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Shirt of Mail and Plate

15th–16th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 379
Acording to a Venetian ambassador writing in about 1478, the Ak-Koyunlu (White Sheep Turkoman) wore armor of "iron in little squares and wrought with gold and silver tacked together with small mail." Armor of this type seems to have been used throughout eastern Anatolia, Persia, and the Caucasus. This example is inscribed with generalized phrases extolling the power and glory of the ruler ("Glory to our lord . . . the sultan . . . the king") similar to those found on the Ak-Koyunlu turban helmets also in the Museum's collection (04.3.209, .214, .432). Designed for use in battle, the armor is more elaborately decorated than most and was probably also used for ceremonial purposes.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shirt of Mail and Plate
  • Date: 15th–16th century
  • Culture: Iranian or Turkish
  • Medium: Steel, iron, copper alloy, gold, silver, leather
  • Dimensions: H. 39 1/4 in. (99.7 cm); W. at shoulders 19 in. (48.26 cm); L. of metal plate at waist 8 1/2 in. (21.59 cm); W. of metal plate at waist 10 1/2 in. (26.67 cm); Wt. 25 lb. 10 oz. (11.61 kg)
  • Classification: Armor for Man
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1904
  • Object Number: 04.3.456b
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

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Turban Helmet, Steel, gold, silver, Iranian
Turban Helmet
Iranian
late 15th century
Armor of Mail and Plate, Steel, iron, copper alloy, textile, Indian, Sindh (now Pakistan)
Armor of Mail and Plate
Indian, Sindh (now Pakistan)
late 18th–first half of the 19th century
Pair of Thigh and Knee Defenses, Steel, iron, copper alloy, silver, leather, Iranian or Turkish
Pair of Thigh and Knee Defenses
Iranian or Turkish
15th century
Mail Shirt with Inscribed Rings, Iron, copper alloy, possibly Iranian
Mail Shirt with Inscribed Rings
possibly Iranian
15th–16th century
Helmet, Steel, iron, gold, silver, copper alloy, Turkish, probably Istanbul
Helmet
Turkish, probably Istanbul
ca. 1560

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