Saddle (gser sga) Made for Yuthok Tashi Dundrup (g.yu thog bkra shis don grub, 1906–1983)
This saddle demonstrates beautifully the long tradition of finely made and ornately decorated ceremonial saddles that flourished in Tibet from at least the early fifteenth century until the mid-twentieth century. It is distinguished by elaborate mounts of intricately modeled gilt copper plates, set with turquoise. The saddle was made in Derge (in present-day Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China), which was famous for centuries for its metalwork. It is significant not only as a fine example of late Derge metalwork but also because it was made for a known patron, the Tibetan nobleman Yuthok Tashi Dundrup (1906–1983), who commissioned the set of saddle and tack while residing in Chamdo and serving as governor of eastern Tibet between 1943 and 1947.
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