Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense)
Shaffrons of this general type, with sharply cutaway semicircular sides and embossed with large T-shaped forms along the forehead and down the nose, seem to have originated in the Ottoman Empire, probably during the sixteenth century. The present example is one of several shaffrons embossed with both a T-shape and semicircular forms; one of these (also with brass inlay) is in the Askeri Müzesi, Istanbul, and another is in the Museo Stibbert, Florence. The shaffron in the Museo Stibbert, like this one, has an upstanding horizontal brow plate. It is fitted with copper rivet heads engraved with radiating spokes, a type frequently used on Mamluk and Ottoman armor of the sixteenth century, including an Ottoman "turban" helmet and a horse armor both probably of that century.
Artwork Details
- Title: Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense)
- Date: possibly 16th century
- Culture: Turkish
- Medium: Steel, copper alloy
- Dimensions: H. 21 in. (53.3 cm); W. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm); Wt. 1 lb. 14 oz (847 g)
- Classification: Equestrian Equipment-Shaffrons
- Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1921
- Object Number: 21.102.4
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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Turkish, in the style of Turkman armor
late 15th–16th century
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Grip and guard, second half of the 17th century; blade, late 18th–19th century
Turkish or Iranian
early 16th century
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ca. 1560
Turkish, probably Istanbul
1522–66
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