Subject: gzim sbyong pa / zimchongpa heavy infantryman
Culture: Tibetan
Setting: Tibet 14-17thc
Object: helmet
* Coyote's Paw Gallery
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Multiplate Helmet of Thirty-Two Lames
Mongolian or Tibetan, possibly 14th-16th century
Iron, silver, gold, and brass or copper alloy ...
"This is the most complete example from a small but distinctive group of helmets characterized by the presence of raised central ridges, applied brass borders, and the use of brass rivets rather than leather laces to join the major components. The finial at the top of the helmet is decorated in gold and silver with the protective mantra OM AH Hum, and the brim has a series of five motifs known as dry skulls, linked by tendrils of flames." ...
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Multiplate Helmet of Forty-Six Lames
Mongolian or Tibetan, 13th-15th century
Iron and leather ...
Other than fragmentary excavated examples, few helmets of this type have survived, and virtually none is in as pristine condition as this one. The general type was in use from eastern Europe through Central Asia by the sixteenth century and may have remained in use in Tibet and among the Mongols and other Central Asian peoples as late as the seventeenth century. A carbon-14 test on a sample of the lacing from this helmet resulted in a date range of 1271 to 1431." ...
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"War Mask Mongolian or Tibetan, 12th-14th century ...
Masks from Tibet and Mongolia for use in ritual dances and other ceremonies are relatively common and were made from papier-mâché, leather, or gilt copper. This mask, however, is exceptionally rare because it is a war mask rather than a ritual mask and is made of iron. It is one of only two known masks of this type with distinctly Mongolian or Tibetan features. Bronze and silver war masks were used during the Roman Empire and in the Ancient Near East. We know of iron war masks from southern Ukraine and Russia (10th-13th century), from Iran (13th-16th century), and from Japan, where they were worn by Samurai warriors (15th-19th century). This example provides a unique Centural Asian link in the use of war masks from the western steppes of Europe to the eastern edges of Asia." ...
* Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Mask
Tibet,
15th century
Iron with silver and copper inlays" ...
"Helmet Central Asian or Middle Eastern, 14th-17th century
Iron and silver ...
Found in Tibet and rare for both its form and its inscription, this helmet was probably made in Turkestan or West Asia and represents a link between the Islamic cultures of Central Asia and the Middle East. The brow of the helmet is encircled by an Arabic inscription damascened in silver: Mimma 'umila bi-rasm ... al-sultan Mahmud Jani Bik ('What was made on the order of ... the sultan Mahmud Jani Beg'). There are several interesting potential candidates for this name and title, ranging from the ruler of the Mongol Golden Horde, Jalal al-Din Jani Beg ibn Ozbeg (1342-1357), to Jani Beg, khan of the Crimea, who ruled in the early seventeenth century."
