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(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Helmet
(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Helmet

primary
Date17th century - 18th century
Place MadeNorthern India, India, South Asia
MediumMetal
Dimensions18 x 29.5 cm (7 1/16 x 11 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsArmor
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberM27w72
eMuseum ID725530
EmbARK ObjectID12414
TMS Source ID1538
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on view
Web CommentaryIsabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 231. (as North Indian (Rapjut), 17th century)
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), pp. 133-34, no. 64. (North Indian, 17th or 18th century)
Walter J. Karcheski, Jr. "An Ecclesiastical Glaive in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum." Fenway Court (1985), p. 51. (called a "kulah khud helmet")
MarksNotesInscribed in gold (around helmet, in Arabic): ای خود صیقلی تو مگر مهر انوری یا کاسه حیات ز دریا اخضری رستم طبیعتان همه را بر سر کلاه بهرام صولتان همه را زیب افسری [Ay khud-i sayqali to magar mihr-i anvari? Ya kasa-yi hayat az darya-yi akhzari? Rustam-tabiyatan hama ra bar sar-i kulah. Bahram-sawlatan hama ra zib-i afsari. ("O polished helmet, are you not the illuminated sun? Or a goblet of life [water of life?] from the sky [literally “sea of green”]? You are the pinnacle of the hat of all the Rustam-tempered. You are the adornment of the crown of all of the Bahram-like fighters.")]

ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Cairo in winter 1904-1905, through the painter Joseph Lindon Smith (1863-1950). (with museum no. M27w75)
(c) 2021 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Unknown
about 1560-1570
Cope
Unknown
18th century
(c) 2019 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Unknown
17th century
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Unknown
early 20th century
(c) 2019 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Unknown
17th century
Pillows
Unknown
17th century
Mirror (Specchiera)
Unknown
1775-1799
(c) 2022 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Unknown
19th century