A Gift from the Desert: the Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse

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“The beauty, grace, and grandeur of the Arabian horse have inspired poets, artists, and storytellers for many centuries. Arising from a long and winding history, the origin of this elegant spirit is buried under the sands of time. This incredible journey has led to the creation of the magnificent and precious creature that is ‘A Gift from the Desert.’� — Sandra Olsen, Exhibition Co-Curator

One of eight lithographs in the exhibition by Carl Kurtz and Johann Baptist Zwecker, hand-colored and highlighted with gold, published by Autenrieth, Stuttgart, 1946. Theses lithographs, called “The Carrouselâ€? depict a tournament held to celebrate the wedding of HRH Crown Prince of WĂźrttemberg (later King Karl I of Germany) and the daughter of the Russian Czar in 1846. THIEME COLLECTION

A Gift from the Desert: the Art, History and Cult ure of the Arabian Horse

“The beauty, grace, and grandeur of the Arabian horse have inspired poets, artists, and storytellers for many centuries. Arising from a long and winding history, the origin of this elegant spirit is buried under the sands of time. This incredible journey has led to the creation of the magnificent and precious creature that is ‘A Gift from the Desert.’” — Sandra Olsen, Exhibition Co-Curator

One of eight lithographs in the exhibition by Carl Kurtz and Johann Baptist Zwecker, hand-colored and highlighted with gold, published by Autenrieth, Stuttgart, 1946. Theses lithographs, called “The Carrousel” depict a tournament held to celebrate the wedding of HRH Crown Prince of Württemberg (later King Karl I of Germany) and the daughter of the Russian Czar in 1846. THIEME COLLECTION 2

Middle: A prancing horse, from the reign of Amenhotep III. Stained ivory and glass circa 1390-1352 BCE. METROPOLITAN

Top: The Standard of Ur, a Sumerian artifact originally found in a burial chamber in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, dates between 2600 and 2450 BC and is one of the most famous artifacts in antiquity. BRITISH MUSEUM

MUSEUM OF ART

Bottom left: Images of cavalry depicted in the rock art at Bir Hima near Najran in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Photo

by Richard T. Bryant.

LAYAN FOUNDATION

Bottom right: Golden horse bridle from a horse burial in Sharjah, circa 150 BC to AD 200. SHARJAH ARCHEOLOGY MUSEUM

“A Gift from the Desert: the Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse,” will open on May 29 and runs through October 15 in Lexington at the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse, a Smithsonian affiliate. Through this landmark exhibition, visitors will enjoy the largest, most comprehensive collection of equine art and artifacts ever assembled to pay tribute to the Arabian as the most influential horse in history.

The exhibition, presented by the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation, contains almost 400 objects, some of which have never before left their native country. Artifacts and works of art will travel from 25 museums and private lenders, including the National Museum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Saud University’s 3

Top left: Ceramic Bosse with Mounted Archers — Iran, Kashah, 13th century. BRITISH MUSEUM Top right: Dish with Mounted Warrior — Syria, 1250 CE, Ayyubid period. BRITISH MUSEUM Bottom left: This Late Assyrian carved ivory fragment with chariot was originally found in Northern Mesopotamia and dates back to the 9th-8th century BCE. BRITISH MUSEUM

Bottom right: A 10th century bowl depicting horse and rider from Nishapur, Persia. FURUSIYYA ART FOUNDATION

Museum of Archaeology, the British Museum, the Furusiyya Art Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford University, the National Museum of Warsaw, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the American Museum of Natural History.

“These rare artifacts will be united for the first time in one location,” said Bill Cooke, director of the International Museum of the Horse. “The story of the Arabian breed is a thread of continuity throughout the exhibition, but our art and artifacts also explore the rich and varied cultures of the peoples who treasured them and the vast contributions the ancient Near East and Arab world have made to civilization.”

“The Arabian horse’s partnership with man extends throughout some of the most dynamic epochs in history,” said Cynthia Culbertson, Arabian horse historian and co-curator for the exhibition. “From King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; the pharaohs of Egypt; sheikhs, pashas, and princes of the Near East; to Napoleon and U.S. presidents, the Arabian has transcended cultures to become an enduring symbol of beauty, nobility, and pride.”

Highlights of the exhibition include the 4500-year-old Sumerian Standard of Ur, bas-reliefs depicting horses in the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, horse-related artifacts from the Arabian peninsula, Islamic art, including ceramics, glass and metalwork, exquisite tack from the Ottoman Empire, the robes and dagger of T.E. Lawrence, the original Abbas Pasha manuscript, and a marvelous selection of Eurpoean and American art featuring the Arabian horse.

