Kashira with a Gourd and a Horse

Description The kashira is designed in the shape of a gourd. A horse is shown emerging from the side of the gourd. This is an illustration of the idiom "like a horse coming out of a gourd," which is used to describe unexpected things. The saying may have developed from stories of the Chinese immortal Chokaro (Ch. Zhang Guo [Chang Kuo]) who carried his magical mule in a gourd. The kashira is part of a set with Walters 51.970.

Provenance William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions none

Credit Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters