FROM CARD: "A. TWO LARGE CRESCENT-SHAPED PIECES, MADE OF REPOUSSE AND PIERCED COPPER SHEETING, WITH HEAVY GILT OVERLAY. ONE FOR FRONT OF SADDLE, (POMMEL) AND ONE FOR BACK (CANTLE). OVER-ALL DESIGNS OF LIONS, GARUDA, DRAGONS, DEER AND BIRD, WITH ELABORATE SCROLL WORK BACKGROUND. B. FOUR SMALLER PIECES, HALF-CIRCLES, FOR EACH END OF SIDE BOARDS. DRAGON DESIGNS PLUS SCROLLWORK SAME TECHNIQUE AS ABOVE, FROM DERGE, BROUGHT INTO NEPAL DURING 1959 TAKEOVER IN TIBET, FOR ARISTOCRATIC CEREMONIAL USE, FROM LHUNGAY FAMILY COLLECTIONS."
Color digital neg. #2005-22910 is view of pommel plate with two small end-board plates below. Color digital neg. #2005-22911 is detail of center section of pommel plate showing garuda. Color digital neg. #2005-22912 is view of cantle plate with two small end-board plates below. Illus. p. 240 & 241 in "Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet", by Donald LaRocca, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006. Objects are extensively described in the accompanying text on p. 240.