Pommel Plate from a Saddle

Unknown

13th–15th century · Iron, gold, silver · Arms and Armor

The style, materials, and decorative techniques of this pommel plate are like those on Tibetan saddles, but this is the only known pommel plate to feature human figures or a secular scene of any kind, in this case a tiger hunt. It is very similar to hunting scenes that occur frequently on early fourteenth-century metalwork from the Ilkhanate, a state founded by the Mongols in Persia, which suggests that this plate was made for a Mongol patron, either in Persia or in Tibet, based on Ilkhanid designs.

Artist

Unknown

Date

13th–15th century

Medium

Iron, gold, silver

Culture

Mongolian (Central or West Asian) or Tibetan

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2010