Quote:
Originally Posted by Kubur
Hi Nihl,
Which decoration let you think that the hilt is South Indian?
Is it the guard, the pommel or something else?...
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I am with Nihl.
My “sign” would be the dot ( or hemispherical ) protrusions on the edges all over the handle.
And, of course, it is difficult to find tulwars with both original handle and blade.
The genuinely older ones were often “mix-and -matched” repeatedly during their working lives, and then in the 20th century by the dealers. Perhaps, as Elgood has pointed out , the instances of their “ first and only” marriage can be seen coming mainly from the workshops of Indian princely families around late 19th century as gifts or just plain souvenirs.
Per Elgood’s opinion, Wallace collection assembled after 1870 is full of them, while they are exceedingly rare in the V&A collection assembled prior to that.