A FINE SOUTH INDIAN SWORD (KHANDA) Lot n° 4

A FINE SOUTH INDIAN SWORD (KHANDA), 17TH CENTURY, with broad double-edged blade of wootz steel swelling to a ~Cobra~s head~ tip (small chips), engraved steel hilt formed with a pair of engraved shaped langets extending over almost a third of the blade~s length on each side, the portion at the forte widening and down-curved with blade-catching lugs, decorated with flowers and with a small amount of red pigment on each face, dish-guard formed of a pair of D-shaped panels arranged in a V-shape and with a pair of notches at the apex, the outer surface finely engraved with a broad border filed with expanded flowerheads, engraved up-turned cup-shaped pommel (now open at the top) decorated as a flowerhead in the round, and solid grip engraved with a pair of panels each formed of three lines in the centre, 90.3 cm blade¦¦Roy Elvis Catalogue Number C17 (bis).¦¦Another example of this distinctive type was sold in this room, 8th December 2021, lot 51 and another 29th June 2022, lot 138. For a discussion of this group see Elgood 2004 pp. 82-83. ¦¦Highlight from the Roy Elvis Collection (1944-2022)¦