A Safavid or Ottoman steel chanfron, Persia or Turkey, first half 16th Century

Hotel Drouot, Paris, 19 October 1991, lot 130

‘Wherever is his kindness, he plucks a lily from a shield; wherever is his violence, he draws a dagger from the grass’ - Divan of Siraj al-Din Qumri (d.1247-8 AD)

During the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, the intricate floral patterns that characterised so much of Turkmen, Timurid and early Ottoman art found their application in fine, courtly armour. As on similar examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. nos.32.75.248a and especially 29.158.621; Alexander 2015, pp.130-1), the delicate motifs of lilies, saz-leaves and circling vines are contrasted with the strong sculptural form and sober steel of the chanfron itself. This visual contrast, often seen on arms and armour from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, reflects a tension between two ideals of masculinity: the steely and austere ghazi on the frontiers of Islam, and the refined man of culture whose knowledge of Persian poetry is unsurpassed.

Compared to its peers, the incised decoration on the present chanfron is particularly accomplished, with the composition centred on four lilies at the horse’s forehead. The long, fine petals of the lily have long been compared to the blades of daggers and swords (cf. Wallace Collection, London, inv. no.OA1413), and their placement here, within cartouches of a form frequently seen on contemporary book bindings, consciously recalls such imagery. These motifs are also seen on perhaps the example closest to the present chanfron, and likely the product of the same workshop, now in the Deutches Historisches Museum, Berlin (inv .no.W 5493).

As the Ottoman and Safavid courts slowly transitioned from bands of hardened fighting men to the grand imperial courts of the sixteenth century, so did the men of the courts. Dressed in their armour and carrying finely decorated arms, both in palaces and on the battlefield, they blend inherited ideas of the rugged manliness of their forefathers with the rich cultural refinement and poetic literacy of their newfound station. The fine carving and good condition of the present chanfron, bolstered by the presence of apparently original side plates and mail, compares favourably to the Berlin example and marks this chanfron out as an exceptional survival from a formative period of Islamic arms and armour.