A MUGHAL 'JEWEL'-INLAID JADE HORSE-HEAD DAGGER HILT

细节

A MUGHAL 'JEWEL'-INLAID JADE HORSE-HEAD DAGGER HILT
FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

The horse's head well carved with slightly open mouth showing the teeth and with gently rounded contours detailing the planes of the face, with alertly pricked ears on either side of the finely incised forelock and mane, the eyes and the incised bridle inlaid with 'rubies', the inside edge of the neck carved with barely perceptible finger grooves and the base of the handle carved on each side with a 'ruby'-inlaid flowerhead flanked by feathery leaves curling up at their tips, the softly polished, grayish-white stone suffused with brown veining
5 3/16in. (13.2cm.) long, wood stand

拍品专文

Horse-head dagger hilts of this type were very popular in Mughal India, and were carved with sensitivity and a keen eye for realism. A Mughal dagger inscribed with the date, Hijra year, 1071 (1660-61 AD) with a very finely carved jade horse-head hilt of aqua-green color in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is illustrated by Stephen Markel, "Fit for an Emperor, Inscribed Works of Decorative Art Acquired by the Great Mughals", Orientations, August, 1990, p. 22-36, fig. 22. Another dagger with a similar hilt of grayish-green jade dated to the late 17th century is illustrated by Julia K. Murray, "The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", Orientations, May, 1981, pp. 33-46, fig. 6. A very similar grayish-white jade horse-head dagger hilt was included in the Special Exhibition of Hindustan Jade, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, Catalogue, pp. 268-269, pl. 72 bottom. Compare, also, a Mughal dagger with jade horse-head hilt of similar type dated to the 17th/18th century, sold in these rooms, November 11, 1991, lot 194