TOLEDO, SPAIN, DATED 1868

This sword takes its form from Nasrid jinetas. The form is depicted in paintings in the Partal and the Sala de los Reyes of the Alhambra from the second half of the fourteenth century. The jineta is distinctive for its highly arched quillons and tripartite grip. Often decorated with elaborate enamel, filigree and granulation, it is likely that they were always intended as ceremonial arms to reflect the lavish nature of the Nasrid court rather than as functional military tools. Fifteenth century examples are in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Kassel (959 and B II 608, both published in Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, nos.61-62, pp.284-87). A related dagger was sold in these Rooms, 7 April 2011, lot 396.