Picture 31 of 31 from Oriental Arms and Armour

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KHANJAR, Dagger
ca. 1600 - 1650
Southern India Deccan Mughal Period (1526-1858)
Steel, jade, gold, rubies, emeralds, black and white agate.
Full Length: 34 cm, Blade Length: 22cm.
This exceptional khanjar hilt with a handle in the shape of a horses head is sculpted in a single piece of green
nephrite jade. The handle area corresponding to the horses neck shows, in a decorative frond theme, a delicate
work of etching in deep bas-relief filled with gold in the kundan technique, and incrusted with emeralds and rubies.
Two black and white agates give shape to the eyes, and as a complement to the valuable look of the ensemble the
bridle is completely incrusted with rubies. The blade in accordance with the ornamental quality of the hilt is made of
wootz or watered steel. The use of noble materials and the zoomorphic shape of the hilt attest to it having been
owned by a high dignitary.
The research that Stuart Cary Wech Jr., pioneer in the study of Islamic and Indian art, did on many of the illustrations
in the Padshanama or Official chronicle of the Sovereigns (a manuscript which is now a part of the collection of
the Royal Library in Windor Castle), allowed him to conclude that the small number of daggers with zoomorphic hilts
were reserved for the use of princes.
Although the number of daggers of this type would know a rise in production numbers towards the end of the 17th
century, these continued to have a defining function when it came to high positions in the court.
There is a similar piece at the Victoria and Albert Museum collection.
Bibl.: Hermann Historica, Fine Antique Arms and Armour and Selected Historical Collectibles, (Auctions Catalogue),
Munich, May 16, 2003, item 44; Cameron Stone, 1999, pp. 351-353, fig. 444/8; Rickets, H., 1988, pp. 96,99, fig.
154/162; KEEN, Manuel, 2001, p. 101, fig. 8.18
Picture Added
06-26-2013, 06:44 AM
Album
Oriental Arms and Armour

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Added by
Jorge Caravana

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