Large example for a warrior of exceptional stature with 34” curved, medially fullered, s.e. blade of crystal damask watered steel with the fine active pattern quite strong throughout with some black staining as shown. Iron hilt with large disk pommel and “diamond-shaped” grip. See Pant Vol II fig. 304 which he identifies as Udaipur (Rajasthan) early 18th century and notes that these hilts “may or may not have a knuckle guard”. That dating places it in the reigns of Muhammad Shah and the Mughal-Maratha Wars. This example is chiseled overall in a matrix of circles enclosing radial dots in a wheel motif. The circles are united in a lattice of silver koftgari, of which about 40% remains. Ex: Sir Frank Bowden Collection, Thame Park, Oxfordshire, England.
