A GEM SET JADE-HILTED DAGGER (KHANJAR) WITH SCABBARD

NORTH INDIA OR DECCAN, 1700-1725

Details

A GEM SET JADE-HILTED DAGGER (KHANJAR) WITH SCABBARD
NORTH INDIA OR DECCAN, 1700-1725
Set with rubies and emeralds, pierced watered-steel blade fitted with three channels containing free running seed pearls, the velvet-covered wooden scabbard with enamelled gold locket and chape
14 ins. (35.5 cm.) long

Literature

Hales 2013, p.31

Exhibited

Grand Palais, Paris 2017, p.114, no.90
The Doge’s Palace, Venice 2017, p.144, no.92
The Palace Museum, Beijing 2018, p.168, no.96
de Young Legion of Honor, San Francisco 2018, p. 89, no. 31

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Rahul Kadakia

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Lot Essay

This exquisite dagger with its carved scale decoration jade hilt inlaid with rubies has a strong sculpted effect. The hilt is further inlaid with foliage, lotus flowers and poppies set with emeralds and rubies. The rich enamelled sheath fittings have later restorations with foliage on one side and chevron patterns on the other. The free running seeds within the blade are related to Iranian and Ottoman examples dating to sixteenth and seventeenth century, usually referred to as 'the tears of Allah' or 'the tears of the wounded' (Hales, 2013, p.31.)

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