A pair of engraved steel armguards, Syria, Iran or Anatolia, late 15th-16th century

of characteristic form with incised designs of quatrefoil cartouches enclosing interlaced palmette scrolls separated by calligraphic bands, with smaller plates attached by chainmail, and later gilt mounts

inscription

Arabic sayings (not all deciphered)

Armour of this kind was worn by Mamluks, Ottomans and Aqqoyunlu Turcomans. The style of engraved decoration comprised of leaf scrolls, interlace and calligraphic bands, follows the fashionable conventions of late 15th-century Iran fanning outwards into Anatolia, Syria and Egypt.

Because the repertory of design is truly international it is difficult to assign these and related pieces to a fixed period and place of production. The accumulation of war booty in the Eirene armoury taken from the great cosmopolitan centres of Tabriz, Damascus, Alexandria and Cairo, meant that late Mamluk and Aqqoyunlu features persisted in Turkish armour of the sixteenth century. For related armour in the Khalili Collection and a fuller discussion of the whole group, see Alexander 1992, pp.86-89.