Description
with sighted tapering barrel decorated across the breech and over the short sighting flat with a chiselled pattern of dog-tooth bands filled with pounced gold and silver small panels, inlaid with a pair of gold tigers each in pursuit of a silver antelope, inlaid with a quatrain arranged within pairs of decorative panels, with the maker's signature together with both the date and place of manufacture all inscribed in gold, and with a 'Haydar' control mark and the vent each lined in gold, the breech tang chiselled en suite with the breech and enriched with foliage and bubris in gold and silver, plain slightly rounded lock with the maker's signature together with the date and place of manufacture all inscribed in gold, fitted with pierced chiselled cock, sliding safety and the pan and pan-cover each lined in gold, figured rosewood full stock carved with a neo-Rococo shell in low relief about the breech tang, full silver mounts cast in low relief, comprising a large finely modelled tiger's head pommel inlaid with gold eyes set with rubies, with punched, chased and gilt bubri detail and the mouth with gilt interior, solid side-plate involving an antelope attacked by a pair of tigers, moulded trigger-guard decorated with a further simple antelope and tiger scene, bubri-shaped escutcheons for the barrel-bolt, ramrod-pipes of characteristically small type, oval escutcheon cast with the tiger mask cypher of Tipu Sultan in low relief, iron trigger inlaid with silver bubris, and slender iron ramrod (perhaps the original)
Catalogue Note
LITERATURE AND REFERENCESRobin Wigington, op. cit., 1992, TR 40, p.146
CATALOGUE NOTEinscriptions
On the barrel: ...nagar "...Nagar"
(There is a word before 'Nagar' which is not deciphered)
tofang-e... Sultan-e hend
ke bashad qaza 'asheq-e shast-e u
cho bardarad az ayeneh 'aks ra
na-binad shekan be-kasr-e mu azu
"The... gun of the Sultan of India
With whose thumb, destiny is in love
As he takes the image from the reflection
No one sees defeat or even the loss of a [single] hair".
Dated in the Mawludi year 1221/1792-3.
Signed by Sayyid 'Ali.
The control mark 'Haydar' in gold.
On the lock: The maker's name as: 'Sayyid 'Ali' and place of manufacture as: '... Nagar'. Dated in the Mawludi year 1221/1792-3.
On the butt, in mirror form creating a tiger-face: asadullah al-ghalib "The Lion of God is Triumphant".
The town of Nagar was the site of one of three ordnance factories (tara mandal) established by Tipu Sultan in addition to that at Seringapatam. This is the only royal firearm within this collection to bear the name of the town and as such is particularly rare.
