Footnotes

• Elements such as those in the present lot were once set on a leather strap that was worn on a belt. Belts were an important part of the outfits of nomadic people, as they helped to fasten the outer layers of their clothing, enabled the suspension of supplementary items and served as a sign of hierarchical distinction.
  
  A large group of gold fittings of this period can be found in the Hermitage, St Petersburg (Komaroff, L. and S. Carboni (eds.), The Legacy of Gengis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256 - 1353, pp. 66-67, fig. 62, and p. 274, no. 143). The Hermitage belt was found near Gashun Uta, Southern Russia, as part of the funerary regalia of a senior member of the family of Batu (1227 - 1255), the founder of the Golden Horde. A group of fittings also depicting a dragon were sold through these rooms (Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 16th October 2003, lot 312).

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Category: Islamic and Oriental Art / Islamic and Indian Art

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