A rare Safavid gold-damascened steel helmet (kulah-khud)
Persia, 17th Century
of domed form surmounted by a tapering plume holder with rounded rim, with applied rim and panelling, the adjustable noseguard terminating in a palmette to each end, profusely decorated in gold overlay with panels containing a lobed cartouche lattice with inscriptions, the noseguard palmettes with further inscriptions, the camail formed of steel rings
22.5 cm. diam.
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 908-9, cat. no. 796.

Inscriptions: around the base of the spike, the basmala and an Arabic pious legend in praise of the Prophet and his family, liya khamsa utfi biha harr al-waba' al-hatima al-mustafa wa'l-murtada wa [abna]huma wa'l-fatima, 'I have five (people) through whom I extinguish the shattering heat of affliction, al-Mustafa, al-Murtada, their progeny, and al-Fatima'; inscribed with names of God and the Prophet Muhammad around the walls; around the base, parts of Sura 109 (al-Kafirun), 112 (al-Ikhlas), 113 (al-Falaq) 114 (al-Nas); on the top of the noseguard, part of a Qur'anic citation; on the base of the noseguard, part of Sura 61 (al-Saff), vs. 13.

Helmets such as these have been used in the Islamic world since the 14th century. Domed panelled helmets are depicted in a manuscript of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Tabriz, circa 1330-50, as well as in a Shahnameh from Herat in the Bodleian Libray, Oxford (see Michael Gorelick, 'Oriental armour of the Near and Middle East from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries as shown in works of art' in Robert Elgood (ed.), Islamic Arms and Armour, London, 1979, pp. 56-7, No. 106 & pp. 60-61, Nos. 192-195). However, most surviving pieces of this type are Qajar in origin, with the present lot being a rare example from the Safavid period. For an example of a Safavid helmet featuring comparable segmented decoration sold in these rooms, see The Jacques Desenfans Collection, 10 April 2008, lot 168.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * R
* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.
R This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.