Dagger with the handle in the shape of a lion’s head

The dagger is long and slender, with a handle that ends in the shape of a lion’s head. Gold inlay decoration was used to decorate the handle and the back of the blade. A fine water pattern covers the sides of the blade.

Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, 1650-1700
School
Mughal School
Medium
Watered steel inlaid with gold and agate
Dimensions
H x W x D: 32.1 x 3 x 3.9 cm (12 5/8 x 1 3/16 x 1 9/16 in)
Geography
India
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1998.9
On View Location
Freer Gallery 01: Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
Classification(s)
Weapon and Armament
Type

Dagger

Keywords
India, lion, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858)
Provenance

To 1998
John Lawrence Fine Arts, London, acquired from an unidentified European vendor, to 1998 [1]

From 1998
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from John Lawrence Fine Arts in 1998

Notes:

[1] John Lawrence Fine Arts acquired the object from a European vendor; the object had arrived in England sometime in the early part of the 20th century (according to Curatorial Note 2, Massumeh Farhad, February 4, 1998, in the object record.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

John Lawrence Fine Arts

Description

The dagger is long and slender, with a handle that ends in the shape of a lion's head. Gold inlay decoration was used to decorate the handle and the back of the blade. A fine water pattern covers the sides of the blade.

Label

In the seventeenth century, daggers with animal-headed hilts were among the most popular and fashionable accoutrements worn by members of Mughal nobility and the ruling elite. Most often adorned with heads of horses, but also sheep, goats, and camels, such daggers were suspended from a man's belt or tucked into it. Although regarded primarily as ceremonial weapons, their sharper blades suggest that they could also serve as functional and deadly works of art.

This particular dagger is notable for its expressive leonine head, which was first cast and then tooled to give the surface its subtle modulation. The fangs, whiskers, as well as the overall musculature of the head have been articulated and accentuated with gold inlay, lending the animal a ferocious and naturalistic expression. In contrast to the carefully articulated head, the lion's mane has been skillfully abstracted into a mass of wavy gold lines that form gently swaying, stylized rose bushes. 

Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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