A gilt-copper hilted steel 'tears of the afflicted' dagger
India, Kutch, 19th Century
the double-edged steel blade of curved form watered with chevron patterning, with two fullers, the central spine containing free running steel balls, or 'tears of the afflicted', the gilt-copper hilt engraved and decorated with foliate scrollwork, the pommel in the form of a parrot, with wood scabbard clad in red velvet with gilt-copper foliate openwork mounts, suspension loop to one side
34.5 cm. long
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 688, cat. no. 507.

The present lot features free running seed pearls within the blade, usually referred to as 'the tears of Allah' or 'the tears of the afflicted'. Incorporating either seed pearls or steel balls, this feature is known from the 16th century onwards (R. Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 27). For a comparable dagger with a pommel in the form of a parrot featuring chevron patterning to the blade sold at Sotheby's, see Arts of the Islamic World, 6 October 2010, lot 279. A further parrot hilted dagger is in Robert Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 16, No. 38.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: *
* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.