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Sword: O.66-1879

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 31 (Armoury)

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Sacrificial sword. Heavy forward curved blade swept up to a knop finial at the point, with a lotus bud finial half way down the back, and large carved moulding in the form of a bloated horse with a small head and two legs, on its back, at the junction with the hilt. The grip is short and straight, of red wood turned with mouldings with a squashed globular pommel. At the end is a tang button with a large iron lotus bud washer. The blade is rough and has corroded patches

Legal notes

Given by Robert Taylor, MA

Measurements and weight

Blade Length: 56.6 cm
Overall Length: 75 cm
Weight: 1125 g

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1879) by Taylor, Robert, MA

Dating

19th Century
Circa 1800 CE - 1879 CE

Note

Taylor’s note ‘sacrificial knives khurug’.No eye decoration at the point. Compare Rawson 1967: ?? and Egerton 1880: 102, pl. ix.

This strangely shaped sword was used to cut off the heads of sacrificial animals. It was important that this was done in a single blow and these weapons, with their large, heavy blades were ideal for this purpose.

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 66
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

Inscription present: adhesive

  • Text: 66
  • Location: On the blade
  • Method of creation: Printed
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.66-1879
Primary reference Number: 158376
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 12 May 2021 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Sword" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/158376 Accessed: 2024-11-15 20:16:54

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/158376 |title=Sword |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-15 20:16:54|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-158376

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