Indian Pietra Dura Panel with Equine Motif

The horse stands patiently in profile, as if waiting to be painted.

This pietra dura panel with equine motif is from Rajasthan, India, and is contemporary, in hardstone. Pietra dura, the inlay of shaped and polished colored stones, flourished under the Mughals and continues in the workshops of Rajasthan. Here a horse in pale cream and gold stone, its coat mottled with rose and brown veining, stands on a dark green oval. Fine lines of stone suggest the mane, and a small dark eye is set in the head. A thin amber border outlines the black field. It is 18 inches wide, 18 deep and 1 high.

All the elegance of a thoroughbred, none of the stabling.