English:

Dagger with scabbard Unknown Artist / Maker Iran and possibly Turkey 1496 - 1497 19th century (sheath mounts) Agate inlaid with gold, steel, silver, paste, jade, glass stone, wood, brass and velvet Length: 8.5 cm, blade Weight: 0.27 kg, without scabbard

Inscription: Two Persian verses in Arabic type, OA1414, Oriental Armoury, museum page. The Wallace say: The hilt is of jade inlaid with gold, while the blade of watered steel with gold inlay and encrusted gold decoration comprising desert foxes and hares amid arabesques. At the base of the hilt the silver-gilt band set with green glass stones is a later addition. The ‘watered’ steel blade is inscribed with the Islamic date 902 (1496-97 in the Christian calendar) together with couplets of poetry, the name of its maker (sadly indecipherable) and the date. It is extremely rare to find a weapon of such princely quality bearing a fully attributable inscription.