Hooded katar or pata with a backsword blade

werecow · 3rd November 2024, 02:50 PM

I recently acquired this hooded katar or dandpata gauntlet sword with an unmarked (possibly European?) backsword blade. I thought I'd post it here since these are rather rare.

The sword is 104 cm long overall. If anyone wants more stats I can do some measurements.

Some of the rivets look a bit polished up so they may have been replaced (or just subjected to cleaning because they stick out a bit), however considering the way the patina on the blade follows the langets and the patina on the peen on the inside of the grip, I believe they were together historically. I hope you agree.

I'd appreciate your thoughts, particularly with regards to dating. I believe I've seen this more developed type with the reinforced bars across the hilt attributed to the 17th century but it would be good to have this confirmed (or corrected). It seems to correspond to stage 4 in the image below, but unfortunately the subscript does not give an indication of age:

Related threads:
Katars with more hand defence PIC
Katar (????) for comment ...

There is a similar one on a well known dealer's site but it is currently for sale so unfortunately I can't cross link to it.

More pics to follow, uploading is rather slow today.

werecow · 3rd November 2024, 03:16 PM

More pics (last 4 are from the seller)...

werecow · 3rd November 2024, 03:19 PM

Last of the seller's pics, with a bit of different lighting.

RAMBA · 4th November 2024, 09:30 AM

Seen this type and style attributed from 16th to 18th Century.

The late Roy Elvis has one in his book that is attributed to 17th - 18th Century.

Another one sold on a dealers site has it as 'A very rare Tanjore Katar
17th/18th century Indian sword'

werecow · 6th November 2024, 06:18 PM

Has anyone here encountered a backsword blade on one of these (or on a regular pata) before? That strikes me as rather peculiar for the type.

3rd November 2024, 02:50 PM	#1
werecow Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Leiden, NL Posts: 499	Hooded katar or pata with a backsword blade I recently acquired this hooded katar or dandpata gauntlet sword with an unmarked (possibly European?) backsword blade. I thought I'd post it here since these are rather rare. The sword is 104 cm long overall. If anyone wants more stats I can do some measurements. Some of the rivets look a bit polished up so they may have been replaced (or just subjected to cleaning because they stick out a bit), however considering the way the patina on the blade follows the langets and the patina on the peen on the inside of the grip, I believe they were together historically. I hope you agree. I'd appreciate your thoughts, particularly with regards to dating. I believe I've seen this more developed type with the reinforced bars across the hilt attributed to the 17th century but it would be good to have this confirmed (or corrected). It seems to correspond to stage 4 in the image below, but unfortunately the subscript does not give an indication of age: Related threads: Katars with more hand defence PIC Katar (????) for comment ... There is a similar one on a well known dealer's site but it is currently for sale so unfortunately I can't cross link to it. More pics to follow, uploading is rather slow today. Attached Images Last edited by werecow; 3rd November 2024 at 03:01 PM. Reason: Added more pics

3rd November 2024, 03:16 PM	#2
werecow Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Leiden, NL Posts: 499	More pics (last 4 are from the seller)... Attached Images

3rd November 2024, 03:19 PM	#3
werecow Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Leiden, NL Posts: 499	Last of the seller's pics, with a bit of different lighting. Attached Images

4th November 2024, 09:30 AM	#4
RAMBA Member Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 102	Seen this type and style attributed from 16th to 18th Century. The late Roy Elvis has one in his book that is attributed to 17th - 18th Century. Another one sold on a dealers site has it as 'A very rare Tanjore Katar 17th/18th century Indian sword'

6th November 2024, 06:18 PM	#5
werecow Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Leiden, NL Posts: 499	Has anyone here encountered a backsword blade on one of these (or on a regular pata) before? That strikes me as rather peculiar for the type.