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12th-14th century Seljuk Mirror with horse-backed hunter
A larger image of this 12th-14th century Seljuk Mirror with horse-backed hunter
Mirror with horse-backed hunter
12th century
Khorasan
Cast bronze with moulded decoration
Louvre, OA 6020
Referenced as figure 387 in The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle
387. Bronze mirror, 12th-13th centuries AD, Iranian (?), Louvre. Paris (Pope).
p231. Illustrated sources can, of course, rarely indicate the precise structure of a large round shield. They do, however, show that a great many designs were used. Some had a single central boss, others four smaller bosses that clearly held interior straps or grips. Yet others had no visible bosses at all. A few even seem to have been given decoratively scalloped edges, although shields such as these may have been of cane or reeds (Figs. 19, 20, 76, 127, 146, 163, 166, 196, 198, 218, 220B, 221, 230, 243, 257, 262, 289, 330, 387, 390, 392, 412, 420, 421, 422, 425, 454, 502, 515, 518, 531, 536, 537, 543, 580, 581, 598, 606 and 623). An oval style of shield also seems to have persisted in some areas. Perhaps it was directly related to a similar late-Roman form, while it might also have been the style from which the later kite-shaped shield developed (Figs. 123, 190A, 196, 212, 220A, 257, 354, 504, 508, 531, 543 and 564).
