Elaborately decorated with diamonds set in gold mounts on a rich, cobalt-blue enamelled ground, the hilt and fittings follow the Mughal tradition of gem set and enamelled blade weapons. The dark blue enamel used on the hilt is often seen on 19th century objects and usually associated with the enamelling centres of Punjab and Lahore in the North-West and with Jaipur and Dholpur in Rajasthan, western India.

The hilt is of a traditional Indian form characterised by a disc- or saucer-shaped pommel set perpendicularly to the grip with straight quillons. The form was often adopted by the Mughals. It would have been attached to a long, curved sword (talwar). Although most types of hilts encountered in India were used on daggers as well as swords, the disc-and-dome type hilts are only represented on swords. Hilts of this type were in use from at least the early 17th century. A portrait from the Kevorkian Album of the Rajput ruler Raja Sarang Deo, attributed to the artist Balchand, illustrates him carrying a sword with a hilt of similar form (Metropolitan Museum inv. no. 55.121.10.29r; illustrated in The Indian Portrait 1560-1860, exhibition catalogue, London, 2010, cat. no. 16, pp. 80-81). The form remained in use until the late 19th century; later hilts often have a smaller pommel disc and shorter quillons. For an earlier North Indian sword hilt dating from circa 1675-1740, of similar form and with a very similar diamond-set floral design on a red enamelled ground, previously in the Al-Thani Collection, sold recently at auction, see Christie's, New York, 19 June 2019, lot 243.
Post Lot Text
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