Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 30R
An Afsharid gold-damascened steel sword (shamshir) Persia, 18th Century
30 March 2021, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £1,912.50 inc. premium
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An Afsharid gold-damascened steel sword (shamshir)
Persia, 18th Century
Persia, 18th Century
the single-edged steel blade of curved form with single fuller, the blade widening towards the double-edged tip with chiselled palmette at transition, decorated in gold overlay to one side near the forte with an inscription-filled cartouche, above and below palmette cartouches filled with foliate interlace, the crossguard decorated in gold overlay with scrolling tendrils overlaid with flowerheads, the quillons in the form of dragon heads, horn grips
85 cm. long
85 cm. long
Footnotes
Inscriptions: 'The work of Mu'allim Misri'.
For a shamshir with an almost identical crossguard dated to the Afsharid period in the Military Museum of Tehran see Manouchehr M Khorasani, Arms and Armour from Iran, Tubingen, 2006, p. 488. Mu'allim Misri made four other recorded shamshirs: one is in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, another in the Military Museum, Tehran, and another two signed with his name are in the Historisches Museum, Bern (ibid, p.177, and cat.80).
Important Notice to Buyers
Some countries e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of Iranian-origin works. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.