A MORO CEREMONIAL STEEL HELMET WITH OPENWORK BRASS FILIGREE PLAQUES Mindanao, Philippines, South East Asia, 19th century With a pronounced domed skull terminating in a faceted conical tip, a flattened front beak visor, and slightly curved side ear flaps, the latter two elements hinged to the main helmet with either plain or rosette-shaped brass studs, the four exterior facets of the steel helmet embellished with openwork brass filigree plaques with classical Western-inspired motifs including a stylised conch shell, vegetal festoons, and a rounded fan, the edges of the whole helmet enhanced with brass chevron bands, the interior plain except for an old paper label reading "62 cleaned with Emery Pr(o)per - Orly" (?), mounted on a metal stand, the helmet widest diam. 24cm, ca. 29cm x 36.5cm excluding the stand. Moro helmets were usually worn by native Muslims in the Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan regions in the Philippines, as a form to identify themselves from the non-Muslim communities. They tend to come in a variety of media ranging from more organic materials like horn, leather and hair, to the more durable metals brass, bronze and steel. Their shapes are quite distinctive and easily recognisable. Scholars have debated whether their original formal inspiration could have derived from morion helmets worn by European troops, mostly Spanish and Portuguese, in the 15th and 16th centuries, or from Japanese helmets of the beginning of the 17th century. Although their shapes are likely to have been inspired by foreign models, Moro craftsmen managed to distinguish their creations by adding Islamic art-inspired motifs and sophisticated arabesque patterns, which can be appreciated in the openwork brass plaques of the present example. For further reference, please see an 18th / 19th-century Moro brass helmet in the Museo de América in Madrid (acc. no. 13716), and another similar in the Weltkulturen Museum (Museum of World Cultures) in Frankfurt (acc. no. AG0309).