An extremely rare gilt-copper turban helmet (taup)

Lahore, circa 1822-40

Footnotes

Provenance
Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, Archéologie, Art de l'Islam, Art Africain, Art Précolombien, 28–29 April 2006, lot 126.

Turban helmets such as the present lot were carefully forged to accommodate the Sikh turban complete with top-knot, and were on display at the grand conference held between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India, in October 1831. At this meeting, astonished members of the British party reviewed the Sikh force thus:

'On the left, an apparently infinite line of cavalry was drawn up, consisting of 5,000 Ghore-churras [irregular cavalrymen], dressed in yellow, interspersed at intervals with small bodies of Akalees, dressed in dark blue velvet and high caps surmounted by quoits. On the right were six battalions of infantry, each of 1,000 strong. Their uniform is a red turban, red coat with black belts and yellow facings, white trowsers' (The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register, 1832, quoted in Davinder Toor, In Pursuit of Empire, London, 2018, p. 128).

There were also present the 800-strong Sikh dragoons of General Jean François Allard's (1785–1839) elite brigade, the Fauj-i-khas, each with, 'a steel helmet in the shape of a Sikh turban, red coats with black belts, white trowsers, and jackboots' (ibid).

It is probable that this distinctive style of Sikh turban-helmet was limited to these dragoon units, which explains their scarcity today. Only one other example of a gilded copper turban helmet is known to exist, currently in the Kapany Collection of Sikh Art (published in Susan Stronge, The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, London, 1999, p. 138, Cat. No. 154. Further steel examples are in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (Object No. XXVIA.138), The Wallace Collection, London (Object No. OA1769) and The Louvre, Paris (Object No. OA 7545).

The elegantly tailored mail neckguard attached to the bowl is of fine butted iron and brass links that are arranged to create a geometrical zig-zag pattern known as 'Ganga-Jamuna'. Its name derives from the contrasting colours that represent the churning waters at the confluence of the Ganga (Ganges) and Jamuna (Yamuna), regarded as India's most sacred rivers. This neckguard has been added to the taup from another contemporary helmet since its appearance at Pierre Bergé & Associés in 2006 and allows us to envisage it in its original form.