hi michal,
i must admit, i had thought of you when i created this post and was waiting for you to notice :-)
yes, it was the shields that stunned me as well, as its the sheer amount (4 long displays) of such a rare item. and the condition is wonderful.
dont worry, i have the city guide you kindly sent me and will start dropping hints to my girlfriend when appropriate. it goes without saying, that the doors will be jammed open should you make it to london. the helmet aqtai and i were discussing left its make on both polish and hungarian design, and it seems that both the mamluks and ottomans were the leaders of fashion for many years.
the 'war and peace' exhibition was one of real excellence and shows the quality and importance of the pieces in poland. you will be interested to konw that there will be an exhibition in paris, planned for next year which will be on early islamic arms, with a large amount of important turkish pieces. i cant offer any more details as yet, as the collection is privately owned but it will have a full catalogue, written by one of the leading authorities on islamic arms. will definately post more when i can, with enough notice for people to plan their holidays to suit :-)
aqtai, i have attached more images of the helmet type, which helps to bolster my theory about its altered state.
however, all good theories have a way of falling flat on its face, and i have included a line drawing, which show the peak section attached by a linkage system, which means its free-moving, just like the venice piece.
so, there is an option that the helmet was created like this, but i still feel it doesnt seem right.
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