Silver Gilt Ottoman Dagger

Ottoman Turkey, 18th century
Silver gilt, gemstone, steel, wood
50cm long; 34cm long (the blade), 47.5cm long (unsheathed)
Stock no.: A5811
Provenance: Collection of Henry-René d'Allemagne

Make an enquiry +44 (0)20 7937 4422

Silver Gilt Ottoman Dagger

--Select a country-- Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo (DRC) Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Islands Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern and Antarctic Lands Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libye Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka St. Helena St. Kitts And Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Virgin Islands, British Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe

 

SEND

Success:

Email sent successfully

This unusual Ottoman hançer (or khanjar) dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. Its simplicity is striking. But for a thin band of engraved floral decoration at the locket of the scabbard and a foliate suspension loop just below this, the silver gilt runs uninterrupted from the gemstone at the top of the pommel to the bud-shaped finial of the scabbard. The unadorned surface allows for the refined craftmanship and high-quality materials to be admired. The contemporaneous watered steel blade is also simple, with just three ridges as decoration. 
Daggers from this period, particularly straight hilt-less daggers called kards, often have panels of plain silver gilt applied to both ends of the scabbard. An example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 36.25.730a,b) is dated to the late 18th or early 19th century. It is more unusual, however, to have a hançer which is entirely covered in silver gilt, including the hilt. A few examples are held in Russian collections. A jambiya in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (accession no. B.O.-483), is entirely covered with silver gilt. Another dagger in the same collection (no. B.O,-3275) comprises an Indian jade hilt with an 18th-century unadorned silver gilt sheath. Several daggers in the State Historical Museum, Moscow, have similar features. A dagger (accession no. 1785/1 op) and its corresponding sheath (accession no. 1785/2 op) are entirely covered in silver gilt, and smooth but for a thin band of floral engraving at the top of the sheath and a foliate suspension loop. Another, (no. 1186/1 op for the dagger and 1186/2 op for the sheath) is also dated to the 19th century. It has a more pronounced band of floral decoration on the scabbard, but otherwise is entirely unadorned.¹ Another example, dated to the 18th century, is in the Furusiyya Art Foundation, Vaduz (Inv. R-981) and paired with an earlier hilt.²
This dagger comes from the collection of Henry-René d’Allemagne (1863-1950), a French historian, author, and collector of Islamic art. He travelled extensively throughout the Middle East, building his collection. Most of his collection is now divided between the British Museum, London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

^{n.b. accession nos are clickable links}
 
[1] Also illustrated in Astvatsaturian, E.G. Turkish Weapons in the Collection of the State Historical Museum / Turetskoe oruzhie v sobranii Gosudarstvennogo Istoricheskogo muzeya. St. Petersburg: Atlant, 2002. p. 173. 
[2] Di Lallo, Emanuela (ed.) The Arts of the Muslim Knight: The Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection. Milan: Skira, 2008. p. 175, cat. 163.