674 - Indian Khanjar Dagger with Glass Horse Head Hilt, Gemstone Setting, Damascus Blade, 20th Century

Indian Khanjar Dagger with Glass Horse Head Hilt, Gemstone Setting, Damascus Blade, 20th Century Steel, glass, red and green gemstones. Indian khanjar dagger, also kandjar, 20th century, curved blade with central ridge and visible Damascus pattern, at the forte on both sides a dark decorative field with leaf tendrils and a border line in gold koftgari (gold damascening), within it a triangular cartouche with gold damascened, calligraphically stylised characters, glass hilt in the form of a horse's head with carved mane, the eye a teardrop-shaped red gemstone in a gold-coloured mount, a green gemstone at the mouth, red and green gemstones on the neck, gold-coloured inlaid lines forming the bridle, the lower part of the grip with carved leaves and a flower, two-lobed hilt base each with a red gemstone, good condition commensurate with age, L. 36.5 cm, blade length 25 cm. The khanjar is the curved dagger of the Mughal period in India. Hilts of jade and other gemstones came into use under Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605 to 1627) and reached their artistic peak in the 17th century under Shah Jahan (r. 1628 to 1658). Daggers with animal-head hilts of jade were reserved for persons of the highest rank; comparable pieces are held in the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.