A very rare sword with tiger-headed hilt from the palace armoury of Tipu Sultan, Seringapatam, India, late 18th century

with a curved watered-steel blade with inscription in gold in foliate cartouche, the brass hilt cast in one piece enriched with punched and engraved detail, comprising a pair of short quillons with tiger-head terminals, a pair of asymmetrical langets, the inner punched and engraved with bubri motifs and the outer decorated with a tiger's mask decorated in low relief, knuckle-guard formed ensuite with the quillons, slender faceted grip engraved with bubri panels over its upper half, the pommel formed as a tiger's head in the round

inscription

'God, Muhammad, 'Ali' and the letter ha for Haydar

'God, Muhammad, Haydar'

Stamped: 'O 'Ali!'

A very fine and rare sword from the personal armoury of Tipu Sultan featuring the distinctive bubri  or tiger stripe motif.

A very small number of sword hilts sharing a strongly prounced tiger theme are closely linked with the personal ownership of Tipu Sultan. One now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle (Windsor, 451) was found on Tipu's body at his death after the seige of Seringapatam in 1799.  Another is in the Collection of Lord Clive, preserved at Powis Castle.  Another sold in these rooms, The Tipu Sultan Collection, 25 May 2005, lot 6.

For a comprehensive study of the royal swords forming this group, see Mohammad Moienuddin, Sunset at Seringapatam, After the Death of Tipu Sultan, New Delhi, 2000.