New or old horse mughal dagger?

[AkaaliSingh]

Hey guys is this a new or a old piece? Thoughts?

[mariusgmioc]

Can you post more photos?
I would like to see the junction between the blade and the hilt.
And more with the blade. It appears to be pattern welded, right?

[Rich]

I see a nice damascus steel blade and well made fittings. I wouldn't care about its age. I want it! Nice find.
Rich

[estcrh]

More pictures may help.

[AkaaliSingh]

I'm leaning towards being it being vintage than antique.. Here are closer pictures as requested. Thank you for the input so far!

[AkaaliSingh]

blade close up

[mariusgmioc]

Thank you for the photos!

I would say 20th century. More exactly, is hard to say.

What I can say for sure is that it is a very beautiful Mughal dagger I would love to have in my collection. :)

PS: The gems appear to be genuine coral, turquoise and lapis lazuli.

[Battara]

I agree with Mariusgmioc. The koftgari and metal workmanship is more 20thc (easier to see now that you posted close ups - thank you).

Although the pattern welded blade goes back to early Mughal times, they still make these in India today. Most of the pattern welds are of the "bird's eye" form and have a higher contrast, I have also seen some here in the US that are of the lower contrast and earlier style. So the blade could be an older blade married to a newer hilt, or a recently made higher grade blade (based on what I can see in the pictures).