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Sword Hilt

1680-1720 (made)
Place of origin

This hilt for a sword was made within the Mughal empire and probably dates to the late 17th or early 18th century. It belonged to the important collection of Mughal jades and other hardstones formed by Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie in the mid-19th century. Guthrie bought pieces that had been in the Mughal treasury in Delhi (broken up in 1857), and the Sikh treasury (annexed by the British in 1849), but it is not known specifically which pieces in his collection came from which source. However, jewelled nephrite jade hilts of this quality would probably have been rare, and the catalogues of the auctions of the Lahore treasury include references to similar pieces.
Part of Guthrie's collection was bought by the Indian Museum in 1868, and was later transferred to the South Kensington Museum. The rest of it was sold after his death at auction at Christie's, London, in 1875, when a Mr T. M. Whitehead bought this hilt, and sold it to the South Kensington Museum later that same year. The museum subsequently changed its name to the Victoria and Albert Museum.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Nephrite jade, ruby, emerald, diamond and gold, fashioned using a variety of techniques
Brief description
Sword hilt; white nephrite jade set with diamonds and rubies in gold; Mughal, late 17th or early 18th century.
Physical description
Sword hilt, fashioned in two main parts and to a very high standard from white nephrite jade, set with 6 diamonds, 58 emeralds and 159 (from an original 161) rubies in gold (1 ruby is missing and another is unidentifiable) combined with fine, gold wire inlay. There is evidence of minor damage with fairly modern repairs. The decorative design is typically Mughal in the setting and treatment of the stones.
Dimensions
  • 630 1875 length: 175.0mm (+/-1.0)
  • 630 1875 width: 96.4mm
  • 630 1875 diameter: 69.10 to 69.75mm (Note: Diameter of the nephrite disc near the end, including settings)
Dimensions vary with orientation
Style
Object history
The hilt was in the important collection of Mughal jades and other hardstones formed by Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie in the mid-19th century. Guthrie bought pieces that had been in the Mughal treasury in Delhi (broken up in 1857), and the Sikh treasury (annexed by the British in 1849), but it was not recorded specifically which pieces in his collection came from which source. Part of his collection was bought by the Indian Museum and the rest of it was sold at auction at Christie's, London, in 1875, when a Mr T. M. Whitehead bought this hilt, selling it to the South Kensington Museum later that same year.
Subject depicted
Summary
This hilt for a sword was made within the Mughal empire and probably dates to the late 17th or early 18th century. It belonged to the important collection of Mughal jades and other hardstones formed by Colonel Charles Seton Guthrie in the mid-19th century. Guthrie bought pieces that had been in the Mughal treasury in Delhi (broken up in 1857), and the Sikh treasury (annexed by the British in 1849), but it is not known specifically which pieces in his collection came from which source. However, jewelled nephrite jade hilts of this quality would probably have been rare, and the catalogues of the auctions of the Lahore treasury include references to similar pieces.
Part of Guthrie's collection was bought by the Indian Museum in 1868, and was later transferred to the South Kensington Museum. The rest of it was sold after his death at auction at Christie's, London, in 1875, when a Mr T. M. Whitehead bought this hilt, and sold it to the South Kensington Museum later that same year. The museum subsequently changed its name to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Bibliographic references
  • Susan Stronge, "Colonel Guthrie's Collection. Jades of the Mughal Era", Oriental Art, Winter 1993/94, vol. XXXIX, no. 4, fig.1, p. 4
  • Bryant, Julius, Editor. Art and Design for All: The Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publishing, 2011. ISBN 9781851776665 pp.240-241, cat. no. 311
  • The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950] p. 229, cat. no. 1176
  • Swallow, D., Stronge, S., Crill, R., Koezuka, T., editor and translator, "The Art of the Indian Courts. Miniature Painting and Decorative Arts", Victoria & Albert Museum and NHK Kinki Media Plan, 1993. p. 87, cat. no. 71
  • Stronge, S. (Ed.) "The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms", V&A, 1999 cat. 89 p. 220 and plate 65 p. 66.
Collection
Accession number
630-1875

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
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