Mughal sword handle. Am I dreaming?
 

This is a very nice handle, but 841 GBP ( $1,290)?
Enlighten me, what am I missing?

Looks like what's missing is the distal blade... ;)

Just a small piece of it:-)

That was honestly mentioned. And still.....

I'm with you Ariel. I can see some money for the hilt, but THAT much money?....... :confused:

If the buyer is from India, you might have missed the ecenomic growth in India. :D :D ;)

Best regards,
Willem

Hmm, I guess we all had that one on watch.
I wasn't expecting the end price to be anywhere near that.

Well, I for one am very please to see the price it obtained particularly since I have an example with very similar hilt. :D Here is my example. Near identical in overall shape with differing koftgari motifs. I would place both examples in the 18th century and offer that it is a fairly rare handle style and would be of academic interest to the advanced and serious collectors.

Yours has a much better preserved gold decorations. If Indian economy gets any better, you will become a VERY, VERY rich man!
:-)

Lovely sword Rick.
One of Tipu's knights? ;)

Which would mean Indian pieces would be out of the price range for a number of us...... :(

Indian economy is slowing down actually.

Still, I am finding that a lot of the wealthy Indians here are indeed snapping up antiques, arms and armour included.

Nothing wrong with the price, especially considering the global market. It is a nice and authentic antique item. I agree with Rick, it is at least 18th century or a bit earlier hilt of good quality. Good for both the buyer and seller:-)
when one thinks: "would be nice to buy it for $100", then it looks really expensive when it goes above $1000:-)

LOL, How very true! It's our old enemy: Wishful thinking!

How many times has that stopped me buying something I should have?

-They can't all be 'flea market' bargains sadly :shrug:

I have to agree with "ariel" quite attractive, common without a blade, £841 far too much! Think what else you could get for that money with shiny bits and a scabbard? Gold leaf blindness?

Something is happening to the Indian weapons: about 2-3 years ago there started to appear obviously new ( and even advertised as such!) Indian swords and daggers of rather decent workmanship. Now, the market is awash in newly-made or renovated ( old blade + new handle)and artficially-aged tulwars, khandas, khanjars etc, with asking prices starting at $1,000.One can still see the incongruities, but the sellers do not seem to care. Many just dropped the designations "old" or "replica" altogether and sell them as is: caveat emptor!
It became a real industry there. From the collectors' point of view, this is much worse than the "chinese invasion" of illiterate, pure fantasy, pseudo-russian, pseudo-french, pseudo-chinese etc junk. The indian stuff is much closer to genuine objects, and the artistic/historical/technical level is several orders of magnitude higher. If they get any better ( and they will, I am afraid!), we will have a real problem, akin to a meteoric transition of caucasian weapons from genuine samples to sophisticated and highly professional forgery.
Are they sold in India, and are they commanding high prices? Emanuel, you are close to the ground; what is your feel?

Ariel for the moment my exposure has been only to Hyderabad and Goa and to the experiences of the Indian collectors I've met and it's been very limited. Other forum members understand the situation much better than I do.

It seems that the craft is alive and very strong in northern India, particularly in Punjab where the Sikh market is very strong. The spectrum runs from dealers selling old pieces to smiths making good quality weapons and companies making "cheap" replicas. I know of Sikh Gatka practitioners in Toronto periodically making trips back to Punjab to buy equipment.

At the same time, based on my experience here in Hyderabad, it seems there isn't that much stuff lying around anymore, at least not here in the South. The old princely armouries like Mysore are actually keeping their arsenals under lock and the antique/junk shops have nothing. I Goa I went to a number of shops/flee markets and such and I asked around, I found nothing. You'd think that what with the place's history and Portuguese presence there would be good stuff left around.

Complicating things is that owning, buying/selling edged weapons is illegal unless one has special dispensation/permits. Sikhs are among the few that can legally own and bear sharp weapons. This is understandable, although generally quite tolerant, crowds here are passionate and easily swayed. Marches, parades and festivals can easily turn violent, and no government here wants armed crowds slaughtering each other.

All of this I think contributes to a rise in prices, both local and global.

I am with Alex, and it may even be late 18th century.
As to the price - if you don't like it, don't buy it:p.
Speaking about prices, when I started to collect in 1967 the prices were.....
Jens