Explore artefacts made over a period of more than 1000 years in the heart of the Islamic world.
In 19th-century Iran, a few types of dagger – mentioned in some detail by the accounts of European travellers of the time – seem to have been worn most commonly: the khanjar, a curved, double-edged blade mounted on a sword-hilt, the kard, a knife with a straight, single-edged blade, and the qama, a long-bladed dagger introduced in Iran from the Caucasus at this time.
This example of a kard has a watered steel blade, inlaid with gold, and a rare agate handle. It was likely made in Isfahan, a major centre of production for kards at this time.
The goldwork is signed by the craftsman Muhammad Hadi and dated to the year 1230 of the Islamic calendar, corresponding to 1814-1815 AD. Hadi is known from at least two other daggers, one in the Moser collection at the Historical Museum, Bern, and the other in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Objects may have since been removed or replaced from a gallery. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum