AN OTTOMAN METAL-THREAD EMBROIDERED SET OF ARCHER EQUIPMENT, TURKEY, 19TH CENTURY

The characteristic elongated, slightly curved form flanked by two stitched side sections with apertures for eyes, each with two leather hooks for attaching, embroidered in relief with metal threads, comprising a repeat cintamani pattern. shield: 51.5 cm. horse head ware: 44 by 38.5 cm. quiver: 47 by 26 cm.

CATALOGUE NOTE There are few examples of metal-thread embroidered horse fittings. This model takes inspiration from the more classical steel and tombak examples comprised of three parts. The form, in turn, is relate-able to a late 15th, early 16th century chamfron. The Flemish diplomat and ambassador to Constantinople eloquently describes the Ottoman predilection for horse accessories: ‘The Turkish horseman presents a very elegant spectacle, mounted on a horse of Cappadocian or Syrian or some other good breed, with trappings and horse-cloths of silver spangled with gold and precious stones’ (Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, The Turkish letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Imperial ambassador at Constantinople 1554-1562, trans. E.S. Forster, Oxford, 1927).