A fine gold-inlaid watered-steel push dagger (katar)
India, 17th/ 18th Century
the double-edged watered-steel blade with armour piercing tip, chiselled with central spine flanked by triangular recesses and two small fullers, the hilt of typical form with faceted baluster grips and flaring sidebars, decorated in gold inlay with pavilions in a landscape, the wood scabbard clad in red velvet with foliate openwork steel mount
35.7 cm. long
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 694, cat. no. 514.

The decoration on the hilt of the present lot is exceptionally fine. The flowing water and pavilions are comparable to those found on a 17th Century tulwar (see Robert Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: a Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 164, no. 402). The water on the tulwar flows in horizontal bands and around the base of the pommel, whereas on our katar, the water flows so as to follow the vertical design of the sidebars, demonstrating the great detail paid to the relationship between the form and decoration of the individual weapon. Another example of similar decoration appears on a 17th Century chape in the same publication which features cypress trees and flowering shrubs with lotus flower-filled ponds (ibid p. 59, no. 123). Robert Hales refers to the slightly darker steel of both these examples as being blackened, or dark burnished, similar to the hilt of the present lot. A further Mughal or Deccani enamelled 17th Century dagger which features bands of flowing water and pavilions is in The Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (see Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection, 2007, p. 229, no. 20).
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.