The Mamluk sultans and emirs employed a special corps of ax-bearers, probably in imitation of the Varangian (Viking) guard of the emperors of Byzantium. The cup decorating the socket of this ax is the insignia of a Mamluk emir and indicates that he held the important ceremonial office of cupbearer to the sultan.
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Detail
Artwork Details
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Title:Ax
Date:ca. 1450–1500
Culture:Syrian
Medium:Steel, gold, wood
Dimensions:H. 28 1/2 (72.3 cm); H. of axhead 10 1/4 in. (26.0 cm); H. of handle 27 in. (68.6 cm); W. of blade 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 15 oz. (1341 g)
Classification:Shafted Weapons
Credit Line:Purchase, Bashford Dean Bequest, 1969
Accession Number:69.156
Ex. coll.: Alan Zasky.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Bright Side of the Battle: Symbol and Ceremony in Islamic Arms and Armor," January 17 1985–January 11, 1987.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Recent Acquisitions of American and Canadian Museums." The Art Quarterly (Winter 1970), pp. 445, 457.
Howat, John K., Berry B. Tracy, Vaughn E. Crawford, Helmut Nickel, Hilde Limondjian, Bradford Kelleher, Kate C. Lefferts, Adolph S. Cavallo, Jacob Bean, Harry S. Parker III, Henry G. Fischer, Claus Virch, Stuart Silver, Fong Chow, Dietrich von Bothmer, Richard Ettinghausen, Louise Condit, Elizabeth R. Usher, Florens Deuchler, Dorothy Weinberger, Emanuel Winternitz, John T. Conger, Margaret P. Nolan, Dudley T. Easby Jr., John J. McKendry, Leon Wilson, Jack Frizzelle, William D. Wilkinson, Marica Vilcek, Henry Geldzahler, and John Goldsmith Phillips. "Reports of the Departments." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (October 1970), p. 66.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Oustanding Recent Accessions 32 p. 395.
Nickel, Helmut. "A Mamluke Axe." In Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Richard Ettinghausen. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. pp. 213-226. figs. 1,2.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor." In The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965–1975. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. p. 42, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "A Mamluk Axe." In Islamic Arms and Armour, edited by Robert Elgood. London: Scolar Press, 1979. pp. 149-161.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Stuart Cary Welch. The Islamic World. Metropolitan Museum of Art series; 11. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. p. 60, fig. 43.
Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 1991), pp. 50, 64, ill.
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. 231–32, no. 94, ill.
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