Inventory

Mail and Plate Shirt

Full Description:

A handsome and rare Indian mail and plate shirt. Comprised of riveted and solid rings, the shirt is short-sleeved and thigh-length, opening at the front where two rows of three rectangular plates can be secured in the closed position by means of long pins. The front is overlaid in parcel-gilt silver chased with repeating designs of flower-heads against finely punched grounds, not dissimilar to the decoration on a fine bhuj weapon, also from Kutch, which was published in my 2017 catalog The Goddess: Arms & Armour of the Rajputs, pages 58 and 59 (cat.no.20)[1]. Further plates are positioned under the armpits and down the sides, and the back has five more en suite with three shoulder sections that have overlapping rectangular plates, each with cusped lower edges and overlaid with silver, chased with gilded florets.