A JEWELLED, ENAMEL AND SILVER-GILT MOUNTED JADE-HANDLED AND STEEL DAGGER

Details

A JEWELLED, ENAMEL AND SILVER-GILT MOUNTED JADE-HANDLED AND STEEL DAGGER
the handle Indian, probably 18th Century, the dagger and mounts apparently unmarked, 19th Century, probably Austro-Hungarian

The jade hilt with openwork foliate finial, set with rubies and emeralds, and mounted with two bands of engraved foliage set with rubies, the blade mount and sheath champlevé enamelled in blue and white, the blade mount flanked by winged mermaids, the tip of each tail enamelled in green and set with a pearl, with scrolls above and fruit between, the lower border with St. George and the Dragon in relief on one side and a lion riden by a man on the other, the sheath with a band of turquoises around one side of the mount and set at intervals down the length of the sheath with three further turquoises, the other side with a band of rubies and emeralds and set with cabochon rubies at intervals, flanked near the mount by two green enamelled lizards and applied at the point with a red and green winged, grotesque head, a turquoise held in the gaping jaws, the steel blade with a warrior in relief on each side near the mount, surmounted on one side by a coat-of-arms and with scrolling foliage on the other, along the flattened edge and at the point, the blade deeply fluted and pierced between the mount and the point, some chips to enamel, some stones missing, in fitted and tooled red leather case - 14 1/8in. (36cm.) long

Lot Essay

It has been suggested that the blade and mounts of this dagger were made by the goldsmith and enameller, Adam Hausinger, who made and signed a magnificent gold and enamel hilted rapier in the 16th Century style for Ludwig II of Bavaria.

More from Silver & Objects

View All