Lot 41. A  silk brocade robe, late Safavid or Zand, Iran, 18th century; 100.9cm long. Price realised GBP 4,032 (Estimate GBP 3,000 – GBP 5,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

The blue ground decorated with rows of alternating orange and white floral sprays, gold edging and a repeated design of alternating cockerels and flowers, buttons retained but some button loops lacking, mounted to a cream fabric ground on a stretcher and behind clear acrylic.

Provenance: Acquired from Ferro Ettehadieh, New York, 1983

Note: For millennia the nomads of the eastern Eurasian steppe have armed themselves with daggers and swords fitted with animal-headed hilts (Salam Kaoukji, Precious Indian Weapons and Other Princely Accoutrements, London and New York: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2017. p. 187). It is this tradition that the Mughals of 17th century India, themselves of Mongolian and Turkic descent, drew upon in their creation of beautiful, naturalistically sculpted animal-headed hilts carved from Central Asian jade. Although the vast majority of animal-headed hilts are in the form of animals associated with life on the steppe, especially horses and sheep, this rare dagger hilt is in the form of a nilgai or ‘blue bull’, a species of antelope native to India, and represents the artistic apex of this ancient art form.

A smaller nilgai hilt in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, is attributed to the middle of the 17th century and is particularly close to the present example (Kaoukji, op. cit., pp. 222-3). It shares with ours the form of the floral decoration at the base of the hilt. A comparable dagger with a jade hilt in the form of a nilgai was sold in these Rooms on 10 October 2000, lot 2014, and another at Sotheby’s London on 1 April 2009, lot 135.

Lot 43. Property from a Privatev English Collection. A  silk brocade robe, late Safavid or Zand, Iran, 18th century; 100.9cm long. Price realised GBP 4,032 (Estimate GBP 3,000 – GBP 5,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

The blue-grey ground decorated with rows of alternating floral sprays, gold edging with a floral meander design, green tie fastening, lined.

Provenance: London auction, 1980s, when acquired by current owner.

Note; A robe of with very similar silk brocade attributed to the late 18th century is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.57.32). Like our robe, the brocade on the Los Angeles robe has a more spacious design in which the motifs change direction by row. It also has a similar green tie fastening. For further information about this robe please see the preceding lot.

Christie's. ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS INCLUDING RUGS AND CARPETS, London, 25 April 2024