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Lot Essay
The brightly coloured gemstones finely inlaid into the hard jade hilt of this dagger are a testament to the technical excellence and artistic expression of 17th century Central India. The flowers on either side of the base of the hilt are composed of rubies, yellow sapphires and emeralds cut so precisely as not to require any form of setting between the gems. The rounded yellow sapphires flow directly into the pointed rubies forming the curved leaves flanking the central flower. This technique is mirrored in an equally sophisticated gem-set dagger in the Artem Collection attributed to mid-17th Century Mughal India or the Deccan (Gill Paul (ed.) The Artem Collection, London, 2012, pp.294-95). There are very few examples which survive of this technique. This is probably due to the cost associated in sourcing precious gems of almost identical colouration to balance the exuberance of the intricate design which adorns the hilt of our dagger. This same sense of fine colouration is also found on tri-coloured enamelled gold mounts on a scabbard dated to the period of Shah Jahan circa 1640-60 in a private German Collection (Oriental Splendour, exhibition catalogue, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 1993, no.141, p.201).
The hilt with its curved pommel, known as a pistol-grip, is a form which Bashir Mohamed writes appeared in the second half of the 17th century (Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, p.201). It is a form which has been associated specifically with the Deccan and in particular with the collection of the Nizams of Hyderabad. A slightly later dagger dated to the 18th century also with a pistol-grip now in the Al-Sabah Collection was acquired from the collection of the Nizam of Hyderabad (Manuel Keene and Salam Kaoukji, Treasury of the World, exhibition catalogue, London, 2001, no.6.52, p.84). A slightly later dagger with a similar emerald-inlaid foliate design at the base of the hilt was sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2004, lot 155.
The hilt with its curved pommel, known as a pistol-grip, is a form which Bashir Mohamed writes appeared in the second half of the 17th century (Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, p.201). It is a form which has been associated specifically with the Deccan and in particular with the collection of the Nizams of Hyderabad. A slightly later dagger dated to the 18th century also with a pistol-grip now in the Al-Sabah Collection was acquired from the collection of the Nizam of Hyderabad (Manuel Keene and Salam Kaoukji, Treasury of the World, exhibition catalogue, London, 2001, no.6.52, p.84). A slightly later dagger with a similar emerald-inlaid foliate design at the base of the hilt was sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2004, lot 155.