A GOLD-DAMASCENED (KOFTGARI) RAM-HEADED STEEL DAGGER (KHANJAR)
Northern India, 19th century

With a tapering and curved single-edged watered wootz steel blade with typical wavy pattern, the forte enhanced with gold-inlaid cusped cartouches with bold calligraphy on one side and intertwined vegetal sprays on the latter, the curved handle ending in a ram head, fully inlaid in gold (koftgari) with scrolling vegetal sprays on the body and cross-hatched rounded marks on the head, the eyes and mouth of the ram encrusted with coral and spinel beads (reacting under UV-light), 29cm long.