Knife Handle thumbnail 1
Not on display

Knife Handle

c. 1850 (made)
Place of origin

These dagger handle parts were produced in Ahmedabad in Gujarat State, India in the mid- to late 19th century. The city has long been associated with the production of decorative and/or utilitarian wares from local quartz hardstones and to this day it continues to be a major gem cutting and trade centre.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.
(Some alternative part names are also shown below)
  • Knife Handle
  • Dagger Handle
  • Knife Handle
  • Dagger Handle
Materials and techniques
Bloodstone, carved and polished using abrasives with the holes most probably being made using a bow-drill.
Brief description
Matched halves of a knife or dagger handle, bloodstone, carved and polished with deep engraving, each having two drill holes for attachment to a blade, Ahmedabad India, 19th century
Physical description
Matched left and right halves of a knife or dagger handle, each with a v-shaped notch at one end with the other end being curved and blunt. Fashioned in bloodstone, with a deeply engraved cross-hatched, almost fish scale-like pattern along much of the length and with two small drill holes along the length.
Dimensions
  • 01405( is) length: 102.1mm
  • 01405( is) width: 22.2 to 22.9mm
  • 01405( is) thickness: 10.4 to 11.25mm
  • 01405 a ( is) length: 101.1mm
  • 01405 a ( is) width: 22.7 to 23.4mm
  • 01405 a ( is) thickness: 11.5 to 11.9mm
Object history
These objects were formerly in The India Museum in London and were then transferred to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed The Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1879. 1880 Register Entry: [Room 8. Case .] '01,405. KNIFE HANDLE. In two parts, bloodstone. 12,799'
Summary
These dagger handle parts were produced in Ahmedabad in Gujarat State, India in the mid- to late 19th century. The city has long been associated with the production of decorative and/or utilitarian wares from local quartz hardstones and to this day it continues to be a major gem cutting and trade centre.
Associated object
01404(IS) (Shared Other number)
Other number
12799 - India Museum Slip Book
Collection
Accession number
01405(IS) to 01405A/(IS)

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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