OTTOMAN TURKEY, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A GEMSET NEPHRITE-HILTED KNIFE
OTTOMAN TURKEY, 18TH CENTURY
In the form of a miniature kard with a single-edged watered-steel blade tapering to fine point, one side with calligraphic gold-damascened decoration and inset rubies and emeralds, the other side with gold-damascened spandrel, the forte with further inset stones, the pommel with a ruby in a rose setting, the gold repoussé sheath with rococo design, the face with inset ruby and emerald spray, chain attached with emerald bead, in green velvet case
4 3/8in. (11.3cm.) long

Special notice

Items which contain rubies or jadeite originating in Burma (Myanmar) may not be imported into the U.S. Please be advised that a purchasers inability to import any such item into the U.S. or any other country shall not constitute grounds for non-payment or cancellation of the sale. With respect to items that contain any other types of gemstones originating in Burma (e.g., sapphires), such items may be imported into the U.S., provided that the gemstones have been mounted or incorporated into jewellery outside of Burma and provided that the setting is not of a temporary nature (e.g., a string). These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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abutler-wheelhouse@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2196

Lot Essay

A similar dagger is in the Walters Art Museum and was recently included in their exhibition, ‘Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts’, there catalogued as late 18th/19th century (inv. 51.79; https://art.thewalters.org/detail/15555/miniature-dagger/). It was suggested that the knife was designed to fit into the butt of the jewelled rifle of Mahmud I (r. 1730-54). Indeed the work on the rifle, and that on the various tools designed to be kept inside, is very similar to that on our dagger, suggesting a similar period of manufacture (Amy S. Landau (ed.), Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts, exhibition catalogue, Baltimore, 2015, pp.222-28).

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