A LUXURIOUS DIAMOND-SET AND ENAMELLED SWORD
Details
A LUXURIOUS DIAMOND-SET AND ENAMELLED SWORD (TULWAR)
PROBABLY JAIPUR, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY
The single-edged steel blade with false edge, two fullers along the length of the blade, three short fullers approaching the base, and four fullers at the ricasso, with undeciphered round maker's mark at the base and pseudo-European maker's mark one-third up the blade, with double-fluted spine, the gold hilt of conventional tulwar form and extensively set with diamonds arranged in a fish-scale motif, the remaining surfaced carved with floral motifs, the ground of translucent blue enamel, the wooden scabbard entirely covered in gold and decorated en-suite, with extensively diamond-set mounts, the central mount set with large diamonds in a floral motif, with modern gold suspension loops
34 5/8in. (88 cm.) long in scabbard
Provenance:
By repute, Treasury of the Nizams of Hyderabad
Lot Essay:
The dense fish-scale motif, fully covering the hilt, locket, and chape, and executed entirely in kundan-set diamonds, achieves an effect that is extraordinarily opulent while paradoxically feeling more austere than the polychrome extravaganza seen on many contemporary luxurious arms and armour. Using only three colours – white diamond, gold, and translucent blue – the sword projects an almost soothing, ‘classical' appearance, which is enhanced by the inclusion of a high-quality blade of traditional form from a named bladesmith, now sadly unidentifiable. This impressive diamond-set and enamelled sword finds its closest comparison to another exceptional sword gifted to the British King Edward VII on the occasion of his coronation on 9 August 1902, by Sawai Sir Madho Singh II Bahadur, the Maharaja of Jaipur (Royal Collection, Windsor, RCIN 11288). That sword is set with 719 diamonds with a total weight of approximately two thousand carats, set against a translucent blue enamel ground with basse-taille floral motifs, as on the present sword. In the absence of inscriptions or elucidating
Provenance:
information, it remains unclear for whom the sword was made. Wilbraham Egerton records that by 1880, the finest enamelled works of art were barred from export and acquired by the Maharaja (Wilbraham Egerton, An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms, 1880, p.69). It is perhaps thus that the sword was acquired by the Nizams of Hyderabad.
Read more
Details
A LUXURIOUS DIAMOND-SET AND ENAMELLED SWORD (TULWAR)
PROBABLY JAIPUR, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY
The single-edged steel blade with false edge, two fullers along the length of the blade, three short fullers approaching the base, and four fullers at the ricasso, with undeciphered round maker's mark at the base and pseudo-European maker's mark one-third up the blade, with double-fluted spine, the gold hilt of conventional tulwar form and extensively set with diamonds arranged in a fish-scale motif, the remaining surfaced carved with floral motifs, the ground of translucent blue enamel, the wooden scabbard entirely covered in gold and decorated en-suite, with extensively diamond-set mounts, the central mount set with large diamonds in a floral motif, with modern gold suspension loops
34 5/8in. (88 cm.) long in scabbard
Provenance:
By repute, Treasury of the Nizams of Hyderabad
Lot Essay:
The dense fish-scale motif, fully covering the hilt, locket, and chape, and executed entirely in kundan-set diamonds, achieves an effect that is extraordinarily opulent while paradoxically feeling more austere than the polychrome extravaganza seen on many contemporary luxurious arms and armour. Using only three colours – white diamond, gold, and translucent blue – the sword projects an almost soothing, ‘classical' appearance, which is enhanced by the inclusion of a high-quality blade of traditional form from a named bladesmith, now sadly unidentifiable. This impressive diamond-set and enamelled sword finds its closest comparison to another exceptional sword gifted to the British King Edward VII on the occasion of his coronation on 9 August 1902, by Sawai Sir Madho Singh II Bahadur, the Maharaja of Jaipur (Royal Collection, Windsor, RCIN 11288). That sword is set with 719 diamonds with a total weight of approximately two thousand carats, set against a translucent blue enamel ground with basse-taille floral motifs, as on the present sword. In the absence of inscriptions or elucidating
Provenance:
information, it remains unclear for whom the sword was made. Wilbraham Egerton records that by 1880, the finest enamelled works of art were barred from export and acquired by the Maharaja (Wilbraham Egerton, An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms, 1880, p.69). It is perhaps thus that the sword was acquired by the Nizams of Hyderabad.
Read more
