SOUTH ARABIA, LATE 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Details

A YEMENI JAMBIYA AND BELT
SOUTH ARABIA, LATE 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY
The double-edged polished steel tapering blade with waisted horn grip faced with a design in nails and with two applied imitation gold coins, the sheath with silver terminal pierced with dense floral designs, the associated belt worked in silk and metal thread with a central band of meandering interlaced arabesques flanked by similar blue and red bands, two applied demi-lune silver panels worked en suite with the sheath.
Dagger 13½in. (34,5cm.) long

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The pierced inscription on the front reads wa man takun bi-rasul allah nusratihi inna talaqahu al-asad fi (And he whose help is through the Messenger of God, if met by the lion in)

The reverse reads bi-'inaya sharaf al-din 'abdallah hamid al-din (Bestowed by Sharaf al-Din 'Abdallah [ibn] Hamid al-Din).

A very similar jambiya signed by Al-Sayyed Muhammmad 'Ali al-Nunu, with vitually identical belt was sold at Sotheby's, London, 11 October 1991, lot 298.

More from Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds

View All