[Emanuel]

Hi Lee,

Here is what the curator of that gallery had provided:

...this gallery and the labels in it were the responsibility of a curator who has now retired, and I cannot really vouch for them. The objects acquired in 1906, 1913 and 1924 were acquired from a dealer, the same dealer, in fact, and he supplied no verifiable provenance information about the objects.

The shirt and leggings of mail are from a completely unrelated armour, some centuries later than the plates, while the back-plate is from a different armour from the other plates. The plates are certainly of a type well known from the Ottoman period of around the 16th century, and these pieces have the mark of the armoury in Istanbul, so they are quite secure.

I have never researched the axe, but I was under the impression that this type was from Mamluk Egypt, where a number of these two-handed battle-axes are known. It is not a normal weapon for the predominantly cavalry-based fighting of the Middle East. I have never seen anything really like this from India, even things vaguely like it are much lighter.

I can send you the curator's contact information if you'd like to pursue further discussion with him.

Best regards,
Emanuel