Westwood Memorial Stables - Homage to Aashiq!

Anyone who has met me and chattted for any length of time will know how much I love Aashiq. :D

The picture above was taken at the BECF Hobby Day in March 2007 by Shaun Small and shows my collection of china Aashiq's in all their glory winning the "Favorite mold class". Mac and Vanessa of Horsing Around fame were there to see the lineup and they were suitably impressed. Vanessa loves Aashiq as much as I do. ;)

The History of Aashiq

Aashiq was sculpted by Edwin Bogucki and was originally cast in resin in an edition of 150. The horse is 9" tall to eartips and 12" from nose to tail tip. Although I have yet to meet a resin Aashiq in person, I was told he came with a base "like a plank of wood"! The resin edition sold out in 2003. Incidently "Aashiq" means "lover" in arabic and is a very fitting name for such a fiesty and fine example of a young arab stallion showing off for his beloved. :)

Here's a link to Ed's Aashiq on his home page - http://home.att.net/~Bogucki/aashiq.html

At some point Horsing Around asked Ed if they could produce Aashiq in a porcelain limited edition, which they did in 2003. (And I was delighted) He sold out pretty quickly. He was produced by Alchemy Ceramics in an edition of 50, and you could choose dappled bay, grey or chestnut with a gloss or satin finish at a cost of over £700 each. If I remember correctly, the studio (Alchemy) has one copy and Horsing Around kept 5 copies. That leaves 44 (42?) copies for the rest of the world... (and one has been broken already).

It is these china Aashiq's that have so captured my heart, and this page is mostly dedicated to them. :)

My love of Aashiq...

My obsession goes back to when I accidently found Ed's resin asshiq on his homepage. I was smitten but did not have enough money at the time to buy one, never mind getting him painted. I was content to visit Aashiq on his webpage, look at the prety pictures and dream. This changed back in 2003 when I was invited to go to Amsterdam. It's a lovely place, the canals are wonderful, the food was great (really!), the whole group of us (about 20 all told) cycled across the city just to visit a chocolate shop to buy the best chocolates ever (my other passion by the way!). We toured the canals by boat, we visited Anne Frank's House, and by night parts of the city were... ...colourful. :) We also visited a diamond house (Amsterdam is the place to get your diamonds apparently) and I was enchanted by a £3000 ring. I even considered buying it! And then I thought, why buy a ring I can't wear to work (what if I lost it?!!) when I can buy that resin Aashiq I've been lusting after for _ages_?

So, after the holiday I sat down at my computor and pulled up the Aashiq page on Ed's website. I though - a quick email will do it won't it? Then I noticed the worst words ever "SOLD OUT". I nearly cried. :( Then I thought, there must be someone out there selling their copy... so I whacked my Google. :)

I found out that Horsing Around was producing Aashiq in china and I was smitten! :D I bought my first three Aashiq's from them and have been tracking down the rest ever since. :) I've noticed that each model is different, that fine details were slowly lost during the casting process (for example there is a hole near the end of his tail which is lost in the later pieces) and the shading, colouration and markings all differ in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. I know of at least one that has been broken (*sob*). China horses and airbeds do not mix apparently.

Here is my gallery of China Aashiq's in all their glory. I do try to credit pictures where I can, so if I have borrowed one of your pictures by mistake (and I usually ask first) please get in touch so I can appologise properly!

My Aashiqs

My small collection of china Aashiqs. I love them all!

Aashiq # , dappled bay with satin finish, otherwise known as Divine*Influence Prophecy Live show Arab champion	Aashiq # , light dappled grey with satin finish otherwise known as Divine*Influence Weyland Ghostlight
Aashiq # , chestnut with satin finish, otherwise known as Z:aphra'in	Aashiq #10, chestnut with satin finish (the flash glare from the camera makes him look glossy)
Aashiq #38, light dappled grey with satin finish, sold/bought on eBay	Aashiq # , light dappled grey with satin finish Bought from a lovely lady in the US
Aashiq # ,  chestnut with gloss finish bought from a lady in Louisanna, US Now known as Fire Opal :) Live show placed	Aashiq #4?, black satin with minimal white Artist's choice by Horsing Around Murad Adham Aashiq Thank you MAC and Vanessa for letting me buy this very special horse!

Other Aashiqs

Beautiful china Aashiqs that belong to other lucky people. :)

Aashiq #2, chestnut with satin finish unknown owner	Aashiq #21, satin bay, shown as "Kosmopolitan" Owned and photgraphed by drsteggy
Aashiq #?, grey with satin finish, owned by SD, UK	Satin grey, shown as "Muftakir Amir" Owned and photographed by Laurel http://members.tripod.com/deserthorse/welcome.html

PS: I was chatting to Mac and Nessa and they are thinking of releasing a special edition of Aashiq, with a new look, new base and possibly new colours.... I'm grinning already. And saving! LOL! :)

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Copyright (c) 2006 C Abbott Last updated 31/1/08