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Spearhead: O.52-1879

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Triangular steel blade of diamond section, with a medial ridge, an arrow-shaped thickened section at the junction with the socket decorated with double incised lines, below which is an octagonal waisted section and a moulded knop. The socket is plain with a brazed seam is open, and it has two reinforcing bands decorated with double incised lines. The surface is stained and pitted where it has been corroded then cleaned. A fragment of the original bamboo haft survives inside the socket

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: 24 cm
Blade Width Max: 3.3 cm
Overall Length: 49.2 cm
Socket Length: 20.5 cm
Weight: 585 g

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

17th Century#
Circa 1600 CE - 1700 CE

Note

The double reinforces on the socket suggest all these spears, including the ones with cog-like reinforces, come from similar workshops. The same reinforces appear on the vechevoral, indicating the Tamil origin of all these pieces

Components of the work

Blade composed of steel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 52
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

Inscription present: adhesive

  • Text: 52
  • Location: On the socket
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.52-1879
Primary reference Number: 158362
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 25 February 2020 Last processed: Thursday 7 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/158362 Accessed: 2024-11-29 00:09:38

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/158362 |title=Spearhead |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-29 00:09:38|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-158362

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