An Ottoman silver and gold-damascened steel leg guard (greave)
Turkey, 15th/ 16th Century
of typical form, engraved and overlaid in silver with split palmette interlace within borders of vegetal designs to the central section, above an inscription, the side panels with further vegetal designs, the central section bearing the tamga of the Ottoman Arsenal of Hagia Eirene
42.8 cm. long
Footnotes:
Provenance
Czerny's, Fine Antique Arms and Armour: The K. De Clercq Collection and other properties, 29 March 2014, lot 174.
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. I, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 291, cat. no. 280.

Inscriptions: al-awwal al-a ..., 'The first ...'

The inscription on the present lot is typical of those found on leg guards of this period, commonly consisting of single letters or parts of words. A similar greave is in The Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (see Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection, 2007, p. 306, no. 294). A further pair of comparable leg defences is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession No. 36.25.457; 1990.229).
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: *
* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.