This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, German, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Cap of a Janissary

Location:

Vienna, Austria

Holding Museum:

Kunsthistorisches Museum

About Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Date of Object:

Hegira c. 956–957 / AD c. 1550

Museum Inventory Number:

HJRK_C_135f

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Felt, gold embroidery, gilt brass

Dimensions:

Height: 52cm, Width: 18cm, Depth: 28cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Turkey?

Description:

The sumptuous execution of his headdress suggests it was made for a high-ranking Janissary (the Turkish elite infantry). This Janissary cap was part of the Turkish booty that fell into the hands of Lazarus Schwendi in AD 1566; in the late 16th century it entered the collection of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (AD 1529–95) at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck.

How date and origin were established:

Collection Ambras Castle

How Object was obtained:

Trophies of Lazarus von Schwendi (AD 1566), Collection Ambras Castle

How provenance was established:

Collection Ambras Castle

Selected bibliography:

Gamber, Ortwin and Beaufort-Spontin, Christian, Katalog der Leibrüstkammer II. Teil. Der Zeitraum von 1530-1560, Busto Arsizio: Bramante, 1990.
Jaeckel, P., "Türkische Kopfbedeckungen in mitteleuropäischen Museen", Zeitschrift für Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 12 (1970): 1-18.
Luchner, Laurin, Denkmal eines Renaissancefürsten. Versuch einer Rekonstruktion des Ambraser Museums von 1583, Wien: Schroll, 1958.

Citation of this web page:

Matthias Pfaffenbichler, Tobias Roeder "Cap of a Janissary" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;at;Mus22;22;en

Prepared by: Matthias Pfaffenbichler, Tobias Roeder
Copyedited by: Liz Cooper

MWNF Working Number: AT2 22