- Title
- Armor
- Date Made
- 15th-16th century
- Medium
- Steel, forged
- Dimensions
- a: 5 x 23 in. (12.7 x 58.42 cm); b: 15 x 17 3/4 in. (38.1 x 45.08 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2002.1.584a-b
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Islamic
- Curatorial Notes
Decorated with a radiating sun, this circular breast plate once formed part of a set of body armor that would have included a shirt of mail with molded and rectangular plates and this circular element suspended across the chest of an Ottoman warrior, with a similar disk on the back, to protect his body from blows in battle. This type of armor was widely used in the Islamic world until the spread of firearms in warfare diminished its effectiveness. The small circle near the center of the disk, filled with a crescent and three lines, is an Ottoman arsenal mark, indicating where the armor was once stored.
