A tatar, his horse, and equipment
From the collection of National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler). Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
After removing the saddle of his horse, a non-Chinese groom leads it away, perhaps to a nearby pond or river for a drink. The contrast between the crisp, linear depiction of the groom and the gentle washes of the horse is both vivid and subtle. In the lower right foreground lie two sets of saddles, arrows, and bows, one of which probably belongs to another groom and horse that are no longer part of the composition. Together with the fact that the current painting is an odd size for an album leaf, this suggests the work may have been cut from a larger composition originally in the format of a handscroll or a hanging scroll.
National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler)’s own description
