{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O67801"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O67801/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AJ7300/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AJ7300/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AJ7300","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KW8821","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O67801/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O67801","accessionNumber":"717&A-1889","objectType":"Dagger and sheath","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Daggers with a curved blade and a thick, waisted hilt formed part of the standard accoutrements of an Iranian gentleman in the early 19th century. Indeed, this dagger itself shows a man in Iranian court dress wearing a dagger of this type carved on the front of the hilt, which is probably made of ivory. He wears the weapon tucked into the sash round his waist. \r\n\r\nThe fine carved decoration on the front of the hilt also includes two inscriptions in Persian, above and below the carved figure, which together read, ‘Portrait of Manuchihr, the brave king, the prince who wrestles panthers and grapples lions’. Manuchihr is a hero of the Iranian national epic <i>The Book of Kings</i>, and it may also have been the name of the man for whom the dagger was made. Manuchihr is shown wearing a long coat with a sash and a tall hat, as well as loops of pearls and other jewels, and he is armed with a sword and a rifle as well as the dagger. \r\n\r\nInscriptions on the back of the hilt give the name of the maker as ‘Ahmad al-Husayni, who has the sobriquet Kashtah’, the date 1254 (equivalent to AD 1838–1839), and an appropriate Qur’anic inscription: ‘In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. We have opened for thee an evident victory.’ The blade is of fine watered steel and bears a small inscription inlaid in gold, ‘His [that is, God’s] slave [A?]hmad’. This may be the maker’s mark.","physicalDescription":"Dark watered steel curved dagger blade with a hilt of carved ivory, and a polychrome lacquered sheath","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"al-Husayni, Ahmad","id":"A17293"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Arms & Armour","id":"THES48992"},{"text":"Islam","id":"THES48932"}],"styles":[{"text":"Qajar","id":"AAT21708"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2006AJ7300","2018KW8821"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"42","id":"THES49806"},"free":"","case":"WW5","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"42","id":"THES49806"},"free":"","case":"WW5","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dagger","id":""}],[{"text":"Sheath","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Iran","id":"x30220"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1838","earliest":"1838-01-01","latest":"1838-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Inscription in Persian","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Portrait of Manuchihr, the brave king, the prince who wrestles panthers and grapples lions","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Carved on the front of the hilt"},{"content":"Maker's name","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Ahmad al-Husayni, who has the sobriquet Kashtah","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Carved on the back of the hilt"},{"content":"Qur'anic inscription","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. We have opened for thee an evident victory.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Carved on the back of the hilt"},{"content":"Maker's mark?","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"His [that is, God's] slave [A?]hmad","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inlaid on blade"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Dagger and sheath, Iran, 1838.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"L.A. Mayer, <i>Islamic Armourers and Their Works</i>, Geneva: Albert Kundig, 1962, p.19."}],"production":"Dated AH 1254","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Jameel Gallery \r\n\r\nDagger and Sheath\r\nIran\r\nDated 1838\r\n\r\nA gentleman in Iranian court dress is depicted on the carved ivory hilt, with the same type of curved dagger in his belt. The accompanying inscription gives his name as Manuchihr, a hero in the Iranian national epic, <i>The Book of Kings</i>. Manuchihr may also have been the name of the dagger's owner.\r\n\r\nSteel, carved ivory, gemstones; sheath of wood with painted and varnished decoration and carved ivory. Signed by Ahmad al-Husayni\r\n\r\nMuseum no. 717&A-1889","date":{"text":"Jameel Gallery","earliest":"2006-07-20","latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["717A-1889","717-1889"],"accessionNumberNum":"717","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1889,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Sheath","Dagger"],"assets":["2017KD9573","2019LR5009","2019LT3785","2019LU9038","2019LW9923"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2002-09-24","availableToBook":false}}