Three Ornaments from a Bridle

Symplegma of Fish Ornaments

Paintings indicate that Mughal horses and elephants were as richly caparisoned as the princes who rode them. Bridles were often brightened with rows of ornaments such as these, forming a rhythmic repeated pattern that is both eye-catching and meaningful. Very similarly arranged fish, the zodiacal configuration of Pisces, are found on a talismanic bowl of the Jahangir period.[1] The fish is also seen as a standard in Muslim India (see no. 219 in this volume); and during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was the heraldic symbol of the Muslim rulers of Lucknow. One wonders if these excitingly designed earlier examples, which bring to mind the ancient "animal style," might not have been associated with their owner's astrological sign.

[Welch 1985]

Footnotes:

1. For the talismanic bowl, see Welch, A. Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World, 1979, pp. 186–87.

Stuart Cary Welch, Warner, NH (by 1985–87; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "INDIA !," September 14–September 14, 1985, no. 170.

Welch, Stuart Cary. India! Art and Culture 1300–1900. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985. no. 170, p. 261, ill. group of 9 (b/w).