“Uzbek” Helmet of the 17th – the Beginning of the 19th Century from the Collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum

The article examines the riveted iron helmet (No8761-12918), stored in the funds of the Russian Ethnographic Museum (St. Petersburg). The headdress was purchased in one of the cities of Central Asia in 1892-1895 and entered the museum collection in 1948. The helmet was attributed by Soviet researchers as a product of Uzbek craftsmen. Until now, it has not been published and has not been the object of a special scientific study. The height of the helmet is 22.6 cm, the diameter is 23.1 cm. The hemispherical headband of the headdress is riveted from four segments, the joints of which are covered with relief pads. Additional fixatives of the plates of the headband are a hoop, a “box” visor and a combined pommel consisting of a funnel-shaped pendant and a sleeve tube for plume. The lining, the “shield” of the visor, the hoop and the top of the helmet are made of copper alloy, decorated with engraved vegetative-geometric patterns and colored inserts on the paste (corals, dark green glass). Initially, the headdress was equipped with a pair of ears’ and nape’s pads (now only the right ear pad is preserved). The typological analysis showed that the helmet was made in the territory of Central or Middle Asia in the 17th - early 19th century. It was most likely forged by gunsmiths of the Kazakh-Oirat borderlands of the 17th - the middle of the 18th century. At the same time, work on engraving and decorating with colored inserts of helmet elements could be performed by Central Asian craftsmen of the same historical period. According to another version, the helmet was made in the workshops of Maverannahr by order of a wealthy Oirat or Kazakh warrior

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Central asia · Ethnography · Uzbek · Visual arts · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts · Soviet and Russian History