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An Ottoman gold-damascened steel sword (kilij) with European blade Turkey, 19th Century image 1
An Ottoman gold-damascened steel sword (kilij) with European blade Turkey, 19th Century image 2
Lot 70

An Ottoman gold-damascened steel sword (kilij) with European blade
Turkey, 19th Century

22 May 2025, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£4,000 - £6,000

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An Ottoman gold-damascened steel sword (kilij) with European blade
Turkey, 19th Century

the single-edged steel blade of slightly curving form with three fullers to each side, engraved and decorated in gold overlay with bands of inscription and foliate scrollwork, with remains of European etching, the hilt with horn grips and gold-damascened steel mounts with geometric and vegetal designs, the crossguard with foliate designs, an inscription-filled cartouche to one side, the wood scabbard clad in red velvet with gold-damascened steel mounts variously with with foliate and vegetal designs and inscription-filled cartouches, with two suspension loops
98.5 cm. long

Footnotes

Provenance
Czerny's, Antique Arms Selected from all the Countries and Epoch, 9 December 2017, lot 237.
Private UK collection.

Inscriptions: sayings in Arabic on the subjects of swords and the transience of life, part of Qur'an 11:88, an invocation to an attribute of God (ya qadi al-hajat, 'O Judge of [all] needs'), the date 1170 (1756-7), and ma sha'a allah, 'whatsoever God wills' to the guard; to the scabbard fittings, invocation to an attribute of God, the date 'year 1170' and possibly the name ''Ali'.

Additional information