1959.200.B: Breastplate
Armor
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1959.200.B
- Title
- Breastplate
- Classification
- Armor
- Work Type
- armor
- Date
- 18th century
- Places
- Creation Place: South Asia, India
- Period
- Mughal period
- Culture
- Indian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/215413
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Bands of floral and geometric designs in gold overlay
- Technique
- Kuftgari
- Dimensions
- 28.26 x 20.32 cm (11 1/8 x 8 in.)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Edwin L. Beckwith
- Accession Year
- 1959
- Object Number
- 1959.200.B
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
Descriptions
- Description
-
These plates of armor would have been worn over a chain mail shirt or other body armor, and would have been fastened together with leather straps attached to the metal buckles. The chest and back plates each have two additional buckles at the top for straps to go over the shoulders. All the plates were originally lined with velvet, although only a few scraps of fabric still remain attached to the rivets on the inside of the plates.
This type of armor is called chahar aineh, meaning "four mirrors" in Persian. Its origin lies in shiny metal disks worn by the Mongols on the chest and back over their armor, both for additional protection and to ward off evil spirits (which were believed to be repelled by mirrors). Persian armor was influenced by Mongol traditions following the Mongol invasion of Iran in the 13th century, and the synthesis of styles which developed in Iran then spread to India.
Notes from the Glory and Prosperity exhibition, Feb - June 2002.
Verification Level
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu