A gold and silver-overlaid steel helmet (kulah khud) with grape vines, Persia, Qajar, 19th century

Les Lots d'origine perse/iranien sont susceptibles d'être soumis à des restrictions d'importation dans certains pays, comme les Etats-Unis ainsi que dans certains ou tous les pays membres de Gulf Co-operation council. Il appartient à l'acheteur de veiller à s'assurer des règlementations en vigueur dans son pays de résidence ; l'incapacité à importer le lot ne pourra en aucun cas justifier une annulation de la vente. This lot of Persian/Iranian origin may be subject to import restrictions in some countries like the United States and some or all member countries of the Gulf Co-Operation Council. It is the buyer's responsibility to ensure that the export / import will comply with the regulations currently in place in their country of residence; A buyer's inability to export or import these lots cannot justify a sale's cancellation

inscriptions

In fine thulth: Two Persian couplets, finely written, in praise of the helmet.

Iranian helmets of this form, with a hemispherical bowl surmounted by a spike, are sometimes thought of as Safavid, but most of them date from the Zand (1751-94) and Qajar (1779-1925) periods. Earlier Safavid helmets with tall conical bowls, often fluted, were seen in the sixteenth and most of the seventeenth centuries. The small hemispherical bowls with spear shaped finials made an appearance in the later Safavid period and date from the late seventeenth century onwards. The decorative techniques employed for this group of helmets, which include gold and silver damascening as well as chiselled inscriptions, floral and figurative motifs, date from the eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century.

For further discussion on Iranian helmets, and for an example of a Qajar helmet dating from the eighteenth – early nineteenth century decorated with gold damascening and chiselled Arabic benedictory inscriptions, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see D. Alexander, Islamic Arms and Armour in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2015, cat.no. 42, pp. 116-118. A further example of a nineteenth century Qajar helmet is in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, see D. Alexander, The Arts of War, London, 1992, no. 79, acc. no. MTW338, p.134, illus.p.137.

A fine eighteenth century Safavid helmet of similar hemispherical form and a spike finial, decorated with a gold-overlaid hunting scene, sold at Sotheby’s London, 9 April 2008, lot 259.  For comparable nineteenth century Qajar examples which were sold at auction, see Sotheby’s London, 1 May 2019, lot 213; 25 October 2017, lot 213; 9 April 2008, lot 275; 24 October 2007, lot 232.