Portrait of a Stallion

Unknown

18th century · Ink on paper · Islamic Art

This powerful stallion with its oddly drawn head and broad forehead deviates from the sixteenth– and seventeenth–century norm of Persian steeds with long, elegant necks and large hindquarters. Instead it conforms to the eighteenth century images of the dappled grey horse of Nadir Shah, the Zand ruler who sacked Delhi in 1739 and led many campaigns against the Ottomans. This horse has the same small nostrils and ears as Nadir Shah's horse.

Artist

Unknown

Date

18th century

Medium

Ink on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of Stephen Bourgeois, 1914