Important 17th C. South Indian Tanjore Pata Sword, with exceptional chiseled iron gilded decoration

A superb 17th c. pata of exceptional quality and decoration. Most patas are found undecorated and usually lose most of their gilding, whereas this example retains the original gold wash over the chiseled iron features of the arm cup, while the blade reinforcement panels retains the original thick and finely formed koftgari.

The blade is sharp Indian made and of spear form with a reticular cross section and fine springiness, the mark of a true pata which had to have flexible blades to allow the wearer to extricate the blade from the unfortunate victim without breaking the arm of the wearer.

The decoration of the gauntlet follows the classic Tanjore forms and has several exceptional features include the carved iron parrots on both sides and the chiseled iron border in the form of a braid.

Overall length is 48