Dagger Hilt
1650 to 1750 (made)
| Place of origin |
This dagger or sword hilt was made within the Mughal empire, probably in the late 17th or early 18th century. The colourless clarity of the rock crystal would have enhanced the appearance of the dagger, while the weight of the hilt would have helped to counter-balance the steel blade. A major disadvantage would have been that sharp impacts to the hilt could have resulted in severe damage to it, possible sufficient to render the dagger unusable without a replacement hilt. The hilt's decoration has been applied by a skilled craftsman and it would have been made for a wealthy client.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Rock crystal, cut and polished using abrasives and abrasive-charged tools. |
| Brief description | Dagger or sword hilt, pistol grip with scroll-like pommel, covered with small, rhomb-shaped, concave facets, rock crystal, Mughal, late 17th or early 18th century |
| Physical description | A dagger or sword hilt with a pistol grip and a scroll-like pommel, with two small quillons. There are remnants of a protrusion at the blade end to which the blade was once attached but is now broken. The hilt has been fashioned from rock crystal with a very slightly smoky purple tint and has been decorated all over with small, rhomb-shaped, concave facets and then polished. There are cracks extending down the hilt resulting from the damage incurred at the blade end. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Wells Bequest |
| Object history | This dagger or sword hilt was fashioned in India in the late 17th century and was acquired by Arthur Wells who was a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882. This collection was left to the museum in his will - the Wells Bequest. |
| Summary | This dagger or sword hilt was made within the Mughal empire, probably in the late 17th or early 18th century. The colourless clarity of the rock crystal would have enhanced the appearance of the dagger, while the weight of the hilt would have helped to counter-balance the steel blade. A major disadvantage would have been that sharp impacts to the hilt could have resulted in severe damage to it, possible sufficient to render the dagger unusable without a replacement hilt. The hilt's decoration has been applied by a skilled craftsman and it would have been made for a wealthy client. |
| Bibliographic reference | 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. 230, cat. no. 1198 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1670-1882 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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