Forearm Guard

Leather armor was widely used in both Europe and Asia for many centuries. Despite this, only a handful of early pieces have survived from either culture. This defense is part of a very small group of closely related arm defences from Tibet, all of which appear to have been for the left arm. Unusual as it is, this piece offers several close points of comparison with other types of Tibetan objects. The decoration on the iron ribs is similar to that found on an early group of Tibetan wicker shields (acc. no. 2001.55). The pierced ironwork technique also compares well with that used to produce the pierced and engraved iron-filigree panels on the Museum's Tibetan horse-armor elements (acc. no. 1997.242a–c). In addition, both its painted leather surface and its iron fittings are very similar to those found on Tibetan leather boxes and wooden furniture, some of which have been shown to date from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. This common thread of workmanship may eventually be instrumental in more closely identifying the period and source of these poorly understood groups of objects.