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A Very Rare Indo-Persian Shamshir image 1
A Very Rare Indo-Persian Shamshir image 2
A Very Rare Indo-Persian Shamshir image 3
Lot 46

A Very Rare Indo-Persian Shamshir
Late 17th/Early 18th Century

20 April 2011, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £12,000 inc. premium

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A Very Rare Indo-Persian Shamshir
Late 17th/Early 18th Century

With finely watered curved single-edged blade (minor rust patination), the forte on one side with two gold-inlaid cartouches (some gold missing) inscribed respectively in na'staliq script 'The servant of Imam Ali Abbas' and 'Work of Asadullah Isfahani', a gold-inlaid amulet (beduh) above, gold-mounted hilt comprising quillon-block and long tapering quillons with button terminals decorated in enamel with red carnations and green leaves against a white ground, grip-strap en suite, curved leather-covered wooden grip (damaged) with bevelled edges and set along both sides with six gold roundels (two missing from each side) enamelled en suite with the quillon-block, and associated gilt-copper pommel-cap (gilding worn, some damage to enamel)
82 cm. blade

Footnotes

Provenance:
The gift of Field Marshal Sir Athur Arnold Barrett GCB, GCSI, KCVO, ADC (1857-1926) to the vendor's grandfather. Sir Arthur Barrett was posted to India in 1875 and saw service with the Punjab Frontier Force, serving in Afghanistan including operations around Kabul in 1879 and the relief of Kandahar. He took part in the Hazara Expedition of 1888 and in 1891 was involved in the Miranzai operations and the Hunza-Naga Campaign. From 1897-1898 he was assistant quartermaster-general of the forces mobilized to suppress the rebellion on the North West Frontier. In 1909 he was appointed Adjutant-General in India with command of the Poona Division. Following service in the First World War he was given command of the North-West Frontier Force in 1919 and was the senior officer on the ground throughout the war. He was promoted Field Marshal in 1921

For an Indian pendant with very similar decoration and described as Deccan or Mughal, C. 3rd-5th decade 17th century A.D., see Manuel Keene, Treasury Of The World ... The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum, 2001, p. 126, 10.3. Compare also with three Indian katars in the same collection, pp. 68-69, 6.16-6.18

Additional information

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