WESTERN IRAN OR ANATOLIA, 15TH CENTURY

Turban helmets are a form that were worn through a wide area of the Islamic world, although predominantly in Iran and Anatolia, from the mid-14^th until the early-16^th century. Originally our helmet would have had a chainmail aventail below with the small hook on the skull of the helmet intended to hold this up when not in use. In his discussion on these helmets David Alexander makes a distinction of two main types: taller tapering helmets and shorter more bulbous helmets. The former group he categorises as more Ottoman and the latter as the “Aqqoyunlu/Shirvani” type (D. Alexander, “The Turban Helmet” in Metropolitan Museum Journal, volume 18, 1983, pp.97-104). Our helmet belongs to this second group with similar examples in the Kienbusch Collection (No.207) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv.50.87) dating to the late 15^th century. Although discerning between the Aqqoyunlu and Shirvani workshops of the 15^th century is very difficult (op.cit., p.103), a helmet of similar form, with swirling – rather than vertical – ribs is in the Askeri Museum, Istanbul (No.5911) and inscribed to Farrukhsiar Shirvanshah.
Stamped on the helmet is the mark of Saint Irene, the church situated in the grounds of the Topkapi Palace which became an arsenal for the Ottoman janissaries. A home for Ottoman manufactured arms and armour, the arsenal was also a repository for arms and military trophies taken by the Ottomans from foreign campaigns. Many turban helmets of our form are found with this mark on and no doubt taken as booty from Ottoman successes in Anatolia and the Caucasus. Many pieces would then enter European collections after the armoury was cleared under order of Sultan Abdul Mecid in 1839.