{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O134202"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O134202/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BU3180/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BU3180/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BU3180","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BU3179","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O134202/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O134202","accessionNumber":"IS.33-1971","objectType":"Tiger claws","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This weapon was in the possession of James Grant Duff (1789- 1858), an officer of the East India Company who was appointed Resident (political agent) of the Satara State in 1818. The weapon is accompanied by a fitted case, made after Grant Duff returned to Scotland in 1823, that is inscribed: \"The 'Wagnuck' of Sivajee With Which He Killed the Moghul General. This Relic was given to Mr. James Grant-Duff of Eden When he was Resident at Sattara By the Prime Minister of the Peishwa of the Mahrattas\". This refers to a famous moment during the complicated political upheavals of 17th-century India. During a protracted military engagement in 1659, the Maratha leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (r.1664-1680) and Afzal Khan (?-1659), the commander of the opposing Bijapur army, arranged a truce and met in a tented enclosure. Both came armed: Shivaji wore mail under his clothes and metal skull protection under his turban. He also held a metal ‘tiger claws’ weapon concealed in his hand. The two men fought, and Shivaji disembowelled his opponent. It is not possible to verify whether these tiger claws are the ones used by the celebrated Maratha ruler nearly 160 years before the weapon was gifted to Grant Duff, particularly as other claws with such a provenance were recorded in the royal collections at Satara long after the Resident’s return to Britain. The circumstances of the gift also remain unclear. The last Peshwa of the Marathas, Bahi Rao II (1775-1851), surrendered to the British in June 1818 after the defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War and was banished to Bithoor near Kanpur. It is possible one of Peshwa's officials presented the weapon, or that Grant Duff was gifted the tiger claws by Raja Pratap Singh or another member of the Satara court. \r\n\n","physicalDescription":"Steel tiger claws, bagh nakh, a weapon designed to be concealed in the palm of the hand. It has four ‘claws’ mounted on a bar with two rings for the first and fourth fingers. The difference in size between the two rings indicates that it is a weapon to be used in the left hand.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"steel","id":"AAT133751"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Steel","categories":[{"text":"Arms & Armour","id":"THES48992"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2008BU3180","2008BU3179"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SHLN","id":"THES49063"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"SHLN","id":"THES49063"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Case","id":""}],[{"text":"Tiger claws","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Maharashtra","id":"x29832"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 17th century","earliest":"1595-01-01","latest":"1704-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mr Adrian Grant Duff (1938-2019)","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Depth","value":"9.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Steel claw","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"8.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Steel claw","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"12.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"case","note":"varies between 12.8 - 13 cm"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"case","note":"varies between 8.8-9cm"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"3.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"case","note":"varies between 3-3.2 cm"}],"dimensionsNote":"\r\n\r\n","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This weapon was gifted to the V&amp;A in 1971 by Adrian Grant Duff (1938-2019), a descendant of James Grant Duff (1789- 1858) who was an officer of the East India Company. The object has a red leather case made by Sydney Maurice &amp; Co. 5 Piccadilly Arcade, London. It is inscribed: \"The “Wagnuck” of Sivajee With Which He Killed the Moghul General. This relic was given to Mr. James Grant-Duff of Eden When he was Resident at Sattara By the Prime Minister of the Peishwa of the Mahrattas\". After serving in Satara, James Grant Duff returned home to Scotland in 1823. In 1825 he succeeded to the family estate in Eden and only then took the name Duff, so we know the inscribed case was made after this date. \n\n\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Tiger claws, steel, Deccan, 17th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Jackson, Anna and Jaffer, Amin (eds), with Deepika Ahlawat. <u>Maharaja : the splendour of India's royal courts</u>. London, V&amp;A Publishing, 2009. ISBN.9781851775736 (hbk.), ISBN.1851775730 (hbk.).","id":"AUTH325255"},"details":"plate 5, p.17","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.33A-1971","IS.33-1971"],"accessionNumberNum":"33","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1971,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Case","Tiger claws"],"assets":["2020MP2183"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-19","recordCreationDate":"2007-04-25","availableToBook":false}}