A SILVER-DAMASCENED STEEL AXE
Details
A SILVER-DAMASCENED STEEL AXE (BULLOVA)
INDIA, 19TH CENTURY
The crescentic steel blade thickly overlaid on both sides with punched and chased silver foliage within geometric borders, the octagonal socket with further silver floral decoration, one side with a bud terminal
7 x 4 ½in. (17.8 x 12cm.)
Provenance:
Acquired from the London art market, 1995
Lot Essay:
The crescentic form of this axe belongs to the Indian bullova, a type associated particularly with central, eastern and southern India. Comparable examples are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including a bullova dated to the 18th–19th century (acc. no. 36.25.1813) and another attributed to Chota Nagpur and dated to the 19th century (acc. no. 36.25.1841).
Details
A SILVER-DAMASCENED STEEL AXE (BULLOVA)
INDIA, 19TH CENTURY
The crescentic steel blade thickly overlaid on both sides with punched and chased silver foliage within geometric borders, the octagonal socket with further silver floral decoration, one side with a bud terminal
7 x 4 ½in. (17.8 x 12cm.)
Provenance:
Acquired from the London art market, 1995
Lot Essay:
The crescentic form of this axe belongs to the Indian bullova, a type associated particularly with central, eastern and southern India. Comparable examples are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including a bullova dated to the 18th–19th century (acc. no. 36.25.1813) and another attributed to Chota Nagpur and dated to the 19th century (acc. no. 36.25.1841).
