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Not currently on display at the V&A

Sacrificial Axe

ca. 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This axe was probably made for use in animal sacrifice to the Hindu goddess Kali, and has her eye on each face of the blade. The axe is extremely heavy, and the weight is greater towards the end to made the downward thrust more effective, meaning that the sacrifice could more easily be performed in one movement.
It may have been made in Ranaghat in Nadia District, Bengal. The neighbourhood of ironsmiths (Kamarpara) in Ranaghat at one time housed prosperous smithies and forges as cottage industries. The axe was bought from the Annual International Exhibition of 1872 in London by the Indian Museum. It was transferred with much of the museum's collections to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1879.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Wrought steel and wood
Brief description
Sacrificial axe ram da, Bengal, ca. 1870
Physical description
The sacrificial axe ('Ram da') has a heavy steel blade with a wooden handle. The handle has brass inlay with brass mounts and gilt finial, inlaid with black and red lac. The grip of the handle is knurled. Human eye and decorative pattern are engraved on each face of the blade as well as the maker's mark: '5.n' in Bengali.
Dimensions
  • Length: 84.1cm
  • Blade length: 50.5cm
  • Handle length: 33.6cm
Total length of blade (50.5cm) and handle (33.6cm).
Marks and inscriptions
  • "5 n." in Bengali (This may be the maker's mark.)
  • Transliteration
Credit line
Transferred from the India Museum in 1879
Object history
Acquired from the Annual International Exhibition (London) of 1872
As originally arranged and displayed in Exhibition Road Indian Museum galleries until 1955, with some additions while in storage, case F.703
Production
May have been made in Ranaghat in Nadia District, Bengal. Kamarpara (neighbourhood of iron smiths) in Ranaghat at one time housed prosperous smithies and forges as cottage industries.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This axe was probably made for use in animal sacrifice to the Hindu goddess Kali, and has her eye on each face of the blade. The axe is extremely heavy, and the weight is greater towards the end to made the downward thrust more effective, meaning that the sacrifice could more easily be performed in one movement.
It may have been made in Ranaghat in Nadia District, Bengal. The neighbourhood of ironsmiths (Kamarpara) in Ranaghat at one time housed prosperous smithies and forges as cottage industries. The axe was bought from the Annual International Exhibition of 1872 in London by the Indian Museum. It was transferred with much of the museum's collections to the South Kensington Museum, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum, in 1879.
Bibliographic references
  • Arts of Bengal : the heritage of Bangladesh and eastern India : an exhibition organized by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum : 9 November-30 December 1979, Whitechapel Art Gallery ..., 12 January-17 February 1980, Manchester City Art Gallery ... . [London]: Whitechapel Art Gallery, [1979] Number: 085488047X (pbk.) : p.75
  • Lord Egerton of Tatton, Indian and Oriental Armour, London, 1896, p. 102, Cat. No. 350
  • Rawson, P.S., The Indian Sword, London, Herbert Jenkins, 1968, p.55, fig.31.
  • Egerton, Wilbraham, An illustrated handbook of Indian arms; being a classified and descriptive catalogue of the arms exhibited at the India museum: with an introductory sketch of the military history of India, London, 1880 p.102
Other numbers
  • 350 - Egerton Catalogue Number
  • 11,908-1872 - India Museum Slip Book
Collection
Accession number
3085(IS)

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Record createdSeptember 30, 2005
Record URL
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