The Arts of War

An examination of the antique weapons and armour in the Nasser D.

Khalili Collection of Islamic art, which range in date from the 7th century AD to the 19th century AD.

This is a lavishly illustrated presentation of the Nasser D.

Khalili Collection of Islamic Art's collection of arms and armour.

The items range in date from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries AD.

Particularly important are a group of belt fittings from the medieval period which convey the role of ceremony among the military classes of the Islamic world.

Display was also a major factor behind the creation of the Collection's two sets of elaborate horse trappings from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries AD, one of which contains a complete gold saddle.

An impressive array of horse chanfrons of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries include the only known example from Sultanate India.

Among the most dramatic items is a fifteenth-century steel war mask which still inspires a sense of awe. In avoiding the strictly typological classification of most previous catalogues of the subject, the aim is to give a full sense of the panoply of warfare: the stirrup, the drum, and the talismanic shirt were as important to the Muslim warrior as the sword and the mail shirt.

David Alexander, the leading authority on Islamic arms and armour, has provided a detailed scholalrly guide to this outstanding collection.

This book is intended for art historians and Islamicists, collectors and curators of Islamic art, specialist art trade, some students and general.