Central Asia, Pakistan/northern India, Indo-Persian period, Mughal, ca. 18th to 19th century CE. A lovely leather shield known as a dhal or sipar, a form of buckler, or small shield made to be gripped with a handle that would have threaded through the 4 brass rings on the verso. The stiff leather is molded into a circular and slightly concave dome with four hemispheric metal bosses set into the front face. The surface is painted and lacquered with striding male figures in traditional Mughal dress and arabesque shapes in glimmering coppery hues. The dhal shield originated in India and the design spread to Persia and the places in between the two, modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan. These were ceremonial, rather than practical, and for example, one was given to King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) by the Maharaja of Kashmir when he toured India in 1875-76. Size: 13.5" Diameter (34.3 cm)

Provenance: private Ventura County, California, USA collection