wskóra, niż gdy boskie stopy

Bawolim rogiem okrył dla Europy.

A gdy ją będą w bieg różnie ćwiczony

Koniuszy z Litwy i drugi z Korony

Kawałkowali - o, jakie korbety,

Jakie pasady, jakie wężokręty,

Jakie odmiany ręki będą w kole,

Jakie pod rzutnym grzbietem kapryjole!

Bujaj, o cudna klaczo, bujaj sobie,

Rozmnażaj stado, które tak po tobie

Pokupne będzie, że o twe źrebięta

Z sobą się będą rozpierać książęta!

Szczęsny masztalerz, który cię fartuje,

Co cię nakrywa i co cię dekuje;

Szczęśliwe łąki. co pasą klacz gładką;

Szczęśliwszy stadnik, co cię sprawi matką,

A pewnie Pegaz stąd między planety

Przeniesie z tobą spłodzone dzianety.

Horse sketches II

Horsing around with older anatomical sketches and digital media - GIMP &  MyPaint.

 

 

Horse sketches I

Salve,
 some horse sketches, a fruit of  playing with a  pencil,  ball pen on paper and then with digital brush (GIMP, MyPaint)

Rychcia i wielki skok or trotting and galloping in Old Polish I

Salve,
 we have one beautiful, sunny day in the great republic of Brooklyn today, in spite of some snow and ice, while  I did some cross country skiing in the deserted streets last night.
The image show today has to do with the winged hussars - this is a drawing showing  last stage of the hussars charge - with lances firmy pointed at the incoming target, well poised to kid and trample, for the glory of their King and  their God. I am going to add more images, showing the whole charge in stages, from walk, to trot to gallop to  a full gallop.

In Polish XVI-XVII (16-17th) century horse vocabulary there are words that no longer can be understood in the modern  Polish language. They were either replaced. lost meaning or fell out of use due to more modern hippology. Two of these words are subject of my little study today - but when I wrote this short study I did it for a Polish language history forum. Therefore today I will 'publish' the Polish version and soon I will present its English translation, I hope.
the Polish version below:

jesli chodzi o zrodla polskie z okresu istnienia husarii to konskie biegi/chody  sa opisane w pracach Dorohostajskiego (Hippika, zaczyna sie na stronie 92 w wydaniu z XIX wieku na google books) Pieniazka (Hippika, bedzie o tym ponizej) oraz w dziele nieznanego autora (Gospodarstwo Jezdeckie, Strzelcze, et al) - dziela wydawane w XVII wieku, i to parokrotnie. Wszystkie prace sa dostepne na necie - w bibliotece digitalowej oraz na google books.
Chody konskie - pozwole sobie zamiescic moje male studium etymologii rychcia, rzesci etc - a swego czasu byla duza dyskusja na historycy.org w tym temacie http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtop...mp;#entry556736 na stronie 72 i dalej, ale tam znalesc cos to jak szukanie igly w stogu siana.

male studium slowa Rysc albo rzescia [sic!]

- moze odpowiedz jest co to jest znajduje sie w jezykach slowianskich, jako ze duza czesc naszej terminologii konskiej pochodzi z jezyka 'starego' ruskiego - zreszta Linde w swoim slowniku jezyka polskiego pisze RYSC-i lub RZESCIA,-i a po rosyjsku to рысца -
a na necie (google books, wikipedia etc) pisza ze рысца to мелкий бег lub Способ бега лошади (или другого животного), при котором одновременно выносятся вперед ноги передняя левая и задняя правая или передняя правая и задняя левая... czyli nic wiecej ani mniej niz jak 'klus' a dzisiejsze slowniki agielsko-rosyjskie tlumacza to jako jog-trot czyli trucht (Karlowicz uzywa tego slowa w slowniku z 1901 toku, inne slowa ale gwarowe to 'gręda') ... zreszta od tego chyba pochodza 'rysaki' czyli klusaki.
ale to nie koniec
Рысца — рысца. Лошадь бгьжитъ рысцею (рысцoю) (в. ДОЛОПЧЕВЪ.ОПЫТЪ СЛОВПРЯ НЕПРАВИЛЬНОСТЕЙ..., 1909)
ale tutaj A. Aleksandrov, Polnîi russko-angliiskii slovar z 1885 рысца, s. f. dim. gentle trot, jog trot, hand-gallop [sic! To moje podkreslenie]; see Рысь.
РЫСЬ, s. f. trot, trotting (of hontt¡: мелкая —, dog-trot; к/>;/иная —, full trot; пустить лошадь рысьи, to make the horse trot; \,:ool. lynx, lusern; ||«ir. Lynx (constellation).
A z 1818 (tom II) A new dictionary English and Russian - Trot, e. ( the jolting high pace of a
horse ) рысь , хода лошадиная.
A hard (rot , тяжелая хода.
A gentle trot , легкая хода.

Słownik polskiego i rossyjskiego języka Potockiego z 1877 podaje ze 665 'wpolklus' – to полурысь, Рысца a klus to ступь, поступь, грунь a klusowac (str 239) to бъжать рысью
Differenciálny slovensko-ruský slovník (wydanie 1900 str 80 ) К1us, р. -u, рысца.
К1usаt, -аm, бъжать рысцой.
...czescy filolodzy z XIX wieku (Grauber & Kral, Listy filologické, 1880, str 161)
Р*сть (t. j. ryst) curriculum, pol. rysc, f. gen. -à с i gradus tolntilis klus, y, jak se zdá, pusobením mrns. na misté /, takó rzescia na misté *rzyácia id. Koren рнст, rist; srodná 'na: lit. rist-as adj. celer, velox, ristas zirgelis equus cursor (Geitl. 107 a), riszczà, take risczà psáno, adv. grada tolutili, tolutim „im Trab", riszczà jóti im Trab weiten, vlastnij jest to instr. sg. stat. jména riszczà klus, na eilte risztja, ristja, risztininkas „ein Traber", equus <No tolntim incedit, risczoti galoppieren (Geitl. 107 a) na miste *ristjoti, koren rist (riszt).
...i jezyk litewski (ktory najwiecej praindoeuropejskicjh zachowal elementow) z Wörterbuch der littauischen Sprache (strona 355) rißezia, Adv. rifezia, im Trabe; rißtelejoti, dem. im kleinen Trabe reiten. (poln. rysc, rzescia, Trab)
Slowo zdaje sie wiec byc starodawne.
U Linde w 'Slowniku Jezyka Polskiego' - definicja (strona 158) jest z 1812 - raczej nie moglo sie nic zmienic w znaczeniu wyrazenia od XVIII wieku, zwlaszcza ze Warszawe okupowali przed Francuzami ostatnio Prusacy (1795- 1806) etc, i XVIIIwieczne wplywy rosyjskie na slownik hipologiczny mogly byc raczej znikome w tym kontekscie , a 'studium lingwistyczne' czeskie dowodzi niezbicie ze wyraz oznacza to samo -klus - w wszystkich jezykach slowianskich plus w litewskim etc. Zreszta sam Linde pisze ze trocht [sic!] to tez gręda.

