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Description: | This intricately decorated sword is an example of the sophisticated metalworking traditions of Lahore. Its associations with the martial skill of Sikh soldiers would have fascinated Victorians.It is not known how this Sikh sword ended up in Britain, but it is likely that its exciting associations with the supposedly fearless Sikhs, together with a growing British interest in Indian crafts and design, made it irresistible to one of the many British people living in the Panjab, in northern India, in the 1800s.The Sikh faith had acquired a military dimension early in its history, in response to Muslim persecution. By the 1770s the Sikhs had a reputation as disciplined fighters, taking control of the Panjab following the decline of the Islamic Mughal Empire, which had controlled India for over 200 years. The weapons used by the Sikh army were made in Lahore, whose foundry drew on the metalworking traditions of the city to produce swords that were both brutally effective and beautifully ornamented.Following two bloody Anglo-Sikh wars, the British East India Company took control of the Panjab in 1849. British soldiers were so impressed by the Sikh army's performance during the Anglo-Sikh wars that they incorporated several Sikh units into their army. When other Indian soldiers of the British army rebelled in 1857, the Sikhs remained loyal and were used to suppress the uprising. This reinforced the British idea that the Sikhs were a 'martial race', inherently suited to military service.The patterns used to decorate this sword would have appealed to the Victorian interest in Asian design. Traditional British crafts were in decline, due to a firm belief in progress through industrial growth. A group of scholars, including John Ruskin and William Morris, began to question this. They looked back to the Middle Ages as a golden age of craft production, when they believed labour was a creative act rather than industrial wage-slavery. Because India produced traditional crafts, many of which had their roots in village life, it was seen as similar to Medieval Europe. Indian motifs and patterns began to inspire British designers. Vast quantities of goods were imported by British firms employing Indian craftsmen, to meet growing consumer demand for Indian ornamentation.The blade of this sword is inlaid with gold in a geometric design of flowers and leaves, whilst the handle is decorated with a complimentary floral design in inlaid silver. It was the stylised, geometric nature of Indian pattern that captured the imagination of British designers and consumers. During the industrial revolution goods were manufactured at a faster rate than ever before, using new mechanised methods of production. Elaborate, naturalistic decoration was applied with little consideration for aesthetic effect. By the 1850s many people believed British design was in crisis. The ordered approach of Indian ornamentation was one solution, and Indian-inspired patterns were used to decorate everything from fabrics to metalwork.
An Indian sikh sword or toular (Tulwar), blade with inlaid gold decoration at hilt, handle with inlaid silver, wooden sheath, velvet and silver ribbon. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/ | Publisher: | Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service | Rights holder: | Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service | Subjects: | Weapons Flowers Swords Asian art Pakistan Asian Decorative arts Asian Decorative Art Victorian period | Temporal: | 1865 - 1899
Victorian (1837-1901) | Source: | Black Country History | Identifier: | http://www.blackcountryhistory.org/colle... | Go to resource |
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