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A gold koftgari-hilted steel dagger (bichwa) Deccan, 18th Century image 1
A gold koftgari-hilted steel dagger (bichwa) Deccan, 18th Century image 2
Property from the Mohammed Khalil Collection
Lot 136*

A gold koftgari-hilted steel dagger (bichwa)
Deccan, 18th Century

12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£7,000 - £9,000

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A gold koftgari-hilted steel dagger (bichwa)
Deccan, 18th Century

the double-edged steel blade of curved form with chiselled fullers and widening towards the point, the steel hilt with large convex guard with sharp palmette to one side, the pommel of bulbous form, profusely decorated in gold-overlay to the hilt with floral sprays and motifs
40 cm. long

Footnotes

Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 711, cat. no. 535.

The large gold-overlaid circular floral motifs on the handguard of this bichwa are reminiscent of those inlaid in silver and gold on bidri vessels such as a huqqa base sold at Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 2 April 2009, lot 233. These types of bidri designs later found their way onto Deccani jade dagger hilts such as one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (36.25.667). This makes it likely that the present lot was made for a Muslim patron. For a comparable example sold in these rooms, see Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 23 May 2023, lot 181.

Additional information