Riding saddle

Uzbek; Tajik

Emirate of Bukhara, city Bukhara

1900-1906

Wood, leather, birch bark, bone, iron, white metal, velvet, metallic, polish, paint

Embroidery

height 29.0; length 50.0

РЭМ 5474-8

One of the crafts practiced by the Sarts in Tashkent and Samarkand in the first half of the 19th century was saddle making. This type of composite saddle is called a "Sart saddle" in scholarly literature. The saddle is made from over thirty small parts, giving it a flexible structure. For added strength, the saddle is completely covered in leather or, as in this case, birch bark. The saddle's luxurious decoration—painting on a gold background, gold embroidery, inlays, and the pommel's edged with bone plates—indicates that this particular example was made for the emir's court and used for ceremonial rides. In 1906, it was presented to the Russian Imperial Family. A thoroughbred and well-groomed horse was a source of pride for its owner. The finest saddles, harnesses, and blankets were purchased for it. Such horses were never harnessed to a cart or a plow. Horses for the ceremonial rides of the Bukharan aristocracy were especially richly decorated. They were draped in gold-embroidered blankets, fitted with harnesses embellished with gilded plaques, tassels and jeweled cupolas were suspended from their manes and tails, and a magnificent aigrette crowned their foreheads. Master saddlers crafted ceremonial saddles in the craft workshops at the court of the Emir of Bukhara. The saddle's surface was decorated with multicolored painting and bone fittings, and the stole straps were covered with gold embroidery. The stirrups were gilded. Such saddles were used only by members of the highest aristocracy. The practice of diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and the khanates of Central Asia generally developed in the 16th century and included the obligatory exchange of gifts and tributes. Gifts from Bukhara and Khiva included luxurious examples of decorative and applied art, horses, and ceremonial weapons. Beginning in the last third of the 19th century, the Bukharan emirs and Khiva khans began to personally visit St. Petersburg and Moscow for various occasions. They were accompanied by large caravans of oriental gifts. The presented saddle set is part of a large collection of gifts from the emirs of Bukhara, transferred in 1928 to the Ethnographic Department of the State Russian Museum (now the Russian Museum) from the Leningrad State Museum Fund. The saddle, saddle cloth, and saddle cover were used for ceremonial rides and date from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The bridle is more modest in appearance, but its ceremonial purpose is evident in its being trimmed with green silk fabric. The museum's collection also contains a bridle-like strop (undertail strap), which is not included in the collection because it would be invisible under the saddle cloth. The bridle and strop were donated to the museum collections by Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman (1818-1882), an engineer general and adjutant general who oversaw the colonization of Central Asia. Under his rule, a Russian protectorate was established over the Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara. The bridle is a unique item and dates back to the 1860s. Formally, the items presented do not constitute a single set. However, the fact that they were all made around the same time in nearby areas allows them to be grouped together as a set.