Lot 231
A fine and rare pair of repeating flintlock pistols from the personal armoury of Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III, Nizam of Hyderabad (reg. 1803-29) Chidambaram, Pondicherry, dated AH 1214/ AD 1799-1800(2)
25 October 2021, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £25,250 inc. premium
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A fine and rare pair of repeating flintlock pistols from the personal armoury of Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III, Nizam of Hyderabad (reg. 1803-29)
Chidambaram, Pondicherry, dated AH 1214/ AD 1799-1800
Chidambaram, Pondicherry, dated AH 1214/ AD 1799-1800
the steel barrels of circular form becoming multi-faceted towards the breech, decorated in gold inlay with vegetal motifs and cartouches containing inscriptions detailing a stylised description of the place of manufacture, the wood stocks mounted in silver engraved with foliate decoration, gilding to brass elements of mechanism, engraved inscriptions to receivers
each 45 cm. long(2)
each 45 cm. long(2)
Footnotes
Provenance
Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III
Private Dutch collection, acquired from Henk Visser.
The Henk Visser Collection.
Inscriptions: ya hazrat-e 'abbas-e'ali!/.... (?), 'O His holiness 'Abbas, son of 'Ali!', sanah 1214 hijri, 'The year 1214 of the hijra (1799-1800)', sarkar-e sekandar jah bahadur, 'Sarkar Sekandar Jah Bahadur'
Repeating flintlock pistols made in India are exceptionally rare. The few that exist are copies of European weapons, either of Indian Manufacture, or made by Europeans working in India. One centre of European production was the French colony of 'Chalembrom' or Chidambaram, where an arms manufactory developed a system for repeating flintlocks where tubes below the barrel retained enough powder and balls for twenty shots. Such weapons are well attested from the armoury of the Nizams of Hyderabad such as a long gun of the same date as the present lot also made at Chidambaram in the collection of the National Rifle Association Museum, Fairfax, Virginia (Road to American Liberty Gallery, case 5). Other examples of long guns produced at Chidambaram are in the Royal Collection (RCIN90672 and RCIN90673), and the Musée de l'Armée, Paris (nos. M665-6). The present lot is the only known pair of pistols from Chidambaram. Below the barrel are two additional tubes for gunpowder and bullets. The barrel mechanism rotates when released by the lever in front of the trigger, depositing the round and charge in the breech for the next shot and cocking the action.
Sikander Jah was the third Nisam of Hyderabad and during his reign was responsible for building the Rambagh temple in Attapur, an act which symbolised the communal harmony between the Muslim rulers and their Hindu subjects in Hyerabad. This pistols were made for him before his accession and the adoption of the title Asaf Jah III.