A fine gold-inlaid steel axe head signed by Muhammad Sadiq bin Muhammad Ya'qub
India, 18th Century
of typical form, decorated in gold inlay with hunting scenes to one side of blade, foliate designs to the other, both sides with inscription-filled cartouches towards the butt, the butt with further foliate designs and quadrupeds, the top and bottom edges with foliate interlace and inscription-filled cartouches
14.7 cm. long
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 938, cat. no. 825.

Inscriptions: signed 'amal-i muhammad sadiq bin muhammad ya'qub, 'The work of Muhammad Sadiq bin Muhammad Ya'qub'; to the other side, a possible owner's name, sarkar ghulam muhyi al-din, 'Sarkar Ghulam Muhyi al-Din'; in four cartouches, two Persian couplets, the first on a Shi'i subject, zi bahr-i adavan-i shah-i najaf/ tabarzin-i khunriz bar daram ba-kaff/ tabarzin ba-khun-i yalan gasht gharaq/ chu taj-i khurusan-i jangi ba-faraq, 'On account of the enemies of the King of Najaf (i.e. 'Ali)
I raise the blood-shedding axed in my palm, The axe is drowning in the blood of warriors, Like the crests on the heads of fighting cocks'; the second couplet is from 'Abdullah Hatifi's Timurnama.

The present lot is a fine example of gold inlaid weaponry, the foliate decoration and depictions of hunting scenes rendered in intricate detail and covering the entirety of the axe head. The hunt was a popular subject for weapons of this kind, as can be seen on an 18th Century Deccani example in The Wallace Collection, London, which features chiselled gold koftgari hunting scenes (Inventory No. OA1615).
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: *
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