PHILIPPINES, 19TH CENTURY

The form of our Moro helmet derives from that of morion helmets worn by the European troops of the 15th and 16th century. Our helmet crest with hooked finial recalls the late 16th century examples from northern Italy and Spain. See for instance three examples kept at the Wallace Collection, London (A134, 136, 140, 141). For a similar helmet attributed to 19th Century Mindanao, Philippines, see A. C. Tirri, Islamic Weapons- Maghrib to Moghul, Miami, 2003, pl. 318, p. 446.