OTTOMAN EMPIRE, 16TH OR 17TH CENTURY

Finials such as the present one were typically fitted on the end of standards during parades and on military campaigns, as part of the trappings of the imperial train. Our finial fitted the tug that recently sold as part of the collection of Philippe Missillier, Sotheby's London, 29 April 2025, lot 4. The bulbous form of the unadorned tombak is comparable to horse trappings captured by the Habsburg general Lazarus Schwendi von Hohenlandsberg during the Habsburg-Ottoman war of 1565-68, formerly in the collection of Schloss Ambras and now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, C 135e).