A DISPLAY OF ORIENTAL ARMS AND ARMOUR, PERSIA, INDIA AND TURKEY, 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES |

comprising two double-edged spears with repousse and gilt decoration, two axes, two double-headed spears, two armguards (bazuband), a leather shield with six metal bosses, a 'kulah khud' helmet with a bird-head finial and inscribed cartouches, two 'tchitchak' helmets with ridged design, on velvet panel hanging

Several melal corrosion areas There are several accidents and chips to the chain-taille Important damages to surface of the shield with corrosion and chips Wear to the gilt The European casket (chichak) with minor damages and usual wear to the gilt decoration. There are several dents to all the pieces As viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The display including two fines and rares South German etched parade burgonets in the Turkish taste, circa 1560, probably Nuremburg The helmet illustrated to the right on the catalogue illustration is an elaborate example of those made for the tournaments and court festivities held by the Hapsburg Imperial Court from the middle of the 16^th century.  Perhaps the most famous was the Hussar tournament held in Prague in 1557 by Archduke Ferdinand II, where one team was dressed as Christian Knights and Hungarians and the other team were dressed as Turks and Moors.  The principle symbolism is clearly the continued fight of the Christian west against the Turkish invasions of central Europe and Islam.  An important secondary reference is the identification with Moorish and Asian heroes by the participants.  This second idea is reinforced in the contemporary epics of Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, and Tasso, Gerusalemme liberta.  See Lena Rangström (ed.), Tournament and the Dream of Chivalry, exhibition catalogue, Stockholm, 1992,  pp. 369-372.

A small number of decorated helmets from this period remain extant.  The form and ornament of the left helmet (on the catalogue illustration), with its acorn finial and distinctive etched patterns of strapwork and tendrils, places it within a specific subgroup of related helmets as follows:

Wawel Castle, Krakow (inv. no. 2370 and 3282), two examples

National Museum, Krakow (inv. no. V27)

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. A889)

Royal Armouries, Leeds, (inv. no. IV.749)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. No. 04.3.216)

Wallace Collection, London (A104)

Stibbert Museum, Florence (no. 6206)

A further example was preserved in the Berlin Zeughaus until the mid-20^th century and another is illustrated with no provenance in Zeitschrift für Historische Waffenkunde (1902-5), III, p. 372.

Notably one of the examples preserved at Wawel Castle, Krakow (inv. no. 2370) is dated 1561 and was formerly in the collection of the Princes Radziwill at Nieswiz. See Professor Zbigniew Bochenski, Un Groupe de Casques Hongrois dorés du XVI siècle, in Armi Antiche, 1965, pp. 103-128.