Islamic Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

ariel · 7th February 2016, 06:48 PM

Jim pre-empted my comment re. Oliver's texts for the Wagner's collection book, but I must add my personal view.

There are several " personal collection" books on the market. Tirri's was a pioneering one, followed by (also his) book on African arms.

Those were followed by several "vanity" books: personal collections of undistinguished and uninteresting examples, mostly acquired in bulk within 3-5 years prior to their publication. Some ( more financially established) owners even commissioned review articles on superficially-related topics from "guns for hire" authors just to give their catalogues a whiff of academicity.

Wagner/Pinchot book is not even in the same universe. It shows carefully-selected outstanding examples of Oriental weaponry that would not be out of place in a major museum.

But for me, Oliver's comments and descriptions are the main attraction. The book is small, the space was limited, but he managed to compress his hard-earned and deep knowledge literally into 3-5 lines per object. If one reads these comments carefully, one finds a wealth of very clever and sophisticated points and even more very wise hints. He managed to open a new window, an unexpected angle of observation on so many objects that I thought I knew well... and, obviously, did not, never thinking about Oliver's twists of discussing them! I cannot recommend it strongly enough!

The Metropolitan book is yet another animal: it is a heavy-duty academic treatise, with references, comparisons with examples from the places I never heard about, attention to the minor details of decoration, inscriptions, historical context, etc, etc.

Mahratt did not like the uncertainty in the attribution of a cuirass ( Persia or India?) and a helmet ( Russia or Iran?). (This is not a critique of him, just an example.) I read these sections carefully, and was astonished to see the humility and the restraint of the authors, who are seasoned arms historians and world-class professionals. It might have been so easy for them to express a "yes or no" opinion: after all, they are THE experts! Instead they went into analysis of obscure details, minor points, iconography and history to establish the attribution point beyond which their writing would cross the line into fantasy or the " my way or highway" conclusions.

This is a hard book to read, and its worth for a beginning collector is limited. But for those who have years of reading, examining, discussing and thinking about Islamic Arms and Armour it will be an indispensable source of postgraduate education.

7th February 2016, 06:48 PM	#27
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Jim pre-empted my comment re. Oliver's texts for the Wagner's collection book, but I must add my personal view. There are several " personal collection" books on the market. Tirri's was a pioneering one, followed by (also his) book on African arms. Those were followed by several "vanity" books: personal collections of undistinguished and uninteresting examples, mostly acquired in bulk within 3-5 years prior to their publication. Some ( more financially established) owners even commissioned review articles on superficially-related topics from "guns for hire" authors just to give their catalogues a whiff of academicity. Wagner/Pinchot book is not even in the same universe. It shows carefully-selected outstanding examples of Oriental weaponry that would not be out of place in a major museum. But for me, Oliver's comments and descriptions are the main attraction. The book is small, the space was limited, but he managed to compress his hard-earned and deep knowledge literally into 3-5 lines per object. If one reads these comments carefully, one finds a wealth of very clever and sophisticated points and even more very wise hints. He managed to open a new window, an unexpected angle of observation on so many objects that I thought I knew well... and, obviously, did not, never thinking about Oliver's twists of discussing them! I cannot recommend it strongly enough! The Metropolitan book is yet another animal: it is a heavy-duty academic treatise, with references, comparisons with examples from the places I never heard about, attention to the minor details of decoration, inscriptions, historical context, etc, etc. Mahratt did not like the uncertainty in the attribution of a cuirass ( Persia or India?) and a helmet ( Russia or Iran?). (This is not a critique of him, just an example.) I read these sections carefully, and was astonished to see the humility and the restraint of the authors, who are seasoned arms historians and world-class professionals. It might have been so easy for them to express a "yes or no" opinion: after all, they are THE experts! Instead they went into analysis of obscure details, minor points, iconography and history to establish the attribution point beyond which their writing would cross the line into fantasy or the " my way or highway" conclusions. This is a hard book to read, and its worth for a beginning collector is limited. But for those who have years of reading, examining, discussing and thinking about Islamic Arms and Armour it will be an indispensable source of postgraduate education. Last edited by ariel; 7th February 2016 at 08:19 PM.