Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 103
A mother-of-pearl-hilted Dagger Gujarat, 17th Century(2)
6 October 2015, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £3,750 inc. premium
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A mother-of-pearl-hilted Dagger
Gujarat, 17th Century
Gujarat, 17th Century
the straight watered-steel blade with central raised ridge, the hilt set with mother-of-pearl plaques of chevron design, each held in place by three brass pins, two silver floral discs ornament one side of the pommel while a single stylised flower decorates the other, the associated wood sheath with silver mount with gold damascene decoration and covered with a silk textile with pomegranate motif
32 cm. long(2)
32 cm. long(2)
Footnotes
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the accounts of the Jesuit missionaries and foreign travellers often mention mother-of-pearl objects manufactured in Gujarat. These objects were usually intended for the Ottoman and Portuguese markets, but were also greatly appreciated in the Mughal court.
Comparative examples are in the Musee Guimet, Paris (MA 6825) and published in Simon Ray, April 2007, no. 26 both formerly in the collection of Krishna Riboud. See also Thierry-Nicolas Tchakaloff et al, La Route des Indes: Les Indes et L'Europe: échanges artistiques et héritage commun, 1650-1850, 1998, p. 106, no. 33; Simon Digby, 'The mother-of-pearl overlaid furniture of Gujarat: the holdings of the Victoria and Albert Museum', in Robert Skelton, Andrew Topsfield, Susan Stronge and Rosemary Crill (eds.), Facets of Indian Art, 1986, p. 215.