Finalowo, a  propos 'zadzierżywać" (od zadzierżać) u Dorohostajskiego  to znalazlem niemickie tluamczenie tego jako 'erhalten' co daje chyba racjonalne tluamczenie - 'utrzymywac' lub 'przytrzymywac' - (choc samego slowa niemieckiego erhalten znaczen jest wiecej to chyba nie da sie przetlumaczyc na jezyk polski tego slowa jako 'zatrzymywac') ('Gramatyka Polska' doktora Israela Rabinowicza z 1877)
Pieniazek (np Wsiadszy tedy na nim jechać w pole i wielkim kłósem, rychcią... to jest puściwszy go na wielki kłus, Pieniążek, Hippika (1607) ) i Gospodarstwo uzywaja odmiennie ryścią/rychcia/wieki klós (Klus) , czwal, i wielki skok/skok (Pieniazkowy traktat oraz Gospodarstwo jezdeckie.. byly opracowane pod katem husarii/jazdy polskiej przez rtm Piotrowskiego w latach 1930tych)
Galop ktory przyszedl z Europy zachodniej w XVIII wieku mozna znalesc w literaturze np 'Pościć się galopem,' Niemcewicz, Powrót posła.
Jesli chodzi o konie, chody w jezyku XVIIwiecznym to poezje Waclawa Potockiego sa doskonalym zrodlem - Ogrod fraszek, Wojna Chocimska, rowniez Wespazjan Kochowski.
this version was posted at this Polish forum -  http://forum.historia.org.pl/index.php?showtopic=956&pid=151720&st=195&#entry151720

Ułani - introduction

a Halan, Uhlan, der Ulan, Ułan, Улан - an introduction

Today there was one snowy day on the East Coast of the US of A. Good day to do some painting and reading, I suppose.

     I always wonder how our ancestors could cope with  the freezing winter months, when they liked to wage war and invade their neighbors like the winter 1664 campaign against the Grand Duchy of Muscovy aka Russia.  It was during this unfriendly season that they started serious military operation over the frozen swamps, lakes, and rivers across the large areas of the Northeastern Europe. Polish-Swedish Wars and Polish-Muscovy  (nota bene Poland stopped using Muscovy and adopted new name  'Russia' around 1772 or so) Wars of the XVI-XVIII ( 16-18th) centuries were conducted during all seasons, including the coldest months. I guess they, the people of the Northeastern Europe, were the exception to the rule in the European warfare of the early modern and modern eras. Only Polish-Lithuanian  and Mongolian-Tatar armies were able to defeat and capture Moscow and do that to the Russian in their wintry country while the Western European armies of Napoleon and  later the German armies of the notorious  psycho and murder of millions Hitler could not withstand the cold and snow, eventually perishing under the snow, sleet and ice.

Eh, so many horses died in those wars, and the Napoleonic defeat in 1812 had direct bearing on the collapse of the so called Old Polish Horse as viable breed/type. But it also spelled the beginning of the Polish Arabian breeding, so successful in the late XIX and XX (20th ) centuries.

And this leads me to this subject – 'Ułani' or English Uhlans (actually older form was 'Halani') - the Polish lance-armed, wearing a 'czapka' ('chapska' square-topped hat of the Great Steppe origin) and 'kurtka' (a double-breasted Polish cavalry jacket), cavalry. They appeared in Western military history during the War of Polish Succession (1733=38) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Polish_Succession in the army of the Saxon and Polish King. It took almost a 70 odd years for these uhlans to become famous due to their service with the Napoleonic armies. I will write about that some other time...
So I wanted to start this theme, and I will be returning to it every so often, because I found some early images of the Polish Uhlans from the XVIII ( 18^th ) century.
Two horsemen in full uniforms, showing all the distinctive characteristics of the early Uhlan uniforms. From Charles de Warnery's book on the light horsemen writtine in late XVIII century.

   For a moment let us return to the origin of the name - uhlan. I will skip for now all the Mongolian-Turkish origin of the word Ułan or oghlan, for sake of brevity and just turn to the origin of the cavalry formation name.

Polish name "Ułan" for these fine horse soldiers comes from the Polish-Lithuanian Tatar noble family surname 'Ułan,' and it was made especially famous and thus survived into the posterity because of one cavalry regiment commander named 'Aleksander Ułan' who was commanding the Polish cavalry 'pułk' - sort of a  regiment - in the Polish-Saxon king's service (during the Saxony-Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Union 1733-64) and this regiment was known via his surname as 'dzieci Ułanowe' (Ułan's children) and as such name was Germanized into 'der Uhlan'.

Nota bene there were several 'pulks' in the king's service but they all took this new name for light lance armed cavalry after Aleksander Ułan had died. They returned to Poland from Saxony in 1764, because our king Augustus had died, and they carried the name 'Ułan' in the Polish-Lithuanian army, during the Bar Confederation days and later after the Partitions
So after the Partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795) some of the Polish cavalry regiments were forcibly incorporated into the practitioners' armies (Russia, Prussia and Austria), but only the Napoleonic wars made them Europe-famous and most desired in all European armies and beyond...

I must add that the first Ułan regiments were of the Polish (Lithuanian ) Tatars origin, who at first made the uniform to their liking and used their favorite weapon – a light lance (dzida or rohatyna) with a pennon, along with a sabre, pistol while the officers even carried bows as sign of prestige and rank.

In some not so distant future these Tatars and their history will be told here in some detail, or so I hope.
Pa ka
ps
 the picture that I use for my 'avatar' is of such pre-1795 Polish-Lithuanian uhlan officer - done some years ago.

