A jade-hilted gold koftgari steel camel head dagger (kard)
India, 19th Century
the single-edged steel blade of tapering form, the collar decorated in gold overlay with geometric and vegetal designs, the jade hilt with carved pommel in the form of a camel head, the wood scabbard clad in burgundy velvet
22.5 cm. long
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Mohammed Khalil Collection.

Published
M. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 678, cat. no. 493.

The zoomorphic hilt of the present lot portrays a camel with dulla, often mistaken for a camel's tongue, typical of a male dromedary, which is inflated in order to assert dominance over males or to attract a female mate. For another camel head khanjar, see Robert Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 28, Cat. No. 69. For a further 17th century example in The Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, see Salam Kaoukji, Precious Indian Weapons, pp. 224-5, Cat. 83. (Inv. No. LNS 617 HS).
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