A Mughal jade-hilt, India, 17th-18th century

the pale grey green stone carved at the base with foliate scroll quillons flanking a poppy flowerhead, the grooved grip rising to the pommel naturalistically rendered in the form of a horse's head with flared nostrils, teeth revealed and mane descending on one side

The grip of the hilt is carved with grooves for the hand. According to Stuart Cary Welch, these grooves indicate a date in the second half of the seventeenth century, as grooves are rarely found prior to this period. Welch's close study of many animal figures in the Padhshanama also reveals that the small number of daggers with animal hilts were reserved for the use of princes such as Dara Shikoh and Shah Shuja. While the number of daggers with animal hilts increased during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, these continued to function as indicators of the highest rank and position at court (see Welch 1985, pp.257-258).