Husaria and poetry I

czolem,
as mentioned husaria of the Old Poland appeared often in her poets written work, from Mikolaj Rey (Rej) od Naglowice  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko%C5%82aj_Rej to  Waclaw Potocki  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wac%C5%82aw_Potocki and mentioned already poet and soldier Wespazjan Kochowski.
Often these references were not direct,  for especially in the second half of 16th century ( XVII ) a noble knight ('rycerz') would serve mounted  with a lance ('drzewko' or 'kopia')  and need not be called a 'husarz' (winged hussar) for the audience to see him as one (even our best poet of this period Jan Kochanowski http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Kochanowski was described when welcoming king Henry in Cracow, dressed as winged hussar) ,  so for example one of the prolific writers  Marcin Bielski  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielski,_Marcin  wrote  in one of his satires 'kto chce w potkaniu pozyc dobrze Moskwicina, przytrzy nam predko z drzewem jak na Tatarzyna' ( one that wants to press hard a Muscovy soldier in a fight, needs to attack him quickly  with a lance in the same manner [one would do]  against a Tatar) ' Sen Maiowy' (Dream of a Hermit, 1586).  It was understood that one attacking with a 'drzewo' (lit. wood,  actually a lance) was a winged hussar. 
Often our poets would talk about hussar appearance and interesting information can be had from these verse as in Wacław Potocki poem where poet (who very often was a great satirist and comedian in his work) only recognizes a winged hussar by his costume details - 'karwasze' (warmbraces or forearms protectors )  and one wing (poem 'Pogonia Litewska', from  a compilation titled 'Ogrod Fraszek' written between 1675-90 but published in its entirety in 1907).
Potocki, having often written about war and politics in his poems, will often be revisited here (God willing), as many of his works have to do with fine horses and riders, their adventures and misadventures as well  - :)

Usarz in training ...

     Hussaria or our winged hussar  ( польский гусар)  had to train their horses a lot, until their horses were so well trained and  fiery that,  as one of our  Polish poets from the 17th (XVII) century Waclaw Potocki wrote in one of  his poems,   when trumpets called hussars to battle such  horse  would beat the ground with his hooves, would raise his head high and neighing announced his readiness to serve his rider.  I use masculine  gender when talking about their horses for according to the sources usually stallions  ('drygant'/'ogier') or   geldings ('walach') were used exclusively as war horses.  Mares were used for breeding and non-military transportation.
      After all, according to another Polish poet of the mid-17th century Wespazyan Kochowski  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wespazjan_Kochowski , a winged hussar was a giant of martial prowess when had a brave horse, strong breastplate,  saddle (presumably hussar saddle or 'husarskie siodlo')  with a 'koncerz' (tuck, estock).

In my sketch our noble towarzysz (companion), mid 1640s, is dressed in his undershirt, loose pants of steppe Turkish-Tatar style, yellow leather boots with hussar spurs and Hungarian-style magierka (hat).  Let's say he is in his  'majdan' (another Persian via Turco-Tatar word in our language) paddock gentling his future warhorse.
     His saddle is of that already mentioned  hussar type, as exemplified by surviving  winged hussar saddles in Moscow and Stockholm, with Polish-Tatar iron stirrups, and with a simple 'potnik'(sweat pad) or 'mituk' (blanket) under the saddle. He has his 'kopia' (lance) in the 'tok' (leather container) hung from the saddle's 'kula' (horn) - nota bene  similar to the Mexican and Western saddles' horn.  And he is training his young horse ('munsztuk' or curb bit in his mouth) to turn while distracted by the presence of his kopia. Most likely he has his 'szabla' (saber) on his left side and a 'koncerz' under his left thigh.

Imci Wespazjan Kochowski poems can be read via google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=-mhbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP6&dq=Wespazyan+Kochowski&as_brr=1&ei=NItgS7X9FY-0NOXwzO8E&client=firefox-a&cd=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Passing of Richard Hook

Hello friends and fellow travelers,
I just found out that on or before January 12 , 2010 one of the most important military artists passed away.  http://www.ospreypublishing.com/blog/Richard_Hook_Rest_in_Peace/

I must say Mr. Richard  Hook art, this modern master of military art,  has influenced me in many ways over the two decades since   I first encountered his artwork when browsing through Osprey books in a bookshop, its name long forgotten,  in Athens, Greece.
My favorite  artwork of Mr. Hook has to do with the Native Americans (Indians, Ameridians, Indianie).
For many years he had researched the Plains tribes and created some of the most fascinating reconstruction illustrations ever produced on the subject. But he painted Aztecs, Apaches, Creeks (Muskogee), Iroquois or my favorites - Shawnees.

His work will be greatly missed by this blogger   - :(

R.I.P. sir Richard - may Gods welcome you with open arms at the Heaven's gate.

Kon Polski Polish Horse

         With this post I am returning to the horses, saddles and Polish-Lithuanian ( we could add Ukrainian as Ukraine was Polish then too, while Lithuania) horse tack of the XVI-XVIII (16-18th) centuries. The most preeminent Polish hippologist  prof. Witold Pruski wrote in his seminal work - "Two Centuries of Polish Breeding of the  Arabian Horses  (1778-1978)" -  that the best horse flesh in Old Poland came from what today constitutes the former Soviet Republic of  Ukraine.
 Contrary to many legends and good wishing these horse were not Arabians, but of Central Asian  and Anatolian & Armenian (Turkish) origin - I will write about that some other time.
Prof Pruski stated in the chapter I of his book that  the Turkish horse was an exclusive, particular breed of war horses bred  by the Ottoman Turks (especially in the ancient Armenian kingdom of Cilicia incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of the XVI (16th) century)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Kingdom_of_Cilicia  ).
Our Polish horses were often with ram's head and Roman-nosed, adhering to the old Ancient Roman standards for horse head - small in size, noble, thin skinned, alert and pointy ears, wide nostrils, intelligent and prominent eyes {one day I am going to write about that :) ] .

Nobody painted better Old Polish horses than Jozef Brant and Juliusz Kossak, two Polish painters of the XIX (19th) century.
Jozef Brant
http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Brandt/Index.htm
Juliusz Kossak
http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Kossak_Jul/Index.htm

In my humble drawing (by the way a different version of this drawing was published here in October 2008) a 'pacholik' (young servant/retainer) holds a rumak (from Turkish word argamak that in turn comes from a Persian word - he, horse traditions always lead to the ancient Iranians of Eurasian steppe and Central Asia)  dressed as winged hussar horse.

