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Sword: O.89-1879

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

The steel blade is straight, double edged and extended into a long, thin point with a full length medial ridge. The hilt has an angled, convex guard attached to short, wide arms cut with lotus bud terminals at front and rear, joined by a pair of bars swelling to their centres that form the grip. At the front of the guard are heavy katar-shaped reinforces with cusped and scalloped edges, incised lines and pierced holes, secured to the blade by three rivets, two with copper alloy washers which are actively corroding. From the outside of the guard springs a double curved V-section defence for the back of the hand, of terminating in a detailed dragon head finial. The hilt is black from the hammer, the blade and reinforces polished bright and pitted from earlier corrosion.

Notes

History note: From Ganjam. Probably from the Tanjore armoury, broken up in 1860 (see docuentation Elgood 2004)

Legal notes

Given by Robert Taylor, MA

Measurements and weight

Blade Length: 81.5 cm
Overall Length: 95 cm
Weight: 825 g

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

16th Century
Circa 1500 CE - 1600 CE

Components of the work

Blade composed of steel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 89
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

Inscription present: adhesive

  • Text: 89
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.89-1879
Primary reference Number: 158404
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/158404 Accessed: 2024-11-22 05:59:29

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/158404 |title=Sword |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 05:59:29|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-158404

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