Persian helmet, decorated with intricate fighting scenes, a spike on top, a nose guard and chain mail coif. Manufactured in Isfahan, late 19th Century.
Persian helmet, probably made in Isfahan, mid 19th Century. In Iran helmets like this would have been used in processions such as the mourning of Muharram. However, this helmet could equally have been made for export. By the second half of the nineteenth century a considerable market for Persian and Indian arms and armour had developed in Britain, fuelled by an upper class fashion for decorating homes with martial objects. Stockists such as the Oriental Bazaar in the basement of Liberty's of London kept up a very busy trade in objects like this helmet.
