A LONG INDIAN MATCHLOCK MUSKET (TORADAR)
Possibly Rajasthan or Northern India, mid-18th century

With an impressive long wootz steel barrel with a tapering cylindrical profile, slightly everted tip, and a bulging ring by the chamber, the wootz steel barrel stamped '30' in Western numerals and featuring charming 'rock and wave' patterns and diagonal bands, secured on a typical flaring, dark stained wooden stock enhanced with incised steel plaques with fretwork and vegetal motifs, the underside decorated with flowering vases, a tall cypress tree, and a band of repeating Maltese crosses by the trigger, most of the original flintlock mechanism now missing, the end of the stock with a rounded dark-yellow bone terminal, 216cm long.

Toradar matchlock muskets were particularly en vogue in South Asia during the Mughal period starting from the 16th century and their popularity lasted until the mid-19th century thanks to their simple and cheap design. Compared with contemporary European matchlocks and their fish tail-shaped butt, the stock of toradars featured a simpler shape. Often used as hunting guns and depicted in a number of miniatures of the time, their large size and heavy weight made them difficult to maneuver and carry, triggering a progressive decline in their use. Similar examples can be seen at the Stibbert Museum in Florence and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.