Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Property from the Mohammed Khalil Collection
Lot 105*,R
A rare pair of Qajar gold-damascened steel and mail trousers Persia, 19th Century
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£10,000 - £15,000
Looking for a similar item?
Our Islamic and Indian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Oliver White
Head of Department
A rare pair of Qajar gold-damascened steel and mail trousers
Persia, 19th Century
Persia, 19th Century
comprising multiple shaped plaques, including circular, hemispherical, triangular and rectangular, the domed knee guards with spikes, all linked by rivets, engraved and decorated in gold overlay with cartouches containing animals on a foliate ground, inscription-filled cartouches, foliate scrollwork and vegetal motifs, secured to a pair of leather trousers
98 cm. long
98 cm. long
Footnotes
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.
Published
Robert Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 306, cat. 740.
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, pp. 932-933, cat. no. 819.
Inscriptions: Persian verses.
The present lot is a rare example of Qajar leg armour. The intricate decoration featured on the piece comprises Safavid-style imagery based on nature and natural forms. The reference to earlier decoration is made particularly clear when comparing the present lot to a 16th/ 17th Century pair of trousers in the National Museum of Scotland (A.1890.268), which also feature depictions of various animals alongside foliate designs. A similar Qajar example is in the Royal Ontario Museum (906.11.22.A). For a comparable pair of mail trousers sold in these rooms, see The Jacques Desenfans Collection, 10 April 2008, lot 189.
Important Notice to Buyers
Some countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.