The brilliant bit of arabesque pattern in gold on the saddlecloth of this elegant stallion is an example of the saz style, which is distinguished by gracefully curving leaves with feathered edges, fantastic complex blossoms derived from Chinese prototypes, and elaborate combinations of vegetal forms, such as curved leaves half covering blossoms. This style, named for the saz (reed) pen employed in related drawings that were especially popular in Ottoman Turkey, Iran, and the Muslim courts of India, can be traced to Chinese-influenced Turkmen drawings of the fifteenth century.

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