Chillanum Dagger w/ Zoomorphic Hilt

Object Name: Dagger
Date: second half 16th century
Geography: India, Deccan, Bijapur or Golconda
Culture: Islamic
Medium: Hilt: copper; cast, chased, gilded, and inlaid with rubies. Blade: steel; forged
Dimensions: L. 15 5/8 in. (39.6 cm)
Classification: Arms and Armor
Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2011
Accession Number: 2011.236
Portraits of Sultan 'Ali 'Adil Shah of Bijapur (r. 1558–80) show him wearing daggers with zoomorphic hilts similar to this one. In this superlative, ruby-studded hilt, a dragon, whose tail wraps around the grip, attacks a lion, which in turn attacks a deer, symbolism associated with the deity Garuda. Before the deer is a parrotlike bird with a snake in its beak. Lower down on the hilt is the head of a yali, a mythical lionlike animal, with floral scrolls issuing from its mouth.

[Howard Ricketts, London, until 1974]; Stuart Cary Welch, Cambridge, MA (1974–d. 2008; his heirs 2008–11); his sale, Sotheby's, London, April 6, 2011, lot 103, to MMA

Source: www.metmuseum.org/