Two Crinet Plates (Neck Defenses) for Ceremonial Horse Armor

These panels once formed the centerpieces of the wing shaped guards that protect either side of a horse's neck as part a full Tibetan horse armor. Originally, they were bordered by concentric bands of decorated leather similar to the exceptionally rare set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1997.242a, b). Only a handful of complete neck guards from Tibetan horse armor survive today, but none are as beautiful and elaborate as these.

The panels are unparalleled in their rarity and quality, both as a type of armor and as masterpieces of metalworking. They are made of chiseled iron lavishly damascened with gold and silver. For the pair of panels (2026.242a, b), the designs are fluidly chiseled in low relief on a solid ground; on the single panel (2026.241a, b), the ground is pierced, and the designs worked high relief nearly in the round. They are all that remain from what must have been the two most elaborate and ornate Tibetan horse armors ever created.