TWO STEEL HALF-MOON BETEL NUTCRACKERS (SAROTA) AN EYE FOR DETAIL: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ESTATE IN NORTHERN LONDON North India, 19th century Each with typical slender, tapering handles terminating in rounded or bulbous pommels, and a half-moon steel blade concealed under a horse-shoe-shaped arch, with a scalloped, beaded frieze at the top and bottom of each cracker's head, the largest example featuring an elaborate crest and openwork blade with a seated lion in profile, the latter plain, the longest 19.5cm.

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