AN INDIAN SILVER AND GOLD-INLAID (KOFTGARI) STEEL SWORD HILT
Possibly Punjab, Northern India, 19th century

Of typical shape, with a circular disc enhanced with a floral crown and a bulbous finial at the top, a T-shaped forte on the other end, and a short rounded and flattened grip in the middle, decorated with gold-inlaid tall rose bouquets and vegetal sprays reserved against a silver-inlaid ground, the reverse of the disc with more trellis and an almond-shaped cartouche with hatched lines on the edges, the small size suggesting it was probably commissioned for a child's tulwar sword, 14cm x 7cm.