‡ A PERSIAN HELMET (KULAH-KHUD) AND SHIELD (DHAL),... Lot 40

‡ A PERSIAN HELMET (KULAH-KHUD) AND SHIELD (DHAL), QAJAR, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY of burnished iron, the first with hemispherical skull formed as a devil's mask, the front embossed with a nose with an engraved bushy moustache, a pair of eyes highlighted in gold koftgari and fitted with a pair of decorated horns at the top, the apex fitted with a sharply tapering spike on a moulded base, on each side at the front with a pair of tubular plume-holders with a staple between, the latter retaining a sliding nasal-bar secured by a thumb-screw, the base of the skull encircled with a series of engraved panels filled with exotic beasts within a gold koftgari framework, early padded lining, and mail neck-defence of butted iron and brass links; and the second of low convex form, decorated with an elephant and an antelope in the centre and with further cartouche-shaped panels filled with exotic beasts and huntsman all within a gold koftgari framework, the border decorated with calligraphic panels of Persian verses en suite, with an early padded lining 31.8 cm; 12 ½ in high, the kulah khud 45.0 cm; 17 ¾ in diameter, the dhal (2)