A rare Mamluk steel helmet, Egypt, late 15th/early 16th century

the bowl of domed conical form with knop finial, the curving movable nasal with leaf-shaped finial with foliate screw lug, attached neck-guard, moulded cheek-pieces and visor, bordered by stamped brass bands secured by copper rivets, later leather attachments with repairs and some replacement parts

This is a fine example of a rare form of helmet from the late Mamluk / early Ottoman period.

Similar examples are in the Hermitage (inv. nos. 37 and 38, unpublished), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 36.25.116), the Furusiyya Art Foundation (Paris 2002a, no.134, p.171), the Khalili Collection (Alexander 1992, no.55, pp.108-109) and the Musée du Louvre (Atil 1981, no.41, pp.112-113; Paris 1977, no.411, pp.188-189), though the richest collection of Mamluk arms and armour is to be found in the Topkapi Palace and Military Museum in Istanbul, captured as booty from the Mamluks after their defeat at the hands of the Ottomans in 1516-17.

The Ottomans clearly admired and coveted Mamluk weaponry given the substantial quantity that was brought back from Damascus and Cairo following the fall of the dynasty. The inscriptions on the Louvre helmet state that it was made for Sultan Barsbay (1422-38) which makes is one of the earliest of the group that survives; the others are mostly from the latter half of the fifteenth century and the reign of Sultan Qaitbay (1468-96). The nasal on the Louvre piece bears the Eirene mark of the Ottoman arsenal (also featured on the Furusiyya helmet) which would have been added upon arrival in Istanbul.

The use and re-use of these weapons by the Ottomans meant that repairs were often carried out with later addtions. In the present example, the brass borders have been added for additional strength and parts of the guards and cheek-pieces have been repaired.  The distinctive high-relief form of the cheek-pieces is a feature shared by the Furusiyya helmet (Paris 2002a, no.134, p.171). The continuity of design in sixteenth- and even seventeenth-century Ottoman helmets is attested by the fine example in the Kremlin, Moscow, brought back by the Tsar's envoy to Istanbul in 1632 (Paris 2002a, no.110, pp.152-3).