Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Property from the Mohammed Khalil Collection
Lot 134*
A South Indian steel push dagger (katar) Vijayanagara, 16th/ 17th Century and later
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£8,000 - £12,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A South Indian steel push dagger (katar)
Vijayanagara, 16th/ 17th Century and later
Vijayanagara, 16th/ 17th Century and later
the hilt of typical form with curved triangular protective guard terminating in a makara head, the later double-edged steel blade decorated in openwork with an elephant and makaras in combat
36 cm. long
36 cm. long
Footnotes
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.
Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 690, cat. no. 510.
The hilt of the present lot is typical of South Indian push daggers of the 16th/ 17th century. Two examples, dating to the 16th century and 17th century respectively, are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession Nos. 36.25.905 & 36.25.929). A further katar in the same museum features a similar makara head finial (see R. Elgood, Hindu Arms and Ritual, p. 147, no. 15.4). These kinds of katars, Elgood notes, can be found represented in 16th Century sculpture in mandapas in Srirangam and elsewhere.
Whilst hunting scenes and animals are often featured within the decoration on katar blades, the openwork elements on the blade of the present lot are rare. Some examples with hunting scenes on the blades include a katar in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession No. 36.25.913) and a katar sold at Christie's, Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence, 19 June 2019, lot 27.