Arts of the Islamic World & India

Arts of the Islamic World & India

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 242. An Ottoman sabre with calligraphic blade, Turkey or North Africa, 16th and 19th century.

An Ottoman sabre with calligraphic blade, Turkey or North Africa, 16th and 19th century

Restricted SpeciesUK: Greenford Park Warehouse

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

the 16th-century curved steel blade with false edge and shallow fuller inlaid with Qur’an XLVIII (al-fath), verses 1-2 in gold, with gold inlaid spiral arabesques and vegetal roundel and carved cartouche containing undeciphered Kufic inscription at the base of the blade, the 19th-century silver-gilt hilt with undeciphered tughra and set with two rhino horn plaques, the pommel with hole for wrist strap, the 19th-century leather-covered wooden scabbard with four silver-gilt mounts with two undeciphered tughras, two suspension loops and red cord

93cm.

This lot contains rhinoceros horn, which is an endangered species. Sotheby’s recommends that buyers check with their own government regarding any importation requirements prior to placing a bid, as lots containing endangered species may be subject to import restrictions in certain countries or necessitate licenses and certificates for export from some and import into others. The possession of an export license or certificate does not guarantee obtaining its counterpart elsewhere. Buyers must ascertain and adhere to all applicable regulatory requirements regarding the import and export of such items before bidding, securing all necessary licenses and certificates at their expense. The inability to export or import these items, or their seizure by a government agency, does not justify delaying payment or cancelling a sale.

A sword with a blade of comparable form and decorated along the length of the blade with a Qur’anic inscription in a closely comparable style, sold in these rooms, 8 October 2014, lot 144, is additionally inscribed with the name of the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman (r.1520-66) and the signature of Haji Yusuf. This attribution is consistent with a group of five sword blades in the Topkapi Palace Museum made for Sultan Suleyman (inv. nos 1/95, 1/459, 1/467, 1/479, and 1/10467, Ayhan 2011, pp.67-71), and signed by a number of different swordsmiths, including Haji Yusuf, Haji Safak, Haji Sunqur and Haji Murad Khushqadam. Here, the blade has been refitted in the nineteenth century with a then-fashionable hilt and scabbard.


An Ottoman sword with closely comparable nineteenth-century scabbard mounts was sold in these rooms, 7 October 2009, lot 180. That sword had previously been in the possession of Admiral Sir James Whitley Deans Dundas (1785-1862). 

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