Rumak (Polish nobles rode stallions to war)  is saddled with a 'siodło usarskie' (hussar war saddle) of mixed Central Asian, Ottoman Turkish, Crimean Tatar and Italian provenance with a Tatar-Polish stirrup,  a smaller Turkish or Tatar 'czaprak' (shabraque) underneath the saddle, while the horse  is a bitted with a curb-bit. There are weapons too, a set of wheellock pistols, most likely German in manufacture, and a long armour piercing 'koncerz' ( tuck) attached to the saddle.  Feathers on his poll, feathered wing at the saddle, and a buńczuk - horse tail (Turkish-Tatar tug/kutas) - at his throat completes the picture..

Крымские татары Crimean Tatars Tatarzy

Hello friends,
Today little text and more sketches of my imaginary fabulous horsemen of the southern Russian/Ukrainian steppes -  the Crimean Tatars (Tatarzy, Крымские татары ) - especially of the 16-17thc centuries (XVI-XVII). 

In Polish horse culture many words have their origins in the culture of these steppe people - my favorite is 'bachmat' - sometimes bigger, other times smaller, but strong, fleet, compact  and especially brave Tatar  warhorse.

Please note they are unfinished sketches.

Annus Novus

Annus Novus,

... and again we've got ourselves a brand New Year, 2010 years from the legendary beginning of the Christian era. I hope this new 2010 will see more peace and tranquility than the last one. We are visiting Colorado Springs, and yesterday we hiked a bit in the Garden of Gods, an ancient Ute Indians winter camping ground converted into a park, c'est la vie. Perhaps tomorrow we will ride horses at the Air Force Academy – eh, sweet vacation. Colorado is beautiful, Pikes Peak snow-white, while bison and mule deer burgers are very tasty, thus I must conclude that nothing beats the Western US – with the exception of the Brooklyn Public Library and one very helpful librarian- many thanks Ms.Isabela :) .

Meantime I did some sketching over the Christmas vacation and one these 'playthings' can be seen here – this is a copy of a horse head from the Achaemenid site at Persepolis. I converted it a bit to make it more 'colorful' if you will. The bulging forehead and ram nose is the peculiar trait of this ancient Median horse. Raised on lucerne and fabulous grasses of Media these horses rode into history ... with Herodotus, Xenophont and others :).

This new year has very, very promising outlook– ancient China horses and chevaliers, more Eurasian nomads, more noble Polish-Lithuanian riders and their steeds, finally some Medieval themes etc. Time will show …

Wesolych Swiat!

Hello again,
we, Polish people, celebrate Christmas with 3 days of eating and bonding,  especially reestablishing family and friendship bonds, and it is a very joyous time of the year.

However, in today's little entry I would like to  return for a moment to the time of the other great Jewish (and a bit Arabian) king of Judea  known to us a  Herod the Great , whose dynasty ruled, solely with Rome's nod and approval,  the last independent Jewish kingdom in the Holy Land (ending with the death of  Agrippa II circa 100 AD) The other independent Jewish state was the  khanate of  nomadic Chazars of the Pontic-Caspian steppes, but  more than a millennium after the last Herodian ruler.
I just received, as a Christmas gift, this little Heracles (so much good info0 of a book published by British Osprey, titled 'The Army of Herod the Great,' written by Samuel Rocca and nicely illustrated by Christa Hook.  It is a book about the military of the Jewish-Hellenic client-state  existing on the borders of the Roman Empire.
There are many interesting figures in this book,  especially Hatrene warriors,  or the Thracians and Galatians in Herod's service.  But my first 'love' is another cavalryman mentioned in the book and painted there along with his commander. It is the 'Babylonian. '

I sketched this horseman out off the plate F in the book, sort of coping it and changing some.
He is a member of  this so called Babylonian light horse archers unit, created by one Jewish nobleman named Zamaris and hired by Herod. Zamaris  at some point of his adult life moved from the Parthian kingdom, where Jews had lived and prospered for centuries,  to the Herod's realm and entered Herod's army as commander. Mr Rocca, after Shutzman, says that from Mesopotamia our Zamaris emigrated along  with his entire retinue and  initially must have created this 'Babylonian' unit of horse archers for  the Herod's army out of his retainers. Jospehus Flavius, the Jewish_Roman ancient historian, wrote about Zamaris and his riders (AJ XVII , 24).

He wears Parthian ridding coat with fur trimming (slit from the hem to hips to allow easy mounting and ridding horses), quilted tunic, quilted hat,  Leather belt covered with gilt-metal plates,  and tied with laces. His weapons are the two unstrung composite bows, with a tubular quiver (unseen as covered by his coat), and long sword (unseen), suspended from the second belt, and his horsewhip, quite a weapon itself - eg just read the Tyrant novels by Mr Cameron.
Horse has a typical horned and stuffed leather saddle, secured with broad breast and croup straps, adorned with bronze pahalerae (medallions),  while his saddle is covered with a cloth...  His horse' snaffle bit has long psalion bars for stability etc. I drew  his horse's tail tied as the Iranians used to do, and its forelock is also tied up with leather thong, in the same Iranian  martial fashion ( this sketch and info  pertaining to the cavalryman are based mostly on the Mr Rocca's book).

I did my sketch entirely on my Linux computer, using GIMP and MyPaint drawing with the Wacom tablet.

Merry Christmas...
ps
I found more info on the Babylonian horsearchers unit - according to Jonathan P.  Roth, Zamaris came to Judea around 20 BC, possibly having defected from the Parthian service. He and his followers (500 soldiers and 100 relatives) were taken by Herod into his service as horsearchers, and settled in town called Bathrya, in Batanea. This military colony under Zamaris was organized in such a way that Zamaris' unit performed military service in exchange for freedom from taxation (what a great king Herod was!  the next tulers tired to change this approach).  The unit survived Herod's and Zamaris' deaths, and was commanded, according to Flavius Josephus,  first by Zamaris' son  Jacimus or Jakimus (who trained soldiers in arts of horsemanship and horse archery, and provided king's bodyguards)  and then his grandson Philip Ben Jakimus, who was of strong hands and friend of Agrippa.   The Babylonian archers unit size also increased over time, from 500 to several thousands, again according to F. Jospehus who claimed that this 'Babylonian' unit was as large as the rest of king Herod Agrippa forces. Most likely Philip as strategos  was the commander of the 2000 cavalry that king Agrippa II sent to quell the budding Great Uprising in Jerusalem  (66AD )which failed but they were allowed to retire from the city. Then they fought alongside the Roman army during this long and difficult war, with Philip fighting and surviving the large Roman defeat at Beth Horon, later being most likely the commander of the entire Herodian army   (Roth,  Jewish Forces in Roman Service p.  6 - 23,  Flavius Josephus  on Zamaris and his unit  p.210-11 here  http://books.google.com/books?id=II5DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=zamaris+flavius+josephus&source=bl&ots=H9JP4VC6Tm&sig=t8tGSt48OOOvIQUf-0HJrY6MNy4&hl=en&ei=ZmI2S7eLJ861lAfB4dzdBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false )

Khumbuz-Tepe ostracon

This is the famous Khumbuz-tepe ostracon from southern Chorasmia (Uzbekistan), dated from late IV to III century BC.
I included my own ad hoc conceptual representation of the armored saddle as suggested by Philip in his commentary to the Massagatean warrior...

