This distinctive armor, constructed of mail and steel plates decorated with embossed brass plaques, is thought to come from the northeast Indian kingdom of Sind, now a province in southern Pakistan. The region was ruled by mirs of the Talpur family from 1783 until 1843, when it was taken over by the British. Very few of these complete Sind armors survive, and this is one of the best examples.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Armor of Mail and Plate
Date:late 18th–first half of the 19th century
Geography:Sindh
Culture:Indian, Sindh (now Pakistan)
Medium:Steel, iron, copper alloy, textile
Dimensions:H. 70 1/4 in. (178.5 cm)
Classification:Armor for Man
Credit Line:Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935
Accession Number:36.25.11a–g
[Hal Furmage, London, before 1934; sold to Stone]; George Cameron Stone, New York (by 1934–d. November 18, 1935; his bequest to MMA).
Indianapolis. Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Treasures from the Metropolitan," October 25, 1970–January 3, 1971, no. 31.
Christie's, London. Arms and Armour. London: Christie's, London, 1919. p. 41, lot 284.
Grancsay, Stephen V., Thomas T. Hopes, George C. Stone, and Fred G. Blakeslee. [Boxed Set Containing "Brief Essays on Armor and Arms," Nos. 1–4 and a Series of 17 Pamphlets of Photographs of Arms and Armor in Members' Collections, Nos. 1–85]. New York: Armor and Arms Club, 1925. no.1, fig. 46.
Stone, George Cameron. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. Portland, ME: Southworth Press, 1934. fig. 63.
Stone, George Cameron. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. New York: Jack Brussel, Pub., 1961. fig. 63, ill.
Stone, George Cameron, and Donald J. La Rocca. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1999. fig. 63, ill.
Bullock, Randolph. "Oriental Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (February 1947), no. 6, p. 171, ill.
Indianapolis Museum of Art. Treasures from the Metropolitan: Catalogue of the Inaugural Exhibition of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, October 25, 1970–January 3, 1971, edited by Carl J. Weinhardt Jr. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1970. p. 44, no. 31, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. p. 26.
Alexander, David, Stuart W. Pyhrr, and Will Kwiatkowski. Islamic Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015. pp. 54–55, no. 16, ill.
Reddy, Ravinder. Arms & Armour of India, Nepal & Sri Lanka: Types, Decoration and Symbolism. London: Hali Publications Limited, 2018. p. 162, ill.
cuirass, 17th–early 18th century; mail shirt, 18th–19th century
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