A MUGHAL JADE-HILTED DAGGER (KHANJAR) ENCRUSTED WITH GARNET BEADS
North India, 18th - 19th century

With a curved double-edged plain steel blade with a thick medial ridge typical of Persian daggers, the carved jade pistol-grip hilt engraved with traditional Mughal motifs including rosettes, foliage, and floral sprays in low relief mostly located on the pommel and above the curved quillons, the twenty-one garnet beads encrusting the surface of the hilt a likely later decorative addition, 34cm long.