ticketsMember | Make a donation

Conserving a Piece of Islamic Armor

Join Met conservator Sean Belair as he discusses his role at the Museum and shares details from the conservation of an Islamic mail shirt made up of 12,000 inscribed rings.
13 min. watch

Join Met conservator Sean Belair as he discusses his role at the Museum and shares details from the conservation of an Islamic mail shirt made up of 12,000 inscribed rings.

Please note: At 2:15, Sean Belair misspoke in saying mail armor was invented in central Asia; it was invented in central Europe.

More from The Met

Porcelain figurine depicting an 18th-century scene with a servant holding a tray of cups and a seated aristocratic woman in floral attire, against a blue background.
But What of His Fashionability, His Beauty, His Blackness?
How did eighteenth-century European art subtly obscure Black labor and promote subjection?
Adrienne L. Childs
July 1
A collage of blurred images depicts people in various settings, with groups standing near structures and rocky landscapes. The mood is contemplative and somber.
Imagining Today and Tomorrow
I wept thinking of the many treks around prison rec yards I’d made with men whose crimes would never be forgiven, for whom freedom sometimes felt as unlikely as sainthood.
Reginald Dwayne Betts
June 24
Archival image of model figures examining technology displays and floorplans at The Met.
Video
Metropolitan Overview, 1975
June 18
More in:Behind the ScenesTechnologyFashionMaterialsSports

Art Mentioned

A slider containing 1 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Mail Shirt, Iron alloy, copper alloy (latten), copper, brass, Persian
Mail Shirt
Persian
ca. 1500–1600