- Title
- Dagger (jambia) and Sheath
- Date Made
- circa 1800
- Medium
- Walrus ivory hilt with pierced silver fittings; watered steel blade; velvet-covered wood sheath with pierced silver fittings
- Dimensions
- A: Sheath: 10 1/4 × 2 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (26.04 × 6.35 × 3.81 cm)
B: Dagger: 14 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (36.83 × 6.35 × 3.81 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2002.1.583a-b
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This type of dagger with a curved, double-edged, watered steel blade with a medial ridge is known as a jambia (various spellings). The name is derived from janb (Arabic: side), most likely because it was typically worn on one’s side. Daggers with this distinctive style of blade originated in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. They subsequently spread with minor design changes throughout the Islamic World and South Asia, where they were alternatively known by the more generic name, khanjar (Persian: dagger).
Made in the Deccan or perhaps Iran, this jambia is fashioned with a narrower watered steel blade than would typically be found in an example from Yemen or Oman. The waisted hilt with a flat terminal is made of walrus ivory, which was traditionally a favored medium. Silver fittings with openwork arabesques grace the hilt and red velvet-covered wood sheath. Pierced flowers also decorate the locket and chape of the sheath, which has a pointed knob terminal with a spiral twist.