Peshkabz triplet
 

Hello all,

your thoughts and comments on this Peshkabz triplet would be most appreciated!

For my part, I see them as mostly decorative pieces, even though the big one has solid and well made blade and would clearly be serviceable. No wootz, no damascus, just plain steel, except on the medium one where some sort of etching has been performed to make it look like wootz (last photo).

Other opinions?

Thanks!

late 20th century tourist

With wax resist fake wootz......

Colonial India, 1880-1930's.

Supposedly made for sale to the British.

try 1970-2008

Ward, I have had knives of this type in my possession since I started collecting in the 1950's.

I have one now that my grandfather gave to me when I was 14 years old, that was in 1955. He reckoned that he had acquired it in about 1920, in India. It needs repair, it is missing the greenstone pommel pieces, and is in the form of a small khukrie. See the attached image.

I base my estimate of age of this type of thing on the above and on descriptions in the catalogues of British dealers prior to about 1978.

In respect of these three knives, I will bow to your greater wisdom, perhaps you know something about these particular three knives that I do not. However, my estimate for this type of knife stands.

No offence meant. I have handled some of these over the years usually they are mass produced or close to it. I am always interested in learning that a item was earlier made from a reliable source such as yourself. I believe they were still being made untill a much later date, but I will extend my date back to the early 1900's. Thanks

No offence taken Ward.

It can be easy to be misled about origins and dates with minor ethnographic items, unless one has some sort of personal experience.

I think "mass produced" is probably the wrong term to use. They do have very similar features, and they are always easily identified, but even with ones of the same pattern you find differences in dimensions and detail. I suspect they were probably a cottage industry type of thing, where patterns were the same, materials were produced en masse, and then individual craftsmen assembled them.One thing is certain:- they are handmade, not the product of any machine process.

Some collectors have attributed the style to the earlier part of the 20th century; others posit an even earlier period. The 1920s through the 30s saw the spread of the Art Deco movement, elements of which appear in the handle design. Google "Art Deco India" and you will find numerous references to the "Indo-Art-Deco" style, including the Maharaja of Jodhpur's Umaid Bhawan palace, now a hotel. These were intended for a tourist market, no doubt, but early Indian "tourists" were primarily British officers who travelled for reasons other than pleasure.
This same handle style is found on new knives listed on eBay and elsewhere, so dating individual pieces can not be formulaic. The faux wootz blade above appears recently made, while the larger double fullered one could easily date at least to the period before WWII.

Hi
I think that it is not tourist becouse it has a good blade... I think it is a 1950 -1970 dagger ...not much old but genuine.

Were the hilt all(100%) jadeite I would say late 1800s-early 1900s, and very much made for the British "den market"....not at all a bad dagger just not the upper crust of what the Indians were capable of.

The ones with the white hilt center and contrasting lines I do believe are later than those mentioned above, but exactly how late I am not sure.

As noted, mine dates from about 1920.

Wonderfully detailed answers as always, thanks to all.

I do/did not expect them to be very old but judging from the patina (I do have an advantage, I can have a first-hand look at them) and the state of the leather on the scabbard, their age must surely be counted in decades, so late 20th seems unlikely to me, probably more like mid 20th.

Again, lots of thanks!