Showcase 55. Turkish ceremonial horse harness of the XVIIIth century

Extremely rich horse harness came to Russia as gifts from Eastern countries, namely, Persia, Turkey, China and Bukhara, with which Russia had established trading and diplomatic relations. The horse was greatly respected in the East.

The showcase 55 includes items of ceremonial horse harness made in Persia in the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. In the XVth century Persian merchants were carrying on a lively trade with Russia, but diplomatic relations with Persia were not established until the XVIth century. In 1590 Shah Abbas I of Persia sent Tsar Fyodor of Russia a gold saddle covered with velvet and adorned with a large bright blue turquoise, rubies and emeralds. Noteworthy among the exhibits is the Persian velvet woven with carnations on the gold saddle of Tsar Mikhail Romanov, a present from Shah Safi (1635). The saddle is studded with pearls, rubies, emeralds and turquoises, a very popular stone in the East. Persian horse cloths were executed of silk, brocade and velvet and decorated with silver and gold embroidery. Some were made of linen, in which case they were embroidered with gold and silver to imitate brocade.

The group of Turkish exhibits is the largest in the showcase. Turkish saddles are broader at the base than Persian and Russian ones; they fit more closely to the horse's back and have a high pointed pommel at the front and a sloping cantle at the back. Turkish makers made saddles of gilded silver embellished with niello, engraving and chasing. The velvet and altabas covering were embroidered with flowers composed of pearls and precious stones.

Here too you can see items of ceremonial horse harness made by Polish, English, Czech and German craftsmen. The earliest items in the collection are the Polish hussar saddles. They were presented to Boris Godunov in 1600 by the ambassador of King Sigismund III of Poland. The hussar saddles fit the horse's back closely, a typical feature of West-European saddles, while the high sloping head of the pommel was borrowed from the East. The Polish archac (a small saddle with a detachable cushion), which belonged to Prince Stefan Mossalsky, is worthy of particular attention. It is covered with red velvet, and the pommel and cantle are silvered and gilded. The splendid saddle by the well-known maker Andjei Makenzen I was presented to the Russian Tsar by an embassy from Stanislaw Wenslawski in 1651. It is covered with gold-embroidered raspberry-coloured velvet. The silver pommel is topped by a lion's head. Note the chest band made by the Prague master loann Mikhael. The pearls, precious stones and blue enamel create an impression of elegance. It is thought to have been a present to Tsar Boris Godunov by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II. The German saddles in the showcase (second half of XVIIth century) had a traditional form which had been developed in the age of chivalry and were intended for a firm seat. The saddles had special clips for the legs. The main ornament was a splendid high-relief embroidery.