Gorgeous 19th C. Anglo-Indian Bowie Hunting Knife

Manufactured for the English market and/or for locally residing Anglo-Indian residents of the Victorian era on the sub-continent, this exceptional piece is mounted with checkered grips and gilded brass mounts on the handle as well as original matching scabbard with belt clip. The blade is a sham type wootz which is visible throughout. The piece, 15 inches in length, features a facile weight and hand feel, while the blade extends 9.5 inches.

Developed originally in India, wootz steel technology features a system of isolating micro carbides within a matrix of tempered martensite. The ancient metalwork specialist Herbert Maryon of the British Museum in London described the metal technique as: “the undulations of the steel resemble a net across running water … [the pattern] waved like watered silk… it was mottled like the grains of yellow sand.” With roots in the Tamil Nudu region of the sub- continent, the technology was considered the most effective in the world for maximizing armor piercing potential. The indigenous Indian population presented the invading armies of Alexander the Great with tribute ingots of wootz around 300 B.C. From there, the process was refined over time throughout the world in Damascus, Syria; continental Europe; and later Great Britain, where the process underpinned the Industrial Revolution that began in the 18th century. The Rajahs of India submitted tulwars, shamshirs, khanjars, in addition to other ancient swords and daggers manufactured with wootz to the International Exhibition of 1851 and 1862, whereby the pieces become coveted for the quality of their steel.

In addition to edged weapons wootz steel was used in the manufacture of many types of metalwork as well, including armor sets such as char ainas (or Four mirror), bazubands made with dark Persian Khorassan wootz are noted from the period of the Safavid Empire and throughout the Qajar period. Furthermore, axes or tabars and tabarzins, in addition to caligraphy scissors were made from wootz steel.

During the nineteenth century, as the local princes and remaining Mughal imperial powers were forced to switch their allegiances to British East India Company, the British monarchy complete-ly took over the government of India. Nevertheless, the indigenous royal Indian courts remained vital to the forging of new art and design, serving as loci for the continuation of native traditions as well as facilitating the integration of European influences into both art and architecture.

Welch, Stuart Cary India: Art and Culture, 1300–1900. Exhibition catalogue.. New York: Met-ropolitan Museum of Art, 1986.