victoriansword: British Officer’s Basket-Hilted Sword With Indian Gold Koftgari Decoration, Mid-Late
victoriansword: British Officer’s Basket-Hilted Sword With Indian Gold Koftgari Decoration, Mid-Late 18th CenturyWith earlier Indian curved tulwar blade double-edged at the point and with a decoratively chiselled panel on one side below the forte, the forte silver-damascened over both sides with the nada'ali quatrain, invocations to God, Muhammad, ‘Ali, Hasan and Husayn’ in poorly formed naskh, one side incised with two cartouches, one retaining traces of a gold-damascened inscription, elaborate guard of thin bars (two small breaks) forming open ovoidal panels damascened with gold dots and framing shaped crosses damascened with gold flower-heads, the remaining surfaces gold-damascened with landscape scenes inhabited by birds and animals including falcons attacking wildfowl and tigers attacking blackbuck, fore-guards, large scrolled wrist-guard and compressed globular pommel all decorated en suite, the wrist-guard with a sun-in-splendour amid scrolling foliage, the pommel surmounted by a large turned tang button, and chequered spirally-grooved dark horn grip (strap missing) with a silver ferrule above and below, in its wooden scabbard covered in partly tooled black leather (lower part replaced, chape missing) with shaped locket and suspension mount each decorated en suite with the hilt and carrying a ring for suspension. 78 cm blade. -- source link