A rare Circassian saddle of the late nineteenth–early twentieth century, recently won by our Museum at an auction, will join the Cossack Units display in the WWI Museum at the Martial Chamber of Tsarskoe Selo.

According to Irina Bredikhina, our Carriages Curator, this high-quality North Caucasian saddle must have belonged to a wealthy mounted serviceman of Russia's Caucasus Region Cossack Units, because its well-made ornamental decoration is devoid of distinct national motifs. Many Circassian

addlery masters would leave their villages for larger towns and cities with more demand from "outsiders" and stopped adhering to strict local traditions in ornamental decoration.

The quality and specific design of Circassian saddles were valued among Cossacks, who purchased those at numerous fairs and workshops across the Kuban Region.

Our Museum thanks Victoria Veselitskaya of the State Historical Museum and Vladimir Dmitriev and Irina Tkachenko of the State Museum of Ethnography for the attribution assistance.