Title: Chamfron with Cheek-pieces
Date: 18th century
Location: Ottoman Turkey or Egypt
Materials: forged iron or steel, leather, silver-gilt appliqués, cornelian, agate, coloured glass, jade and gold
Dimensions: height 54.5cm
Accession Number: MTW 995
Other Notes:
The assorted materials used on this object are characteristic of the decorative armour of a parade horse or camel, not a battle steed, and it has been suggested that it was worn by animals in the annual mahmal procession from Cairo to Mecca accompanying the kiswah for the Ka‘bah. It could well have been used several years in succession, and several of the decorative pieces it bears are also re-uses from earlier chamfrons of this type. Only four chamfrons of this type are known to exist.
Bibliography:
D. Alexander, The Arts of War. Arms and Armour of the 7th to 19th Centuries, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XXI, London 1992, cat.65, pp.120–21.
J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.418, pp.350–51.
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