Ram's Head Dagger
Title: Jeweled and Enameled Ram's Head Dagger
Date: 18th-19th centuries
Medium: Hilt: gold, encrusted with precious stones using kundan technique. Blade: steel.
Location: Attributed to India, around Jaipur.
Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.180
This dagger is a beautiful work of art that displays skill in the way the stones were inlaid, as well as the freehand work in its design. The hilt is covered completely in precious stones, and a quartz collar separates it from the gold pommel; also made of quartz, surrounded in a gold border. This weapon is made of materials that are a display of craftsmanship over practicality. Daggers with animal heads were used to display power and social status, typically worn as accessories by high-achieving military officers and people of high status rather than being worn as weapons. Wearing and displaying the daggers publicly is less popular now, though it is still practiced.
Head; Side view
Closeup side view of detail work in ram's head; various colors, floral patter, gold inlaid quartz collar separating hilt from pommel.
Bottom of Hilt; Front view
Closeup front view of detail work in cross guard; including two people leaning against a symmetric floral arrangement.
For more information about the Ram's Head Dagger and ones like it, click here.
Bottom of Hilt; Side view
Closeup side view of detail work in cross guard; one person leaning against a symmetric floral piece (not seen with this view).
Head; Top view
Closeup aerial view of detail work in ram's head, including various colors and delicate floral patterns.