Friendship (Sahib)
The shield is decorated with ornaments based on 18th-century armour that belonged to the Crimean Khan and is now in a private collection. This type of armour is typical of Muslim soldiers, including the Crimean Tatar army. The gilded helmet, sleeves and other details were decorated with ornaments. The zoomorphic ram's horn image is an ancient classical motif widely used by Crimean craftsmen in soldiers' armour, jewellery, architecture and tombstones. Earlier Russian scholars studying Crimean Tatar military weaponry attributed it to a typical Circassian Y-shaped ornament, but a similar horn image is found in most Muslim and European ornaments and cannot be attributed to a single culture. The armour is also decorated with silver medallions with Arabic inscriptions, one of which states that the helmet belonged to Sahib II Giray, Khan of Crimea. Although the ornamentation of the armour does not have the technical features typical of Crimean craftsmen's work, such as blackening, the decorative elements of octagonal flowers and geometric shapes such as a circle, an oval and a rhombus, allow us to trace the connection with the armour of the rulers of Crimea. The ornaments are composed in arched shapes and resemble a stylised mihrab.
The ceramic shield is decorated with a flower composed of rhombus, as well as semicircles, floral motifs and zoomorphic ornaments. The main colour of the work is black, while the combination of blue and white echoes the contrasting effect of gold and silver on the helmet.
