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Spearhead: O.22-1879

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Very long straight steel double edged triangular blade. At the base is a silvered tiger’s head, from its moth issuing a set of reinforced riveted through small lotus bud finials to the blade, and with forward curving quillons terminating in stylised dragons’ heads. Lines of brazing can be seen where the components of the quillon bock were assembled. At the back of the tiger’s head is attached the socket, spirally fluted with mouldings at top and bottom, and covered with silver foil, much of which has rubbed away. A pair with O.21-1879.

Legal notes

Given by Robert Taylor, MA

Measurements and weight

Blade Length: 81 cm
Blade Width Max: 5.5 cm
Overall Length: 111.9 cm
Weight: 810 g

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1879) by Taylor, Robert, MA

Dating

18th Century, Late
Circa 1760 CE - 1800 CE

Note

Possibly associated with Tipu Sultan of Mysore, whose use of tiger ornament (both heads and stripes, bubri) is legendary.

Components of the work

Blade composed of steel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 22
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

Inscription present: adhesive

  • Text: 22
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.22-1879
Primary reference Number: 158328
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 25 February 2020 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Spearhead" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/158328 Accessed: 2024-11-26 00:03:21

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/158328 |title=Spearhead |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-26 00:03:21|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-158328

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