TWO RARE MUGHAL DAGGERS

细节

TWO RARE MUGHAL DAGGERS
18TH CENTURY

The first dagger with a fine pale celadon jade handle inlaid with gold leaves and flowers, inset with pink and green tourmaline beads, the rounded tip of the handle centred with a row of spinel beads; the second dagger with a rock crystal handle decorated at the hilt and at the tip of the handle with inlaid gold and ruby-bead floral sprays (the rock crystal handle repaired)
The larger 15 in. (38 cm.) long, sheaths (2)

拍品专文

The Qing Imperial collection of swords, daggers and other arms included a number of these Mughal and Mughal-style daggers which were used by the army. Many of the daggers were gifts to the Qianlong emperor from foreign dignitaries from India and the Middle East, thus introducing a new and exotic style to Chinese weaponry. The decoration on the handles suggests that the present daggers may have come from Mughal India or Iran. However, it is also possible that they were made in the Imperial ateliers, exactly copying the Mughal style from the collection of arms. A close inspection of the polish on these daggers suggests that these were made in the Near East where diamond dust was used to polish jades, an uncommon practice in Chinese workshops.

Compare the present lots with a very similar dagger with a pale celadon jade handle, included in the exhibition, La Cite Interdite, Musee du Petit Palais, Paris, 1996, Catalogue, no. 16.

(US$32,000-40,000)