hi gene,
my library is important to me and well used, but just one way of getting information, and not always the first port of call. there is much information that has never been written and held by those not known to be academic, and yet their knowledge surpasses those that are more widely known. i have a long list of questions in my head and try and ask them at the right time and the right place
i've been out for dinner for the last 2 nights with 2 different friends (one academic and one art dealer) and on both nights learnt something new and important (to me anyway
) and both partly concerned this dagger.
jens, there isnt much i can slip past you. yes i did state doubts about the hilt and it was something i was reluctant to mention again, at least until i could offer more than just speculation. a friend has mentioned this dagger in an article and he claimed the hilt and blade were en-suite after close examination. over dinner, i expressed my doubts and in doing so instilled doubts with him. he admitted the slight possibility of it as a theory, but claimed to have not noticed it at the time (but he wasnt looking for this directly). as you say, the hilt could have been fitted after jahangirs ownership, but this can only be speculation. i still havent finished the article due to work commitments, but i got the impression a direct persian link was being reinforced, not just in this dagger, but in jahangirs taste in general. he bought many pieces from persia, importing them himself through trade routes in trade centres such as gujerat (correct me if i'm wrong as you have probably read the article) this would make sense i suppose, as the hilt is distinctly persian although it is claimed by jahangir the blade was forged in india.
my dinner tonight offered a different slant. my guest (well, actually he was paying
) has a vast knowledge of islamic history that bounds confidently across all the regions covered by the culture. he is well established as an 'expert' (but humbly refuses this role) and there are not many books written on islamic art over the last 20 years that do not thank him gratefully in their forward. he has not seen the dagger but is fully aware of it, and was comfortable with the age of the decoration. interestingly, he claimed it was indian! i argued my case, and he returned it with a history lesson which i had to accept, although my doubts will remain until i one day see the dagger myself, or hear a convincing report from someone that examined it. he claimed that jahangirs taste was always persian, as were many of the moghul courts. in this, he had persian artisans, and indian artisans that worked in a pure persian style. not only did they import pieces from persia to india, but the safavid courts imported persian pieces from india, made by indian artisans which were well known as finer craftsmen.
this statement alone will shake many, and i did argue the commercial aspect of persian art over indian, and this, i had to admit was a weak arguement. i collect indian for a reason, in that i think it is of higher quality than persian, or at least more to my taste. i always thought the commercial world disagreed, but as i was corrected, it definately does not. the persian pieces that are much sought after are the showy blades and fine late metalwork. these are meaningless, when standing next to an important piece of indian art. the reason that the world reveres persian artisans is that the good indian work doesnt exist in the sale rooms. when a piece does appear, the collecting world goes absolutely crazy. if you forget the moser pieces, which were pure decoration and go earlier, this becomes apparant. indian craftsman have always been revered, but only during this early period of which most are unaware.
interesting stuff and i hope others will give there opinion on this as i'm sure it can be taken further. my knowledge of persian art and history is slight at best.
after two dinners and many discussions, of which this dagger was just one i wasnt left with much more physical information to contribute. i still have my doubts, but now they are a little more uniform and when i one day see this piece, i will be looking at it with different eyes.
food was good though with no clowns in sight!