Mughal style dagger

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi Marius,

It can be very hard to date these hilts, especially from pictures, but I think your guess is correct.

Jens

[mariusgmioc]

Manged to have the stones tested at the jeweler.

Hilt = Quartz
Eyes & forehead stone = Rubies (fairly good quality albeit not the best)
small red stones = Rubies (low quality; tested just a couple of them as they are carbochon and difficult to test but did a visual exam on the rest)
orange stones = probably Aghate but unsure as they are too small
green stones = glass

While they couldn't be 100% sure they said the mountings appear to be untampered so probably all stones are the originial ones.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Manged to have the stones tested at the jeweler.

Hilt = Quartz
Eyes & forehead stone = Rubies (fairly good quality albeit not the best)
small red stones = Rubies (low quality; tested just a couple of them as they are carbochon and difficult to test but did a visual exam on the rest)
orange stones = probably Aghate but unsure as they are too small
green stones = glass

While they couldn't be 100% sure they said the mountings appear to be untampered so probably all stones are the originial ones.

It is possible that the sheet silver at the base and the stones in the silver was added at a later date, maybe to cover up a fault or just to add some bling...the gold kundan on the eyes does not really match the silver work holding the other stones, just a thought.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by estcrh

It is possible that the sheet silver at the base and the stones in the silver was added at a later date, maybe to cover up a fault or just to add some bling...the gold kundan on the eyes does not really match the silver work holding the other stones, just a thought.

I don't think so as the silver is basically one piece with the front bolster and it serves also as consolidation for the mounting of the blade since the tang is only about 2 cm (from all I can see).

[Jens Nordlunde]

Marius,
It is interesting about the rubies and the green glass, I wonder why that is?
Do you think the silver was made to cover a fault? Maybe the dagger was once dropped, or do you think it is to compensate for the short tang?
Jens

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

Marius,
It is interesting about the rubies and the green glass, I wonder why that is?
Do you think the silver was made to cover a fault? Maybe the dagger was once dropped, or do you think it is to compensate for the short tang?
Jens

About rubies and green glass it is a rather common occurence on Indian daggers as rubies were and still are very easily available in India (with massive reserves in Sri Lanka) while emeralds are not.

Regarding the silver mounting, this is a presentation dagger and definitely not a fighting dagger.

In fact, all stone-hilted daggers are not fighting daggers but merely dress/presentation daggers (unless they are full tang). While very hard, stone is at the same time rather fragile and simply dropping the knife on a hard floor may crack and break the hilt, rendering the knife unuseable. This is even more true for rock crystal/quartz which is quite susceptible to cracking at even moderate shocks. This combined with a very short tang mandate for a mounting that would brace the hilt and prevent it from cracking if a shock is applied at an angle relative to te axis of the tang.