A product of the chaos in Egypt caused by the failure of Napoleon's 1798 invasion, the Khedivate of Egypt was established by Muhammad Ali, an Ottoman military commander who used a force of Albanian mercenaries to seize power in the nation. While Ali was only officially recognized by the Ottomans as Wali (governor) and considered Egypt a client state, his self declared title of Khedive (hereditary viceroy) went unchallenged, as well as his internal reforms, making Egypt an independent nation in fact if not in title. This odd state of affairs grew more complicated when the British established a "veiled protectorate" in Egypt in 1882 to protect European investments, resulting in a country that owed nominal allegiance to one nation, was partially occupied by another, and was still ruled by Ali's heirs. The Khedivate of Egypt would end in 1914, when the Ottoman Empire formally aligned with Germany and Britain responded by kicking out the Khedive and establishing a British-aligned Sultanate. Reportedly constructed in France, the armor shows a heavy European influence in it's base design. The crown of the helmet is constructed from a single piece of steel, topped with a steel crescent moon on a brass base cone with brass trim and a one-piece "lobster tail" neck protector. A sliding steel nose guard shaped like a broad head arrow is mounted to the front, 11 1/2 inches long with brass mounting brackets and fletching, and brass protective chain hangs down the back of the neck and along the exterior of the leather chinstrap. No inner lining is present, though there is a brown leather sweat band and six vent holes in the crown concealed by the base cone. The cuirass is of standard two-piece steel construction with decorative brass studs around the plate edges, a leather waist belt and a pair of brass chain reinforced leather shoulder straps mounted to the back plate, with the mounting hardware of the straps decorated with raised laurel and column patterns and the breastplate displaying a prominent sunburst design. The left shoulder of the back plate is stamped "173" in Persian numerals, significance unknown and no other markings have been found on the helmet or cuirass. A nearly identical set (note the absence of the waist belt, possibly tucked up and out of the way for the photo shoot) can be seen in Figure 40A, Page 68 of Islamic Weapons: Maghrib to Mogul by Anthony Tirri, a copy of which is included with this lot. Consignor states this is the exact set found in the book.

Fine overall, with scattered spotting and areas of brown patina on the steel, and a fine aged color on the brass. A few patches of heavier spotting are present on the steel parts. The waist belt has been torn and the chinstrap and shoulder straps show mild cracking. A fine set of European-styled military armor.