Hussar officer - Imci Pan Porucznik

czolem,
let me return  for a little moment to the Polish-Lithuanian Respublica of the 17th century with this little sketch of a Husaria officer.
I hope to 'paint' it digitally some time soon.  Meantime he will be riding this blog in black and white. Please note that in a Turkish fashion (or perhaps more ancient - Macedonian and Scythian) his horse has a leopard skin spread underneath his eastern (Turkish-Tatar) saddle. His Hungarian style boots are placed in the Polish (of Tatar origin) stirrups and he guides his horse with an aid of the heavy German-style 'munsztuk' (Polish for 'curb-bit'), as advised by the famous Polish-Lithuanian author,  aristocrat, and winged hussar himself Krzysztof M. Dorohostayski (Dorohostajski or Дорогостайски) , of Leliwa coat of arms, a great rider himself, participant of many wars, eg war with Ivan the Terrible, war with Sweden where he distinguished himself as a cavalry commander under the command of grand hetman Krzysztof Radziwiłł Piorun at the victorious  battle of Kokenhausen (Koknese) June 23, 1601...
He is the author of this worthy Polish language treatise on horsemanship titled  'Hippica' , published many times during the 17th century in the Commonwealth, now accessible on google books - thanks google :)
http://books.google.com/books?id=qwgEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA120&dq=hippica+konie&as_brr=1&ei=PlYZS_bvIKT8ygTHr7WhBA&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false

for your enjoyment I hope ...
pa ka [Valete]

Old watercolour - Plains warrior fantasy

hello again,
long time ago I drew a sketch of a mounted Native warrior, and then  I went over it with 'dry-brush' watercolour - the end result was  this rather fantasy-related drawing of a Plains rider (North American native warrior of the pre-1840s).
As I can recall my then-intent it had to do with this idea of showing a native warrior along with his war paraphernalia - coup stick, long lance, bow and arrows etc - displaying a captured musket/rifle and cartridge pouch of a US army soldier.

I say pre-1840s because he has tanned leather tubular leggings with coup marks and has not many items that can be related to the European, Mexican or American manufacture. His hair is adorned with eagle feathers with coup marks and his medicinal bird - crow or some other black bird . while his concave shield with various ritual images and hawk feathers etc should have been held by a shoulder strap and/or rim handle, as Plains shields were not held in the Old World fashion, by a hoop or handle in the middle of a shield.
He has a blanket wrapped around his hips, a typical Plains fashion until the end of the era, i.e., early XX century. In the millenia old tradition he painted his pace, and  his torso and arms, and has a gorget-like shell and trade beads  necklace on his chest. I gave him a choker but I do not think it was a good idea, well, too late as watercolours are hard to correct..
His mount has a eagle feather in its forelock, medicine and war exploits marks painted  on its body - coup marks etc, while there is a scalp lock hoop hanging on the war bridle, note that the bridle is but  a single rawhide rope with its end trailing the ground. The function of the scalp lock attached to the war bridle was not only to show this horse and its owner's war prowess, but also more practical as it caused a horse to keep its head lower when moving or risk being smacked around the sensitive head ( nostrils, jaw, face etc)  by the hooped scalp lock - quite ingenious horse-riding aide invented by the Plains tribes, well attested in the rock  and ledger art of the Plains. I am not showing his apishamore (Piegan word for the treeless leather/hide Plains saddle)but it may be covered with his blankets etc.
Horse's tail is tied for war and thus not visible.

There are things that I missed: a knife in a decorated sheath, war-club or hatchet. Proportions are off and things are unsteady but I still like this image, so it will stay.

   I got another old watercolour of Plains mounted warrior  that I will post next time the Plains warriors are subject of my notes and musings.
pa ka

Massagetan warrior I

...this is a version of my original Massagetan horseman.
   ... according to the already mentioned archaeologist, who is not my friend even by a longest Mongolian bow shot ;) , named Marek Wozniak the armor corselet consisted of leather plates or plaques sewn together and 'needle work' covered with leather 'ribbons' - somewhat similar to the Orlat warriors of the Orlat bone plaque http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/mode.html or Kumbuz-Tepe http://www.antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/khumbuztepe.JPG , helmet based on the Samarkand find , sewn onto his hat aka ''bashlik.'' This type of reconstruction was proposed by the Kazakh archaeologists before but for much later dates. There is an English translation of Yablonsky article on the Massagetan warrior find http://s155239215.onlinehome.us/turkic/27_Scythians/Massagetan_Warrior_En.htm

The shoulder protectors are based on the prof. Olbrycht discussion as have been reconstructed by  dr. Gorelik (his book on Alexander of Macedon and the Iranian world) of the Chirik-Rabat and the Gorelik's intepretations of the Chirik-Rabat and Saka in general.
find Chirik-Rabat here http://www.antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/chirikrabat.JPG

... already mentioned Wozniak suggested the sword to be a typical longer Scythian version, as shown in 'The Golden Deer of Eurasia' or . I picked the battle ax  upon perusing  my Scythian and Saka book collections and it belongs to the southern Siberia finds published by Gryaznov (V century BC).

     Horse whip is my own 'imagination'  (if you read 'Tyrant' novels you may find out how deadly this 'nahayka' whips could  have been) while his belt is of south Siberian origin I saw in Gorelik's article on the Saka armor. The sword sharpening stone aka whet stone is a typical steppe tool, hung from nomads belts, typical find in the Pontic and Caspian steppes, also my own addition. The same with the choice of a bashlik type based on the Siberian Saka finds by the Soviet and  Russian archaeologists.