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Continued on page 157

Top: Ottoman Chamfron (horse armor) late 15th to 16th century. FURUSIYYA ART FOUNDATION

Bottom left: A group of strap mounts that originally adorned tack in Islamic Spain. These are from Nasrid dating to the 14th to 15th century.

FURUSIYYA ART FOUNDATION

Bottom right: An enameled and gilded glass pilgrim flask with horse and rider from the Mamluk period.

Syrian, circa 1250-1260 CE. BRITISH MUSEUM

SAUDI ARABIAN EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION TURNS DREAM INTO REALITY From the moment the Director of the International Museum of the Horse, Bill Cooke, envisioned the Arabian breed as the ideal subject of the museum’s third major international exhibition, a dedicated group of supporters, both in the U.S. and internationally, stepped forth to ensure his concept came to fruition. Hosting an exhibition of this size and scope is particularly challenging, and through the generous sponsorship of the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation, the dream would become a reality.

Federation President, HRH Prince Nawaf bin Faisal bin Fahad, heartily endorsed the exhibition concept and has offered his full support throughout the three-year process of mounting the exhibition. The Federation’s Honorary President, HH Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed, whose enthusiasm and dedication

has fostered a wide range of equestrian activities in the Kingdom, comments, “Horses and horsemanship represent a treasured heritage in our country and we are honored and proud of our partnership with the International Museum of the Horse in presenting ‘A Gift from the Desert.’”

Tremendous assistance has also been provided by the Federation’s Secretary General and Executive Director of the King Abdul Aziz Arabian Horse Center, Sami Al Nohait, and a special exhibition in the Arabian Galleries will showcase the history and horses of the Center. “Through this exhibition we invite you to share our love and appreciation of the Arabian horse whose nobility and beauty have touched the hearts of so many people around the world,” says Prince Faisal.

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Bottom left: This

Bottom middle: Ottoman

bridle, with its silver

saddle blanket from

gilt decorative fittings,

the second half of the

shows the unique art of

17th century.

Ottoman goldsmithing.

BADISCHES LANDESMUSEUM,

17th Century. BADISCHES

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY

LANDESMUSEUM,

Top: Three Galloping Horses — A

Bottom right: An elaborate Ottoman saddle from the second half of the 17th century covered with

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY

leather, brass, linen, silk, silver wire, velvet, and

watercolor on paper from Iran during

gold-plated silver thread and cord. BADISCHES

the Safavid period, circa 1550 CE.

LANDESMUSEUM, KARLSRUHE, GERMANY

BRITISH MUSEUM

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Right: “A Bazaar in Damascus” — a sevenfoot-high canvas painted by famed American equine artist Edward Troye in 1856 after he accompanied A. Keene Richards to Turkey and Syria. Mr. Richards was the first American to travel personally to the desert and import Arabian horses to the United States. BETHANY COLLEGE Left: “Wawrzyniec Fredro in the Embassy to Istanbul in 1500” — Juliusz Kossak, 1883, watercolor on paper. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WARSAW

Middle: “Nijid” — Victor Adam. Colored chalk lithograph on tinted paper. Printed by Godard and published by Tessari, Paris, 1850.

THIEME COLLECTION

Bottom: “Mokladi” — Edward Troye, 1854.

A. Keene Richards appears in this portrait holding Mokladi, one of the Arabians he imported to improve the bloodlines of American Thoroughbreds. KEENE R. KELLEY COLLECTION

Cooke said another piece that will intrigue horse lovers is the Kikkuli Text, which was written around 1400 BC as a training manual for chariot horses in combat and emphasizes conditioning similar to that still used today by three-day event and endurance trainers. The tablet on display is one of the set of four intact cuneiform tablets.

“The domestication of the horse was a crucial milestone that resulted in a vast amount of change in human history, through rapid transportation, the spread of language and technology, trade, warfare, work, sports, and all other aspects of life,” said Sandra Olsen, curator of anthropology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and a co-curator for the exhibition. “It would be impossible to rewrite history extracting the horse, imagining how language, technology, and politics would be different today in its absence.”

The exhibition not only features items directly relating to the horse, but also explores the cultures of the civilizations that held the Arabian horse in high regard. “We have exquisite pieces which prominently feature horses and riders,” said Culbertson.

“But we also have examples of the splendors of the Islamic dynasties such as lovely ceramics from the Ayyubid period, the intricate glass and metalwork of the Mamluks, and exquisite daggers from the Mughal period.”

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A wonderful variety of tack will also be on display, including decorative bits, such as those from Luristan in Iran and spectacular pieces of chariot equipment from the Urartrians. Golden bridles, inlaid stirrups, and embellished saddles and saddle blankets will illustrate the adornments of the Arabian horse during the Islamic eras.

