Old Chain Mail, European Medival or Late Ottoman??

ariel · 27th September 2009, 08:15 PM

I am putting my response here because I think it IS Oriental.
Astvatsaturyan , in her book "Weapons of Caucasian nations" discusses Circassian mails, that were in widespread practical use well into the mid-19th century.
They had the same " collar" as the one Artzi shows, made " on the rivet", and connected to 4 surrounding rings: all in agreement.
Circassian mails were famous throughout the area for their quality: Shah Abbas told Russian ambassador Andrej Zvenigorodskij that "... good mails come to us from Circassia", mails were traditional Circassian gifts to regional royalty and the Russians hired Circassians to teach their workers how to make good mails.
Circassians were exiled by the Russians in the 1860s and they went to Turkey. Many were settled in current Israel/Jordan/Syria.

Thus, the preservation state, the quality and the construction features all point to the Circassian possibility.
My 5 cents....

27th September 2009, 08:15 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I am putting my response here because I think it IS Oriental. Astvatsaturyan , in her book "Weapons of Caucasian nations" discusses Circassian mails, that were in widespread practical use well into the mid-19th century. They had the same " collar" as the one Artzi shows, made " on the rivet", and connected to 4 surrounding rings: all in agreement. Circassian mails were famous throughout the area for their quality: Shah Abbas told Russian ambassador Andrej Zvenigorodskij that "... good mails come to us from Circassia", mails were traditional Circassian gifts to regional royalty and the Russians hired Circassians to teach their workers how to make good mails. Circassians were exiled by the Russians in the 1860s and they went to Turkey. Many were settled in current Israel/Jordan/Syria. Thus, the preservation state, the quality and the construction features all point to the Circassian possibility. My 5 cents....