WASHINGTON, DC.- An exhibition of sixty magnificent equestrian textiles made over the past 1,300 years and treasured by civilizations from Türkiye to Japan celebrates the Year of the Horse at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in Washington, DC, through June 20, 2026. Adorning the Horse: Equestrian Textiles for Power and Prestige highlights the historical significance of horses in human society, as well as the lifestyles, artistic and cultural traditions, and beliefs of the people who dressed their horses with these exquisitely crafted textiles.

Support for this exhibition and its accompanying publication and programs is provided by Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman and the Brick Freedman Endowment for Equestrian Textiles. The exhibition celebrates their 2021 donation to The Textile Museum Collection of one-hundred equestrian textiles and an endowment that provides ongoing support for equestrian textiles as a unique area of study.


Horse cover, India, 1750-1858. The Textile Museum Collection 2021.17.77. Brick Freedman Collection.

"The museum is home to one of the world's most significant collections—as well as a center for the conservation and study—of global equestrian textiles, thanks to the generosity of Allen and Judy Brick Freedman, who is herself a longtime rider and competitor and former board member of the museum," said John Wetenhall, director, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum." The endowment that the Freedmans established, together with their funding for this exhibition and its catalog, will ensure that these fascinating works will be studied and appreciated for future generations."

Co-curators Lee Talbot and Sumru Belger Krody organized the exhibition that includes saddle covers, under-saddle cloths, horse blankets, and other trappings from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Japan, Syria, Tibet, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as two robes worn by riders.


Saddle cover; Türkiye, Anatolia; 1880-1900. The Textile Museum Collection 2021.17.95. Brick Freedman Collection.

"Domesticated around 5,000 years ago, horses have changed the course of human history by facilitating the rapid movement of people, goods and information, as well as transforming warfare, systems of governance and ways of life. Certain breeds of horses have also been equated with wealth and high social status—a notion reinforced by costuming them with colorful and costly textiles like those in the exhibition," said Talbot.

Krody noted that "Equestrian textiles were embellished with utmost care and attention using high-quality materials, design, color and technical skill, all of which are present in this diverse collection of textiles from across time and geography."

Examples of the geographic breadth and technical diversity represented in the show include the oldest textile on display, which is a horse cover created in Central Asia between the fifth and seventh centuries. Embroidered on the cover in silk thread are a pair of confronted horses flanking a flowering tree, as well as 25 beaded roundels containing a boar’s head, a human-headed bird, a peacock and other motifs. These Indo-Iranian motifs were widespread in many types of textiles produced between Eastern Iran and Western China up to the eighth century.


Horse cover, Central Asia, 5th-7th century. The Textile Museum Collection 2021.17.100. Brick Freedman Collection.

An enchanting 19th-century saddle cover from Iran features six virtually identical female portraits, which were most likely inspired by the portraits seen on minakari (enamelware)—a cherished art form deeply intertwined with Iran's cultural heritage. The luxurious materials and fine workmanship of a caparison, a cloth covering laid over a horse for protection and decoration, indicate that it belonged to a wealthy family from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. A sumptuous horse cover made during the late Mughal period (1526-1857) in India features a sun, moon and floral patterns embroidered with gold-wrapped thread on red silk velvet. With eight shiny brass bells and a border that was originally bright red, a “shiri gake” (rump cover) from Japan would have enhanced the sights and sounds of a festival, wedding celebration or shrine visit.


Horse trapping; Japan, northern; 1868-1912. The Textile Museum Collection 2021.17.8. Brick Freedman Collection.

Public Programs
The museum's Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center will hold a virtual roundtable on Global Equine Cultures featuring experts offering a variety of geographic and cultural perspectives on February 26 and 27. Registration is required.

The museum will present an International Film Series featuring The Horses of Fukushima on March 28 as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, Home on the Steppe on April 18, followed by a panel discussion, and Atlan on May 9. Registration is required.

More programs for this exhibition will be added soon. Consult the museum's website for updates.

Exhibition Publication
A 254-page, fully illustrated, limited-edition catalog, "Adorning the Horse, Equestrian Textiles for Power and Prestige, 6th-20th Centuries," was published for the exhibition by Hali Publications. It features stunning photography of highlights from The Textile Museum Collection, and primarily its Brick Freedman Collection; a foreword by museum director John Wetenhall; an introduction by collector and donor Judy Brick Freedman; and new essays by curators Sumru Belger Krody and Lee Talbot, as well as leading historians of equestrian textiles David W. Anthony, Dorcas R. Brown, Thomas Cole, Mariachiara Gasparini and Linda Komaroff. The publication may be purchased for $55 online through HALI or at the Artisan's Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Visiting Information
The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum is located on GW’s Foggy Bottom campus at 701 21st St. NW, in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery, White House, Lisner Auditorium and the National Mall. Galleries are open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on university holidays. Admission to the museum is free. For information on the museum's visiting hours, exhibitions and educational programs, please check the museum website.