He is very clear about the fact that there were many other noble breeds before the Arabian breed.
Here is an illustration of a Turk from his book, if you look closely you can see a clear resemblance with many Arab-line Tekes and this illustration.

1. Tabitha05/04/2007 08:32:06

Really.. sometimes I wonder why artists of those times rather followed fashion instead of drawing what they saw.
Didn't they realize they were drawing for the future, so we could know how things were in their time ?

Personally I don't think this looks anything like a rideable horse. More like a way too fat horse with a huge .. backhand. Its head and legs are the only things that are pretty well drawn. And the surrounding of course .

Am glad that so far I haven't seen any Tekes looking like that . That would be a bad advertisement for the breed!!

2. Heather05/04/2007 10:56:46

Tabitha,
I feel your point! My thesis was actually focused on Scientific illustration - not only technique, but a lot about the history and philosophy behind illustrations just like this one. It is only in early 20th century that didactic illustrations were given the attention to detail that we do now. In fact, there were different perspectives about how to represent "truth" at varying times in antiquity. Example, a drawing from an ancient Hellenic book on medicinal herbs - a plant intended to combat venomous snake bite was literally illustrated with one leaf turning into the head of a snake! Placed next to a picture of the actual plant you wonder how the illustrator expected anyone to identify the plant through his rendering! But it goes back to that perception of truth and what is considered the important information to pass along. Unromanticized illustration are unfortunately a rather contemporary invention, which means any antiquated drawing has to be evaluated from that cautious perspective. That plate above makes me think the artist was going for a classical art look, and hence the George Stubbs inspired horse with petite legs, a fine head, and a fat ass!

3. Jessica 05/04/2007 11:29:23

Typical for the times illustrational fashion was to place the eyes of the horse so that from the front the horse would look more human.
Also the overdimensioned body on thin legs was not uncommon.
I have, somewhere, instructions for artists on how to illustrate horses. It's nice to have when you look at old illustrations so that you can try to see the real horse. In this picture I see a noble horse with a dry and small head, free and good set of the highly carried neck, long thin legs and long pasterns, long back, well developed croup, with a low set tail, long gaskins. The hooves a small and well formed. All these traits typical for the modern Teke.
The top line and outline of the hind-end is to me very much Arab-line. The proportions of course are not correct and I think it is more the artist than the horse.

4. maria05/06/2007 08:25:43

I am going to disagree! I see a very rideable animal in what is, of course, an artistic exagerration. If you think of the modern-day photography, and in particular, photography in relation to the Akhal-Teke, even a photographic image presents a distortion. A Teke lover has to learn to "read" photographic images, and the ability to do so comes after one has learned to recognised a good Teke in real life. With artwork, it is even more extreme but not altogether dissimilar. One has to take into account the conventions of the period and learn to see these as part of the representation, not a distortion of reality. While the body on this image appears quite fat, it is just the emphasis that this horse has a lot of muscle and substance. Even though it sits over thin legs, it does not make the horse look short and dumpy. The bent hind leg gives the whole image a lift as does the coy angle of the head. The angle of the legs to the body is perfect, the neck looks a bit short but isn't unbalanced, and completely agree with Jessica: it is possible to see the features one sees in some Teke of massive type, more so than one would see an Arab or a Spanish horse in this image.

5. Jessica05/07/2007 10:26:51

Yes, judgeing from photos had its challenges. Today though, photos are used by many to make the first selection of prospective horses to look closer at. Photos are good for studying details and angles, hopefully the person who publish the photo think that it captures the overall impression of the horse.

6. Ron05/15/2007 06:33:32

Well, then and now, there where good and bad artists. I will ad a gravure about my TOORKMAN, and one from a gravure from Johan Elias Ridinger. I will not say that the first one is bad, but a lot of artists have the tendention to give some points more value.
Fore instances at that time they loved to see a well developed hind quarters well then they will paint it with more emphasize. But you say that even then there where more typs of horses.