The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour and Decorative Arts from Asia and the Ottoman World
A beautifully illustrated catalogue of a world-class collection of arms and armour from India and the Middle East.

The Wallace Collection is home to one of the finest collections of non-European arms and armour in the world, teeming with bejewelled and enamelled dagger hilts, swords and scabbards, and with delicately gilded spears, helmets, shields and breastplates.

The pieces within the collection provide an unusually comprehensive view of three key areas – India, Iran and the Ottoman Empire – and span the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with star objects dating from as early as the fifteenth century. At once functional weapons and prestigious luxury objects, items in this area of the collection are fascinating and awe-inspiring both for their technical achievements and artistic virtuosity.

This lavishly illustrated catalogue is a landmark contribution to the field of Islamic art, shining a light on the previously overlooked and hidden gems of the Wallace Collection and providing detailed photographs of almost every object, accompanied by descriptions of its provenance, the materials of its construction and how it was made.

1146807183
The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour and Decorative Arts from Asia and the Ottoman World
A beautifully illustrated catalogue of a world-class collection of arms and armour from India and the Middle East.

The Wallace Collection is home to one of the finest collections of non-European arms and armour in the world, teeming with bejewelled and enamelled dagger hilts, swords and scabbards, and with delicately gilded spears, helmets, shields and breastplates.

The pieces within the collection provide an unusually comprehensive view of three key areas – India, Iran and the Ottoman Empire – and span the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with star objects dating from as early as the fifteenth century. At once functional weapons and prestigious luxury objects, items in this area of the collection are fascinating and awe-inspiring both for their technical achievements and artistic virtuosity.

This lavishly illustrated catalogue is a landmark contribution to the field of Islamic art, shining a light on the previously overlooked and hidden gems of the Wallace Collection and providing detailed photographs of almost every object, accompanied by descriptions of its provenance, the materials of its construction and how it was made.

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The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour and Decorative Arts from Asia and the Ottoman World

The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour and Decorative Arts from Asia and the Ottoman World

The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour and Decorative Arts from Asia and the Ottoman World

The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour and Decorative Arts from Asia and the Ottoman World

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$195.00 
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Overview

A beautifully illustrated catalogue of a world-class collection of arms and armour from India and the Middle East.

The Wallace Collection is home to one of the finest collections of non-European arms and armour in the world, teeming with bejewelled and enamelled dagger hilts, swords and scabbards, and with delicately gilded spears, helmets, shields and breastplates.

The pieces within the collection provide an unusually comprehensive view of three key areas – India, Iran and the Ottoman Empire – and span the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with star objects dating from as early as the fifteenth century. At once functional weapons and prestigious luxury objects, items in this area of the collection are fascinating and awe-inspiring both for their technical achievements and artistic virtuosity.

This lavishly illustrated catalogue is a landmark contribution to the field of Islamic art, shining a light on the previously overlooked and hidden gems of the Wallace Collection and providing detailed photographs of almost every object, accompanied by descriptions of its provenance, the materials of its construction and how it was made.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781781301203
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 04/28/2026
Pages: 560
Product dimensions: 9.45(w) x 11.81(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Arthur Bijl is the Hutton McRoberts Assistant Curator of Ottoman, Middle Eastern and Asian Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection. He joined the museum in 2019 to oversee the cataloguing and publication of the Wallace Collection's arms and armour from India, Iran and the Ottoman Empire and lectures on this topic internationally.

Table of Contents

Foreword (Xavier Bray)

Preface (Thom Richardson)

Introduction (Thom Richardson and Paula Turner)

The provenance of the 'Oriental' collection (Suzanne Higgott)

List of sales (Suzanne Higgott)

Steel (Alan Williams and David Edge)

Acknowledgements

CATALOGUE

SOUTH ASIA: The Mughal heritage · The Deccan · The katar · Mysore · South India · Sri Lanka · Sind · Gujarat · Awadh and Lucknow · Rajasthan · Punjab and the Sikhs · Presentation sabres from Lahore

IRAN: The shamshir · Armour

THE CAUCASUS: The kindjal · Circassian firearms

THE OTTOMAN WORLD: Turkey · The kili · Balkans · The yataghan · Balkan flintlock holster pistols (kubur) · Montenegrin and Albanian ledenica or celina pistols · Greece and Crete · Algiers · Algerian yataghans

CENTRAL AND EAST ASIA: Afghanistan and Central Asia · Southeast Asia · China · Japan

DECORATIVE ARTS FROM BEYOND WESTERN EUROPE

APPENDICES

Glossary of Arms and Armour Terms

Inscriptions

Makers

Qur'anic verses

Other inscriptions

References

Index of Objects by OA Number

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