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Spearhead: O.50-1879

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Leaf shaped steel blade with a sharp medial ridge bordered by narrow fullers, and a slightly reinforced point. At the base of the blade are a pair of vestigial wings at the top of the socket, which is of round section, decorated with a series of incised lines, and has small dags at the base. Its seam runs down one side, and it is fastened to the haft by two broad, rounded reinforce decorated with double incised lines, and a central band of low cog-like ornament, both brazed on. A fragment of the original wooden haft survives. The surface is polished bright, with some pitting from its earlier corrosion, and some staining

Notes

History note: Probably from the Tanjore armoury, broken up in 1860 (see documentation Elgood 2004)

Legal notes

Given by Robert Taylor, MA

Measurements and weight

Blade Length: 9 cm
Blade Width Max: 2.4 cm
Overall Length: 22.7 cm
Weight: 110 g

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

17th Century, Late
Circa 1660 CE - 1700 CE

Note

Compare the cog-like reinforces of O.47-1879 and O.45-1879, not exactly the same, but from a similar workshop. Also the spearhead from the Government Museum Chennai, no. 2235 (see documentation Elgood 2004), for which Elgood suggests a late 17th century date.

Components of the work

Blade composed of steel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 50
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.50-1879
Primary reference Number: 158358
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/158358 Accessed: 2024-11-22 10:05:36

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/158358 |title=Spearhead |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 10:05:36|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-158358

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