Skip to main content

Sword: O.63-1879

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Forward angled, single edged steel blade of almost flat section, with small bud-like wings at the forte, where there is a slight ricasso. This and the back of the blade are edged with punched spiked crescents. The original wooden hilt is long and thin, with a long iron ferrule with three iron reinforcing bands, two cross hatched, the middle one triple moulded, and an originally dagged upper edge, secured by two iron rivets with copper alloy star washers. The remainder of the hilt is faceted, and cut away at the underside leaving the pommel section proud to form a grip

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: 31.8 cm
Blade Width Max: 7.6 cm
Overall Length: 55 cm
Weight: 530 g

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

19th Century
Circa 1800 CE - 1879 CE

Note

Compare the ayudha katti from the Walhouse, Oldman and Stone collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art no. 36.25.1950, of exactly the same type (see documentation Elgood 2004). Also O.58-1879, O.61-1879.

Components of the work

Blade composed of steel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 63
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.63-1879
Primary reference Number: 158373
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) "Sword" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/158373 Accessed: 2024-03-28 16:21:02

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/158373 |title=Sword |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-28 16:21:02|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-158373

More objects and works of art you might like

Sword

Accession Number: GR.87.1901

Mortuary sword

Accession Number: HEN.M.291-1933

Mortuary sword

Accession Number: HEN.M.290-1933

Sword

Accession Number: HEN.M.232-1933

Suggested products from Curating Cambridge

You might be interested in this...

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...