Many people are familiar with the history of the Arabian horse in Europe and America. This exhibition, however, allows them to explore the history of the horse in the Ancient Near East, Arabia, and Egypt, as well as the centuries of breeding that took place before the Arabian horse became known in the West.

“Around 2300 BCE, more than a millennium after domesticated horses were grazing on the steppes of Kazakhstan, they were only beginning to trickle into the Middle East,” explains Olsen. “Another seven centuries would pass before any approached Egypt, and these early arrivals were quite indistinguishable from their primitive-looking ancestors. We know little about when horses finally reached the Arabian Peninsula, but indications are that even more time passed before it was so. The temporal span between when horses were first brought under human control and the time the beautiful creature we recognize as the Arabian horse breed arose was apparently more than 2,000 years.

“Archaeologists typically reconstruct the development of animal breeds by measuring and describing ancient skeletons, but in the case of the Arabian horse, most of our knowledge of its initial years comes from ancient art,” Olsen continues. “The earliest recognizable expressions of the characters we attribute to this refined breed appear in Egyptian tomb paintings and effigies during the New Kingdom. The pharaoh Thutmose III, who reigned between 1479 and 1425 BCE, was known as the Napoleon of Egypt. He waged military campaigns over much of the Middle East and brought large numbers of horses and chariots, as well as other booty back to his homeland. These chariot horses are depicted from that time onward with many of the features associated with the Arabian breed: concave to straight facial profile, delicate muzzle, large eyes and nostrils, strongly arched neck, short back, and tail with a high carriage.

Originally bred to thrive in hot, dry environs and to possess the stamina and endurance required for chariot warfare, this breed continues until the present to astound people with its appearance and performance.”

Top left: “An Arabian Horse” — Théodore Géricault. Chalk lithograph on white woven paper, printed by Hullmandel, published by Rodwell and Martin. London 1821. THIEME COLLECTION Top right: “Ibrahim Pasha” — Victor Adam. Chalk lithograph on tinted paper, printed by Lemercier, Paris. THIEME COLLECTION Middle: “Mameluck en Retraite” — Carle Vernet. Hand-colored aquatint published by Ackermann, London 1821. THIEME COLLECTION Bottom: Images from “The Carrousel” — Carl Kurtz and Johann Baptist Zwecker. Handcolored and highlighted with gold, published

by Autenrieth, Stuttgart, 1946.

THIEME COLLECTION

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Top left: “La Lutte” — Alfred de Dreux, artist. Handcolored chalk lithograph on tinted paper, three dimensionally enhanced with egg white. #25 of the series “Chevaux de selle et d’attelage,” lithographed by Durand, printed by Lemercier, published by Goupil, Paris, 1859. THIEME COLLECTION Top right: “The Horsewoman” — A rare oil by the famous Polish painter Juliusz Kossak, who was best known for his watercolors. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WARSAW Middle: “In The Stables” — Juliusz Kossak, 1866.

Watercolor on paper. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WARSAW Bottom: “Mohort Demonstrating his Stud” — Juliusz Kossak, 1858. Oil on canvas. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WARSAW

The ‘Gift from the Desert’ exhibition traces the history of the Arabian horse from its inception onward by featuring rare and precious art and artifacts reflecting its path through time and across cultures.

“Traveling to Kentucky sometime from May through October in 2010 is the perfect trip for an Arabian horse enthusiast,” Culbertson advises. “As well as our unique ‘A Gift from the Desert’ exhibition, the Arabian Galleries, a permanent addition to the International Museum of the Horse and a wonderful interactive venue to promote the Arabian breed, will also be open. Who could ask for anything more?”

ABOUT THE SPONSORS: Exhibition Presenting Sponsor: The Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation Special thanks to: HRH Prince Nawaf bin Faisal bin Fahad, President HH Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammad, Honorary President The following patrons and sponsors also contributed to the exhibition: Patrons: Exxon/Mobil Chevron The Qatar Foundation The Purebred Arabian Trust Henry and Christie Metz 9

The Sponsors include: HH Sarah Fahad al Sabah The Arabian Horse Owners Foundation Hank and Sandy DeShazer Donald and Judith Forbis Barbara Griffith Dr. William H. Hudson Allison Mehta and Curtis Westley Dennis and Bridgette Orwig Ray and Karen Kasper Seacastle Films Tickets are $21 for adults and $11 for children. For information on the exhibition or the museum, contact the International Museum of the Horse, 859-259-4232 or go to www. giftfromthedesert.com. For group tour information, contact Ali Mihankhah, 859-259-4225 or ali.mihankhah@ky.gov.