Object Image

Dagger with Sheath

Near Eastern blades were valued highly in Europe, and many fine examples were exported and mounted with European hilts. In this example, the Ottoman blade has been fitted with a hilt and sheath damascened with gold arabesques of Middle Eastern inspiration. The blade is inscribed in Persian (one of the languages of the Ottoman court):

It is a dagger since it attempted [to take] the

life of the unfaithful lover.

My Turk took it [wrapped in gold] and

bound it to his sash.

Credit: Gift of Jean Jacques Reubell, in memory of his mother, Julia C. Coster, and of his wife, Adeline E. Post, both of New York City, 1926...

Blade, mid-16th century; hilt and scabbard, probably mid-16th century
Steel, iron, wood, leather, gold
246.0cm
26.145.159a, b
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019

Where you'll find this

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection