A MUGHAL JADE-HILTED DAGGER (KHANJAR)
North India, 18th century

With a gently curved double-edged watered steel blade with gold-damascened foliage around the forte, the carved jade pistol-grip hilt engraved with traditional Mughal motifs including lotus flowers, rosettes, and vegetal trellis in low relief mostly located on the pommel and above the curved quillons, the wooden scabbard lined in dark green silk velvet with a silver braid at the back, 34.8cm long excluding the scabbard.

A number of similar 18th-century Mughal khanjar daggers with engraved pistol-grip jade hilts have been successfully sold at recent auctions in the UK and USA, including Bonhams London, 22 October 2019, lot 184; Christie's New York, 23 September 2022, lot 753; and another encrusted example sold at Christie's London, 28 October 2021, lot 45.

Dimensions: 34.8cm long excluding the scabbard