Ottoman silver gilt jambiya

Ottoman silver gilt jambiya.

Ottoman Turkey, 18th/19th century.
Silver gilt hilt and scabbard, pattern-welded blade.
39cm long.

This jambiya dagger has a gently curving double-edged pattern-welded blade with a median ridge. The hilt is of typical H shape commonly found in Ottoman jambiya-s. The hilt and sheath are chased with highly detailed silver gilt repousse, filled with designs of flowers encircled by undulating vines. The slightly curved sheath contains, at the top, a band of delicate chain design, followed by a band of split-palmette openwork. The flower and undulating vine design that dominates the sheath is framed by a border of vegetal motifs visually similar to four-leaf clovers. The sheath ends in an elegant chape.
A dagger at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (36.25.1041a, b), has a hilt and sheath design that is almost identical to our example, with flowers surrounded by undulating vines, and the same motif at the edges of the sheath. Additionally, the flowers in both examples have cross-hatched centres. However, there are also differences between to two daggers: the Metropolitan dagger has a gold damascened design at the forte of the blade but lacks the intricate chain and split-palmette bands at the sheath. It is also less well-preserved compared to our example. 

Comparative material:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (36.25.1041a, b).

Price on application

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance