Fly-Whisk

Suppliers

Bharatpur (a.k.a Bhurtpore), an industrial and agricultural city in North West India, is famous for their Fly-Whisks. These hand crafted Fly-Whisks, also known as Chowries, frequently have handles made of Ivory, Silver or Sandalwood. A great idea would be to go out, to seek and find, should you happen to be in the area.

However, for lesser mortals, standard fly-whisks can be found locally (check your local horse tack shops) and online, ranging in price from $15 to $100 (vintage/collectables start from $100 upwards). We have bought and used many in the $15 - $60 range and there is no identifiable difference between them in working quality - the only difference are the types of materials used. Please note any of these could fall apart in 5 minutes and any of these could last a long time, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to this and certainly no correlation to materials and price paid:

For Horse Back (although suitable for personal use also):

Dover Saddlery: Horse hair (black) with wooden handle and brown braided leather trim $70 + $12 shipping.

Chick’s Discount Saddlery: Horse hair (white) with wooden handle and braided brown leather trim, hand made in England $45 + $9 shipping.

National Briddle Shop: Horse hair (white) with wooden handle and black braided leather trim, made in England, 22” long $35 + $10 shipping.

Horse Tack Co.: Horse hair (black) with ash handle and some black leather trim $19 + $7 shipping.

For Personal Use:

African Imports: Cow hair (white to brown) with small wooden handle and white binding, made in Ghana. Available in 2 sizes: small (16”) $20 and large (26”) $30 + $8 shipping.

What Price Glory (WPG): Horse hair (black) with black braided leather trim and handle $14 + $6 shipping. We love their comment: “Absolutely required when delivering classic lines like “I'll have my man clean your kit”.”

Ebay: Check to see what is currently available - there are usually a few to choose from - ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars, and often quite different from the usual!

What is it?;  Usage;  Cultural Benefits;  An Historical Incident.

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