Asian arms in Dutch master paintings
Dutch masters' fascination with exotic Asian wares shown in a series of paintings.
Pulasir keris hilt
A Madurese keris hilt, carved from dark hardwood in the form of a Dutch cuirassier.
Hulu Radon / Hulu Balu Mekabun
Indonesian name for a keris hilt depicting a veiled woman
Veiled female keris grip
Often interpreted to be Durga, the warrior goddess.
Indian Jade mounted dagger
Nice and complete with opaque green hilt and scabbard mounts.
Indian enamel and wootz dagger
With designs of animals, often attributed to Lucknow, north India.
Nyamba keris hilt with seal
Rare old keris handle made into a European wax seal.
Very good Deccan chilanum
A large example in excellent state of preservation.
Fine Sōshū tantō
A fine tantō forged in the Sōshū tradition with Hon'Ami Koson sayagaki.
Rencong from Aceh
A good example of this peculiar style of Sumatran dagger.
Muramasa masterpiece tantō
A masterpiece by the "cursed" smith, active in the early 16th century.
Fine wootz khanjar
With early blade of "brilliant black" wootz.
Agate hilted wootz khanjar
Nice Persian dagger with fine wootz blade and unusual hilt material.
Qing imperial jade hilted dagger
An extremely rare dagger, made in the Qing court workshops.
Ainu dagger
Called kuttom-ushbe in the local language. This one mounted in deer antler mounts.
Miniature Ainu makiri
Despite its size it is of remarkably fine workmanship.
Twisted hilt knife
Unusual Chinese knife with a twisted hilt with horn scales.
Inlaid lacquer trousse set
Unusual Chinese trousse set with "friends of winter" theme.
Chinese jade hilted knife
With fine quality jade hilt and baitong mounted scabbard.
Solo court keris
With raised gold overlay and gilt-enamel
Heavy armor piercing katar
With a narrow blade of impressive thickness. Attributable to the Bundelkhand area.
Large southern silver gilt katar
Its hilt overlaid with thick silver, then fire-gilt.
Persian dagger with erotic scene
The walrus ivory hilt is expertly carved. The blade is wootz with fine gold overlay.
Early Mughal kapwah
An over 400-year-old Mughal court dagger. Once lavishly decorated with gold.
Rajput katar with rubies and diamonds
Of steel construction with gold overlay. Of a type produced in Rajasthan in the early 1800s.
Silver chevron katar
All the designs being true inlay, with almost no losses.
Garsoee katar
An enigmatic type of katar produced in various places in India.
Indian jade hilted dagger
With wootz blade and the jade hilt set with small rubies.
Gilt-copper hilted kard
Fine Indian kard with gilt copper alloy hilt, decorated with chiseled flowers.
Ganga Jamni decorated kard
Ganga - Jamni refers to the rivers of the Ganges and Jamna. It was used to describe metalwork done in contrasting colors, usually gold and silver, in inlay or overlay work.
Pamor
Indonesian word for pattern on a steel blade. Also the name of the nickel often used for a contrasting effect.
Bali straight keris
With fine flaming pamor blade and notched "cekah redut" hilt.
Balinese keris blade finishing
The Balinese keris is known for its smooth finish with starkly contrasting black iron and silver pamor. This article gives an eye witness account of how this was achieved.
Bali buntel mayat keris
Bali keris with fine slanted wrapped pamor, considered to be one of the most powerful pamor.
European sword blade keris
In the style of a Malay keris panjang.
A fine Korean eunjangdo
With all silver construction, including the blade.
Shimosaka o-tantō
N.B.T.H.K. Hozon with a set of Nanban-style koshirae with signed tsuba.
Southern katar with yali langets
Of a style often associated with Tanjore, the seat of the Vijayanagara empire.
Southern katar with thick point
The blade with an extremely thick point on a very thin blade.
Double bladed katar
Also called jamdhar doulicaneh. Forged from a single piece of steel, complete with scabbard.
Northern wootz katar
With different types of decor on either side of the hilt.
Vijayanagara hooded katar
With crisp, extremely very well-preserved wootz blade.
Sword hilted khukurī
A rarer variety with a hilt that takes inspiration from the kora and talwar.
Fine African Bedja dagger
These handsome daggers were worn by the nomadic Hadendoa people, their name has been interpreted as meaning "Lion Clan".
Slender chilanum dagger
Of elegant form with very crisp blade.
Sinhalese pihiya
A beautiful black coral hilted example, made in the King's workshops.
Jade bamboo hilted knife
With spinach green jade handle and carved buffalo horn scabbard.
Silver hilted keris coteng
A textbook example of this rare and early type of keris.