An Ottoman Steel Chanfron, Turkey or Ottoman Empire, Late 16th or Early 17th Century

Philippe Missillier Collection no.178C

The strongly sculptural form of this chanfron and the ‘T’ shaped panel in relief on the central axis links this piece to a group including lot 87 in this catalogue (where the group is discussed in detail). Variations here include the two diagonal lozenges in relief at the forehead, and the deeper cutaway of the sides than on lot 87. The form is related to a chanfron in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, probably datable to the sixteenth century, which has more elaborate relief decoration than this example. (inv. no.21.102.4; Alexander 2015, pp.132-3, no.49).