THE BLADE SIGNED BARKHURDAR BIN ASADULLAH ISFAHANI, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details

A TALPUR SWORD (TULWAR)
THE BLADE SIGNED BARKHURDAR BIN ASADULLAH ISFAHANI, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY
The curving unfullered watered-steel blade doubled edged at the tip, the lower end with gold overlaid maker's signature in cartouche above the owner's name vertically written, the spine with the owner's name repeated and partially overlaid, the gold tulwar hilt incised with an overall floral design, the pommel similar, on modern stand
36in. (91.5cm.) long

Provenance

By repute acquired by Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854) and thence by descent

Engraved

On the face of the blade, 'Sarkar Mir Karam 'Ali Khan bin Mirsubadar Khan Talpur', 'work of Barkhurdar bin Asadullah Isfahani' and a buduh magic square
On the spine, 'Sarkar Mir Murad 'Ali Khan Talpur, Sarkar Khan Nasr-i Jang Muhammad Bahawul Khan 'Abbasi Bahadur'

Sale room notice

Please note the estimates published in the printed catalogue are incorrect and should instead read £12,000 - £18,000.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The Talpur rulers of Sindh were avid collectors of fine arms and armour. The British physician James Burnes, who visited Hyderabad in 1827, recorded that the family maintained a network of agents across Iran and the Ottoman Empire that supplied them with valuable swords and gun barrels, and that members of the court placed great value on high-quality swords with illustrious provenance (James Burnes, A Narrative of a Visit to the Court of Sinde, Edinburgh, 1831, pp. 93-6).

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