Tipu Sultan and the Tiger Head Pommel

ariel · 1st July 2007, 03:12 AM

I do not remember the source (Rawson? Pant?), but it asserted that the Indians valued handles more than blades. A very prosaic explanation of the handle in question is that the blade was damaged beyond repair and discarded. Also (is it my eyesight?) , I cannot see any damage line at the base of the missing langet. Does brass break cleanly? Was the scar polished off?
The presence of a hollow filled with gummy substance is strange to me: the assumption is that that's what held the blade. But Indian cement was black, hard and, when old and damaged, crumbly. The "soft and sticky" stuff cannot be the original cement.

Jim McDougall · 7th July 2007, 05:27 AM

Ariel,
Interesting note concerning the Indian regard for the hilt above the blade. I would very much like to know the reference for this, but I would imagine it would have to do with the monumental symbolism often imbued in the elements and motif of the hilts.
I would suspect that Pant would have been the source, though I do not have access to the book at present. Rawson's focus was on blade typology, so I rather doubt the implication would have been made by him.

All best regards,
Jim

1st July 2007, 03:12 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I do not remember the source (Rawson? Pant?), but it asserted that the Indians valued handles more than blades. A very prosaic explanation of the handle in question is that the blade was damaged beyond repair and discarded. Also (is it my eyesight?) , I cannot see any damage line at the base of the missing langet. Does brass break cleanly? Was the scar polished off? The presence of a hollow filled with gummy substance is strange to me: the assumption is that that's what held the blade. But Indian cement was black, hard and, when old and damaged, crumbly. The "soft and sticky" stuff cannot be the original cement.

7th July 2007, 05:27 AM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,454	Ariel, Interesting note concerning the Indian regard for the hilt above the blade. I would very much like to know the reference for this, but I would imagine it would have to do with the monumental symbolism often imbued in the elements and motif of the hilts. I would suspect that Pant would have been the source, though I do not have access to the book at present. Rawson's focus was on blade typology, so I rather doubt the implication would have been made by him. All best regards, Jim