Saddle, 20th century
Miao people; Guizhou Province , China
Silver
Gift of Richard and Mary Cramer
2009.16.1
For young Miao women, when it comes to personal adornment, the more silver one has the better, and one’s beauty is marked by the heaviness of her ornaments. Young women of marriageable age take part in courting festivals where they hope to attract suitable mates. Covered from head to toe in silver headdresses, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and other jewelry, a girl’s shining ensembles sometimes weighs more than twenty pounds. These brilliant visual displays of wealth are intended to capture the attention of available men, and are advertisements of a young woman’s dowry to be transferred to her future husband family upon marriage. The sight of a horse specially outfitted with a silver saddle is an ultimate display of wealth. Horses are relied upon for both transportation and cultivation and are symbols of prestige and affluence; they are also included in Miao marriage processions. Like silver, horses may become part of a young woman’s dowry.
This saddle is made of wood, overstretched with leather, and fitted with sheets of pounded silver. It is completely covered in designs that signify happiness, fertility, posterity and harmony. Fan-tailed dragons float among clouds and flames of fire, and flank the sides of a flaming pearl; below two fish appear. Happy human figures can be seen within the branches of flowering trees. A phoenix and a dragon playfully face a sun, and two phoenixes with swirling tail feathers are on the rear of the saddle. Miao silversmiths mimic the motifs found within embroidered, woven and batik-dyed special occasion textiles which are exquisitely made by women. These motifs are usually part of some historic or mythic narrative or have a specific significance to the Miao who traditionally lack a written language.