This figure has been assembled based on photographs taken in the 1930s and 1940s in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa during the Great Prayer Festival. The photographs showed troops of ceremonial armored cavalry, who wore a standardized set of equipment as stipulated by the central government of Tibet probably from the mid-seventeenth or eighteenth century onward. The equipment included a helmet, a mail shirt, a set of four mirrors, an armored belt, a bow case and quiver, a matchlock musket, a bandoleer with gunpowder and bullets, and a short spear for the rider, as well as a saddle, saddle rug, and tack for the horse. Armed and equipped in a similar fashion, Tibetan government officials were periodically required to demonstrate proficiency on horseback with musket, bow and arrow, and spear until as late as the mid twentieth century.
Dimensions:as mounted, H. approx. 55 in. (139.7 cm)
Classification:Armor
Credit Line:36.25.2ii, .25, .351, .476, .583a–d, h–k, .2174, .2461, .2505, .2557a, b: Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935; 1974.160.10: Bequest of Joseph V. McMullan, 1973; 1970.164.7a, b: Gift of Mrs. Faïe J. Joyce, 1970; 1997.214.6: Purchase, Rogers Fund and bequest of Stephen V. Grancsay, by exchange, 1997; 2006.269: Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2006
George Cameron Stone, New York (until d. November 18, 1935; his bequest to MMA).
Louisville, Ky. J. B. Speed Art Museum. "A Loan Exhibition of Equestrian Equipment from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 4–July 3, 1955, no. 61 (Only 36.25.583a,b were part of exhibition).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Gods of War: Sacred Imagery and the Decoration of Arms and Armor," December 10, 1996–December 1997, no. 21 (saddle, 36.25.583a, b).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet," April 5–July 4, 2006, no. 46.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tibetan Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection," December 13, 2007–April 29, 2012 (36.25.25, .351, .476, .2174, .2461, .2505, .2557, 1997.214.6, 2006.269).
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. pp. 53, 56, 91, 256, 444, 533, no. 40, figs. 68, 116 no. 1, 315 no. 1, 565 no. 1, 681 no. 5 (helmet, 36.25.25; armored belt, 36.25.28; saddle and stirrups, 36.25.583a–d; matchlock musket, 36.25.2174; bandolier, 36.25.2461; bow, 36.25.2505).
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. pp. 53, 56, 91, 256, 444, 533, no. 40, figs. 68, 116 no. 1, 315 no. 1, 565 no. 1, 681 no. 5 (helmet, 36.25.25; armored belt, 36.25.28; saddle and stirrups, 36.25.583a–d; matchlock musket, 36.25.2174; bandolier, 36.25.2461; bow, 36.25.2505).
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. pp. 53, 56, 91, 256, 444, 533, no. 40, figs. 68, 116 no. 1, 315 no. 1, 565 no. 1, 681 no. 5 (helmet, 36.25.25; armored belt, 36.25.28; saddle and stirrups, 36.25.583a–d; matchlock musket, 36.25.2174; bandolier, 36.25.2461; bow, 36.25.2505).
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The George C. Stone Bequest: Chinese and Malayan Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (June 1937), p. 145, fig. 3 (pommel plate of saddle, 36.25.583a, b).
Grancsay, Stephen V. A Loan Exhibition of Equestrian Equipment from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Catalogue. Louisville, Ky.: Speed Art Museum, 1955. no. 61, ill. (saddle, 36.25.583a, b).
Newark Museum and Eleanor Olson. Catalogue of the Tibetan Collection and other Lamaist Articles in the Newark Museum. Vol. 5. Newark, New Jersey: Newark Museum, 1971. pp. 15–16, 19–20, p. 49, pls. 13–15(i).
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. p. 234, ill. (matchlock musket, 36.25.2174).
Reynolds, Valrae. Tibet, A Lost World: The Newark Museum Collection of Tibetan Art and Ethnography. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1978. p. 51, nos. 102–105 (a similar saddle).
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet: a Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990. p. 294, no. R24 (pierced metalwork discussed).
La Rocca, Donald J. The Gods of War: Sacred Imagery and the Decoration of Arms and Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. p. 13–15, 42, no. 21, pl. 8 (saddle, 36.25.583a, b).
La Rocca, Donald J. "An Approach to the Study of Arms and Armour from Tibet." Royal Armouries Yearbook (1999), pp. 113–32, fig. 29 (helmet, 36.25.25; dagger with sheath, belt, and accessories, 36.25.842a–c; bandolier, 36.25.2461; musket, 36.25.2174; bowcase and quiver, 36.25.2557a, b; and bow, 36.25.2505; matchlock musket, 36.25.2174; bandolier, 36.25.2461; bow, 36.25.2505; bow case and quiver, 36.25.2557a, b).
Lankester, Philip J. "Two Maces from Henry VIII's Arsenal?." Royal Armouries Yearbook (2000), pp. 113–32, fig. 29 (helmet, 36.25.25; dagger with sheath, belt, and accessories, 36.25.842a–c; bandolier, 36.25.2461; musket, 36.25.2174; bowcase and quiver, 36.25.2557a, b; and bow, 36.25.2505; matchlock musket, 36.25.2174; bandolier, 36.25.2461; bow, 36.25.2505; bow case and quiver, 36.25.2557a, b).
La Rocca, Donald J. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006. pp. 4, 5, 68, 126, 134–37, 198–99, 204, 210, 213, 218, 222–23, front cover, nos. 46, 101, 106, 110, 116, ill.
La Rocca, Donald J. "Recent Acquisitions of Tibetan and Mongolian Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Waffen– und Kostümkunde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Historische Waffen– und Kostümkunde, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 67, ser. 3 v. 50, no. 2 pp. 22–23, fig. 4 (armored belt, 2006.269).
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