SHOWCASE 26. IRANIAN ARMS AND ARMOUR OF THE 16TH - 18TH CENTURIES

The collection of Iranian arms and armour contains works made by craftsmen of the Safavid period, which gave the way to the flowering of culture, economy, applied arts and jewellery-making in particular. The establishment of national and political unity in Iran, and consecutive conquests during the Safavid dynasty, especially those of Shah Abbas, led to the compilation of a priceless treasury of gems and jewels. Various types and forms of Iran’s arms, i.e. sabres, shields, daggers, broadswords were developed and improved. The cold steel made of damask steel was richly decorated with all types of artistic metalworking and inlaid with precious stones. Besides remarkable fighting qualities, Iranian arms possessed an interesting system of ornamentation and decor.

The 16th-century shield of Iranian workmanship, which belonged to F. Mstislavsky, is remarkable for its fine artistic qualities. The shield is forged from a single sheet of damask steel and decorated with pear-like shapes, alternately damascened with gold and adorned with a figurative ornament. The top of the shield has three strips filled with the images of fighting animals over the background of a floral pattern; three strips contain an ornament of clouds typical of Iranian art, and the other two are decorated with floral motifs usual for the 16th century. Representations of the people and animals, as well as the ornament between them, precisely carved with a graver and inlaid with the gold of two colours, can be called characteristic of the iconography of the Iranian applied art.