◉ AN OTTOMAN SWORD, TURKEY, LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY

◉ AN OTTOMAN SWORD, TURKEY, LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY with earlier style curved single-edged blade of wootz steel, formed with a series of recessed grooves and cross-shaped marks along the back-edge on each face, decorated on each face at the forte with three gold koftgari calligraphic cartouches, brass hilt comprising cross-piece with moulded terminals (cracked), a pair of ivory grip-scales retained by brass rivets, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with two iron mounts each decorated with calligraphy in gold koftgari, 81.4 cm blade Provenance On loan to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (1936-2022), inv. no. 54-257 The inscriptions read, in the uppermost cartouche: 'al-sultan nadir shah 981' (The Sultan Nadir Shah, 981 (1573-4)); in the lower two cartouches: '[za] hush-i falatun/damash tiztar' (Its tip is sharper than Plato's wit). The latter is part of a poem frequently encountered on the carved bone handles of Qajar daggers.