      This particular armour concept, especially choosing of Orlat bone plaques (variously dated to II c. BC to V c. AD  and do find this great article about the plaques  http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/mode.html  )  as basis  for the armour reconstruction and type of neck guard - segmented instead of one metal sheet (segmented is used by the later Saka, Yuezhi, Kangju or Huns, while single sheet was developed and used by the Saka being the earliest steppe collar),  has been heavily but substantively criticized by Ruben aka Mein Pantzer on the romanarmy.com and my friend Patryk Skupniewicz.  Ruben pointed to a Taraz find

Having read (mostly) the Polos'mak book on the Pazyryk Saka's clothing I think that pants, boots, and tunic need to be reworked a lot. I am going to add a later Saka gorytos - longer and much more powerful bow as found by the Chinese in the former Saka and Uigur lands in the Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang) - there is this delightful  article on Atarn archery website http://www.atarn.org/chinese/scythian_bows.htm
Another set of elements are missing here, those are the cultural,  ritual and religious items always found in the Siberian kurgans of the Saka and related to their believes. Other items I could add here are the feathers and animals skins, especially snow leopard, wolf or tiger pelt adornments as natural part of the Scythian, Saka, Yuezhi, Hun, Turkic, Uigur, Mongol  warrior 'wolfbands. '  In this particular Saka aka North Iranian case the deer, wild boar and wild felines imagery shall find itself added here. After all, as my friend Patryk always points that  Shahnameh's Rustam was a Saka...
I shall correct them too, I hope.

Massagetan warrior

well,
for a few weeks now I have been trying to research the theme of an armored Caspian steppe warrior of the 4th century BC - the Massagetan warrior or a member of a Saka Tigrakhauda/Tigraxauda, - Pointed Hat Sakaname of  the Achaemenid Persians.

This particular topic has been long overdue for me. About a year ago or more I drew a 'straight forward' Massagetan armored rider reconstruction based on a drawing and description done by an archaeologist, the idea was to show the Achaemenid warriors during the time of the Macedonian Conquest, as a result I have more images of Persian warriors, mostly infantry so they do not 'qualify' to appear here :).

I had consulted it with my friend Patryk, who has been writing about the Saka and Parthian warriors for his forthcoming articles and a book (perhaps), and he pointed some issue that would need to be addressed in order to arrive with more up-to-date image - I will try to work out these issues to be happy with the research etc.
There is this discussion going on here, on the romanarmy.com - http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27727* that somehow triggered the return to this topic.
and I am attaching another image so some other discussion regarding Scythians etc as depicted in the Christian Cameron's book -'Tyrant' a finre adventure in the 4th century steppes of Eurasia - may be somehow enriched - the attached image is the compilation of Cimmerian (Kimerian) swords drawn some years ago by M.V. Gorelik, foremost specialist on the steppe peoples' warrior appearance.
I intend to draw some mounted Cimmerians in the near future.
http://www.hippeis.com/forum/index.php?topic=319.msg2683#new

* dead link - they changed the server -  http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/thread-16001.html?highlight=massagetae

Mustangs in peril

Salve,
today's post will be about politics and lack of respect for horsebreeding, history and traditions rather than art, unfortunately.
US government decided that wild horses that inhabit the fringes of the Western US are too much for the environment and too much for the government (too expensive). Bureau of Land (mis)Management and Secretary of Interior, one mister Salazar, decided to remove all the wild horses from their herd management areas to private ranches in the Eastern US, the horses being sterilized etc. This is in spite of what US Congress said in 1971 (after many years of reckless and brutal campaign to eradicate the wild horses from the public lands in the Old West):
An Act Of Congress
"Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; (and) that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people ..."(Public Law 92-195, December 15, 1971). I guess these horses no longer enrich the lives of the American people..
Dr Dan Phillip Sponenberg pioneered the study of wild horse genetics and he wrote many articles on the subject (eg “ Evaluation of Pryor Mountain Herd Area BLM Horses” Aug 1993) including the proper management of the wild mustang herds as direct descendants of the Iberian horses that were brought to the Americas from the Caribbean Islands http://www.horsequest.com/bredshow/mustang/mustg.htm He was aided by dr Gus E. Cothran from Kentucky who analyzed the wild horses from the Pryor Mountains as per their ancestry, and found them the direct descendants of the Iberian horses. Many other studies confirmed the historic and genetic uniqueness of these wild horses in the remote areas of the Western US.
Therefore these wild horses in the Pryors, Cerbat and Kiger BLM areas are as indigenous as they can be – they are actually more American than most of today's human Americans. The ancestors of these wild horses first appeared here millions of years ago on this North American continent and from there they migrated to Eurasia, only to return in 1519 AD. They’re living on the fringes of their natural habitat, and their numbers are a tiny fraction of what it used to be in the 19th century (one million in Texas alone). They are part of the Western natural habitat, unless one is talking about restoring the pre-1600 AD natural habitat of the West, with all plants and animal life. But I do not see large herds of bison, elk and pronghorns followed by the prairie wolves and peregrine doves etc appearing outside the few preserves etc – last time federally protected bison herd tried to walk out the Yellowstone Park the FEDS themselves shot them point bank. This type of horse as in the Cloud series by Kithrens – the Spanish mustang – exists nowhere in the world and should be protected as any endangered species in the Americas.

The BLM http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html is not doing the job, they have not been protecting the herds or the wild life in general – especially the genetic viability of the so called special herds – Pryor, Cerbat, Kiger etc. The are protecting ranchers (lately almost exclusively corporate ranchers, as family ranching is a dying species out West) interests and Wall Street money invested in those cows and their calves grazing on the public (our) lands where they are paying next to nothing for the grazing fees. And it is our tax money that is paying for these ludicrous policies and practices. ON top of it the overgrazing leads to tremendous losses, both in monetary value (one billion a year) and damage to the range.
I cannot believe the stupidity and shortsightedness of the people involved in the mismanagement of the mustangs...
I saw wild horses several times during my trips to the West, in Nevada and Arizona mostly - in fact the pictures above was taken in Arizona.. on the Tohono O'dham reservation south of Phoenix, where about 2000 wild horses rescued from BLM clutches roam freely :)

Hope Ryden has been the foremost defender of the wild herds and she has written many books
A good book to read will always be a classic by Frank Dobbie titled 'Mustangs' http://books.google.com/books?id=ogEoCDJbX68C&pg=PA84&dq=wild+horses+mustangs&ei=FyDrSuODNp6WyASB4sTlAQ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false but another that I strongly recoment will be Nobody's Horses http://books.google.com/books?id=-5v5hFJv2yUC&pg=PA16&dq=wild+horses+mustangs+white+sands&ei=qCDrSqSiB5vWNJ3x8LsJ&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false which is the story of the dramatic rescue of the wild herd of White Sands, New Mexico.
On film nothing is better that the Ginger Kathrens' saga about the wild horses of the Arrowroot Mountains of Montana - with a stallion aptly named Cloud as a chief protagonist - on PBS http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/cloud-challenge-of-the-stallions/video-full-episode/5297/
Ms Kathrens own website - "http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/home"
some links to more info
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/
href="http://www.pryormustangs.org/

