DECCAN, INDIA, LATE 17TH CENTURY

The luxurious gem-set hilt of the present sword is constructed in a manner comparable to a hilt in the Royal Collection, Windsor (RCIN 37828). Both hilts are of a ‘tulwar-style’ form, fully overlaid with gold and with kundan-set gemstones arranged in a floral pattern with raised gold stems. The sword in the Royal Collection was presented to Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, on the occasion of his visit to India in 1875-76. As that hilt is fitted with a blade decorated with several images of Sikh Gurus, it has been tentatively attributed to Punjab or Kashmir during the middle of the 19th century. The same attribution seems likely here.

Three-digit inscriptions on the spine are seen on a number of fine sword blades associated with the armoury of the Nawabs of Awadh during the late 18th century. Other blades with such inscriptions include two richly-enamelled swords in the Wallace Collection, London (OA1540 and OA1432; Thom Richardson and Paula Turner (eds.), The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Arms and Armour from Asia, Africa and the Ottoman World, London, 2026, pp.72-3, 109), a sword in the Khalili Collection, London (David Alexander, The Arts of War, London, 1992, pp.139-40), and one exhibited in Copenhagen (Kjeld von Folsach et al., Fighting, Hunting, Impressing, 2021, pp.130-31), inscribed with the numbers ‘338’, ‘539’, ‘335’, and ‘867’, respectively.