TWO OPENWORK STEEL BELT FITTINGS WITH DRAGON HEADS
Possibly Timurid or early Safavid Iran, 15th - 16th century

Each ornament made of two separate sections joined with a rivet, the upper plaque of oval shape, scalloped and pierced, featuring an intricate interlocking cloud collar or vegetal motif, with a narrow rectangular clasp at the back, the lower plaque larger in size, slightly cusped, and featuring two stylised dragon heads breathing a curved, hollow semi-circle, the design indebted to Golden Horde belt fittings and the decoration to the Central Asian steppe's artistic vocabulary, but the heavy weight indicative of their use in a settled and not nomadic context, and the choice of medium (steel) in line with the predilection and fondness for this material in the Timurid and Safavid periods.

Each 4.5cm x 3.5cm

Total 68gr. (each 34gr.)