Saka and Skuda in one steppe dwelt

Sketches of the 1st millienium BC steppe horse masters - I know the ladies are missing, they should come shortly :) patientia virtutem est, amici mei.

working.. the Parthians of sorts

...some sketches of proverbial Parthians, in various stages of 'undress' :)

Nomad sketch update

hello,
A little update of a nomad sketch - digital variety in gimp and mypaint :)

Mypaint-GImp paint studio nomad

Salve,
I have been working on this nomad and his horse (potentially there will be one or more horses) using only Mypaint and GIMP Paint Studio. So far the programs and this resulting image have been very much to my liking, actually I really love Mypaint flexibility and 'painting' experience.
As per this horseman - eventually this guy may become a Saka noble, as I am moving deeper into the Eurasian steppes of the Late Bronze and Iron Age eras.. The saddle is drawn after the Pazyryk finds (Altai region of Central Asia) and Chinese III century BC terracotta army horse saddles of  Chin dynasty Emperor.
tbc

New painting programs etc

Salve,
for those who use computers to paint and either do not want or cannot afford Photoshop or Correl Painter programs I have some really great news - a very useful and absolutely free painting and drawing program that works in Windows XP and Ubuntu 9.04 (I recently migrated to Linux - see ya windows) known as Mypaint - http://mypaint.intilinux.com
.... and a fine extension to GIMP that makes that program more like painter's digital media we do need - Gimp Paint Studio http://www.jesusda.com/blog/index.php?id=314
http://webupd8.blogspot.com/2009/05/gim-paint-studio-gimp-optimized-for.html
it's creator's blog - http://ramonmirandavisualart.blogspot.com/

This is the way I like the Internet aka world wide web to function - free access, open source programs, free society, exchange of ideas...

I intent to work on this image of an ancient Iranian horseman and his stallion with those two new programs/enhancements.
until the next time

Igor Baranko - comix creator

Salve,
I would like to present this blog today, blog by one of the most talented artists in the difficult genre of comix (comics) art - Igor Baranko.
I did like his Native American series - Le danse du Temps http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-12227-BD-Danse-du-temps.html
But this new two volume (one so far published) on the 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Wild Lands of the southern Ukraine, and the chief protagonist Ukrainian Kozak Maksym Osa is just up my alley - so to speak. I just wish that instead of that 2008 dreadful Russian anti-Polish propaganda film titled 'Taras Bulba' they had made a movie based on Igor's work - could have been a masterpiece.
Well, you can see it here in black and white. And actually seeing the b&w drawings, before color were applied, allows us to appreciate even more Igor's work and then obviously it is a showcase of the fantastic penwork of meastro Igor -
http://baranko.blogspot.com/2008/11/1_3357.html

http://baranko.blogspot.com/2008/11/1.html
Unfortunately for the English speaking world there has not been an English version of this story, perhaps in the near future this will change, but then 99.8 % of the fabulous French-Belgian BD or la bande dessinée (comics) never make to the English language bookstores.
well, fingers crossed.
anywa - a little sketch o a Cossack or as we say Kozak of mine

Skuda - the horsearchers of Eurasia

Skuda, Skula, Skolotai, Saka (Skify, Skithian, Scythians, Skudra, Sogdian, Скифы, Саки, Scytowie, Sakowie ) or the Archers were the very first mounted 'Scourge of God' that had burst in the ancient world of Europe and Asia around beginning of the VII (7th) century BC. Mounted on swift horses ( according to archaeological finds - eg Pazyryk - and Herodotus mostly 130-150cm at withers geldings, armed with bow, arrows, klevetz (war ax or war hammer), spears and javelins, short and long swords they were pursuing another branch of the big Iranian nomad family- the Kimmerians or Cimmerians (yes,author of Conan the barbarian got his name from them) - and having finished with their cousins then they incidentally pillaged Anatolia, Syria, Palestine and Northern Egypt..
Defeated by Medes (who themselves might have been part of these archers and local population) and later Persian (their southern 'cousins') settled north of Caucasus - in the so called Caspian-Pontic steppe until replaced by the new wave of their Iranian cousins - the Sarmatians - at the end of the 1st millennium BC.
These Indo-European nomads of Iron Age created the most amazing art and most original culture, artifacts surviving in numerous kurgans (earthy mounds) throughout the Eurasian steppe, from southern Poland and Romania to China and Korea.

I drew/copied this king or using Iranian term - a shah - after a reconstruction by Russian archaeologist and artist Mikhail V. Gorelik. I used crow quill pen and ink, while colors come from colored pencils. Later I added background using GIMP etc.
This particular warrior with his entire golden martial outfit was found in the Solokha (Солоха) kurgan located on the Dniepr River, near Nikopol in Ukraine.
He has a iron scales cuirass, bashlik (felt or leather cap) and Greek helmet adopted to his Scythian use and taste, golden Scythian belt on which two most important attributes of the Scythian male costume were hung - a Scythian sword in scabbard, and a Scythian gorythos or gorytos - a leather or felt container for both a bow and arrows, where some extra arrow points and sharpening tools could also by carried.
He wears typical nomad pants - designed for riding, and soft leather boots.
He is also wearing shins protectors or greaves (there were of bronze).
He carries a bronze mace or 'buzdygan' - a weapon and a sign of his authority (this symbolic aspect buzdygan of was to survive in the Eurasian steppe military cultures until the XVIII (18th) century AD, eg 'hetman's bulawa' in Poland and Ukraine).
Riding whip or nahaika - they used no spurs - was another aspect of their horse culture.
Finally he carries two shafted weapons - a short spear and a javelin - and iron laminated shield.
This find was dated to the early 4th century BC, and was one of the richest finds ever in Ukraine... Westerners aka Europeans and Americans call the western Saka by the name - Scythians - taken after the Herodotus Histories' name usage (which a Greek term) but our nomads called themselves Skuda. Persians of the Darius the Great times (end of the 6th century BC) used term Saka, and differentiated between their northern cousins by adding different names related to their locations in the steppes and relationship to the Achaemenid Empire- Saka paradraya, Saka tigraxauda, Saka haumavarga, Saka para Sugudam.
I've got to draw a horse for him, with the full Scythian outfit.

