Shield with Hunting and Landscape Vignettes

The Mughal aesthetics are reflected in its weaponry. This shield, which belongs to the first quarter of eighteenth century, is ornately decorated with inlaid gold decoration on its rim and knob. The subject depicted on the border of the rim shows the ruler who is accompanied by his attendants’ aims with his rifle, gallops on a horse with a lance in his hand or attacks a furious lion. The hunting scene depicts dynamic movement with dogs and tiger jumping on their prey and an aggressive elephant trampling with a broken chain in its rear foot. The outer border contains stylized floral and leaf motifs characteristic of the period of Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb Alamgir. The central knob of the shield bears an intricately engraved landscape with architecture and rock formation. The profuse ornamentation of this shield suggests that it was likely a royal object.