Deccan Helmet
Full Description:
A large Indian turban shaped helmet forged from a single piece of ‘wootz’ damascus steel. Set at its apex with a flattened octagonal faceted bulbous knob with a protruding spike with turned base. The rim is set with brass rivets presumably for cloth neck and cheek guards. The top of the long nasal guard has a lobed finial with small acorn pommel, and the lower side has a larger and wider finial resembling the wide anchor shaped nasal guards found on some Deccani helmets. A small iron loop and hook to keep the nasal guard in the upper position. The rear has traces of un-deciphered Arabic script.
A similar example is kept in the Welt Museum Wien, Vienna (formally für völkerkunde). See Robinson, p.122, plate XXA.
Other comparable helmets are in the Furusiyya Art Foundation collection, and shown in the book Arts of the Muslim Knight (Mohammed) of particular note are no’s 315 and 317 (p.328 and 330 respectively).
Sold to a private collector, August 2015, included here for academic reasons.