Old Drawings continued...

Now, this rider is supposed to ride an Arabian stallion – Polish noblemen usually rode stallions (and also  geldings), Polish XVII century literature is full of references (eg poetry of Waclaw Potocki) to a 'zrebiec' (young stallion or colt between 3 years to 6-7 years of age). Although many associate Arabians with the Polish horse breeding there is very scant evidence of Arabians being present in any significant numbers in our Polish nobility stables prior to mid 1800s. There are many references to the Arabians, like in the Royal Stud at Knyszyn (1570s) or during the post-Vienna 1683 period, but so called popular literature of the period, letters, inventories, legacies, testamentary provisions always talk about the Turkish horse as being the most noble and worthy.

This drawing also belongs to the same set, mentioned in the previous post, and is not really of any particular time frame etc. I used multicolor Pigma micron pens and watercolor, and lately went over with GIMP and Photoshop etc.

The fanciful hat comes form some XVIII century painting showing Bar Confederates (Polish Civil war of 1768-72 that ended in the First Partition of Poland between Prussia, Austria and Russia).
But his riding żupan or 'zhupan' is earlier, pre-mid 1600s, you can see that according to the Polish clothing fashion the lining is of a different color than the garment itself.
I drew him as a left-handed person but according to the primary sources left-handed persons and red-headed men were not really welcomed into the cavalry companies (banners or choragwie), as supposedly capable of bringing bad luck or being untrustworthy.
Nolens volens I did my drawing with with 'muy mucho gusto', as I liked the horse and the way this rider sat in the saddle – saddle I took from many painting by Polish preeminent painter of the historic genre - Julish Kossak. The stirrups are traditional Polish, his riding boots may be booty taken form a defeated Western reiter. Since he is a lefty his bowcase is on his right hip while under his left htugh he has a 'koncerz '(tuck, estoc), another steppe and Islamic weapon retained in Poland until the early XVIII century. Another very particular weapon of choice and prestige shown here is a 'nadziak' (warhammer), that during the 1600s became part of the national noble costume and in itslef was a fearsome weapon, its origins going back to the Scythian, Persian and Saka kings of the 600-500 BC.

My main interest here is the red mane and tail of his 'Arabczyk' (Arabian horse) – well, Polish noblemen copied so much the Turkish fashions that by the late 1500s  they were dyeing their horses, usually with red, and not only the horses mane and tail but also legs and lower belly. When Polish embassies made their entries into Rome and Paris (respectively 1630s and 1640s) the onlookers and chroniclers could no hide their wonder with the richly caparisoned and very spirited horses, with dyed bodies and manes and tails...

Old Drawings ...

Many years ago when B.Clinton was US president and in Poland there was comrade Alexander Kwasniewski presiding from the Warsaw's Belvedere Place, I did a series of drawings of Polish noblemen on horseback, or rather some horses with their riders pretending to be Polish riders.
Historically correct they were not and definitely on the fantasy side, yet I had lots of fun drawing them using various Pigma micron pens and watercolors. I did clean the drawing and changed the color of the Background with GIMP and PS.

This image is supposed to show one over-armed szlachcic (nobleman) of the early XVII (17th) century.

He is wearing a Hungarian style 'magierka' (headgear), a type of hat very popular with Polish nobility between 1560-1640s (more or less), a short 'zupan' (zhupan a riding coat of ancient Iranian - Sarmatians, Scythians - nomads provenance), and riding boots where the heel was of iron and shaped like horseshoe (R. Brzezinski writes about this Polish footwear in his Osprey's book – Polish Winged Hussar). The stirrup suppose to be of a Polish type, based on the Tatar stirrups – most Polish riding gear was based in the Caspian-Pontic steppe traditions.
Under his left leg he is carrying a pallasch (a Polish Palasz) a fearsome broadsword that had its origins with the Sassanian, Turkic, and Islamic knightly traditions. I drew a Tatar looking sabre that was usually carried under the bow case. He is carrying a 'nadziak' in his right hand, a fearsome weapon indeed.
Bow case ( 'sajdak' or 'sahajdak' in Polish) is a fantasy piece, the same with saddle, although it is very loosely based on the original saddles of the time period. Horse tack is a bit fanciful but especially towards the end of the 1600s Polish horse tack became more Oriental (Tatar and Turkish). The horse tail (tug or kutas) or 'bunczk' (bunchuk) hanging from the horse's neck was adopted early in the 1500s by the Polish horsemen, and was often dyed red and adorned with colorful silk cords, gold, silver and precious jewels.
By the way a big or small mustache was a must for a Polish nobleman - His Royal Majesty King Jan III Sobieski, Prince and Marechal du France Prince Jozef Poniatowski, and Conqueror of the Soviet Russia Marshal Jozef Pilsudski are the most famous examples of that continuous fashion that lasted from the early medieval Poland until the mid 1990s. Even today it is the part of traditional Polish male appearance, although not in fashion that much with the young bucks.

CURB BIT of Byzantine provenance

Salve,
 we went to the MET today, to see the Afghanistan treasures of the Bactra-Margiana, Saka and Kushan eras (hope to address these in the future posts), and also the old medieval drawings (I will do a post on some nice drawings I found at the exhibit dating to 12th century AD Turnai, France), and passing by the Byzantine art section I took some pictures of a curb bit dated between 600 to 800 AD (Anno Domini or Christian Era), an example of early Medieval art and following both the Persian and Sogdian traditions of the Sassanid era and prior ancient Roman traditions.

The bit is beautiful, inlaid with various motifs and nicely preserved - it was found in Spain, and most likely is of the Byzantine provenance, perhaps it was traded or captured by the Visigoth or Moorish conqueror of Spain, as the times were very tumultuous.

The horse's bridle  must been attached via these 2 rectangular movable pieces attached to the bit mouthpiece's 'rings.' The reins could have been attached to the surviving rings on the mouthpice or down below at the end ot the shank, where there are two rein rings welded to the shank bar. It looks as if the purchase was not attached directly to the bridle, as if in the ancient 'psalion'/cheekpieced bit. It was  quite powerful device of control, most likely used on a mount destined for war and close combat.

One day  I shall do a drawing of this bit as could have appeared  when placed in a horse's mouth etc ...

some old drawings

as I am busy with some new and old projects I have decided to share some old images of mine - they are between fantasy and history, and between enjoyment and pure struggle to achieve a desired result, the outcome not always as happy as one would like...