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Source Description
Included in the so-called "Turkish Hunting Set," this penknife is part of the writing set that is contained inside of the pen box (Walters 51.78) which in turn fits into the butt of the Ottoman gun (Walters 51.87). The knife's steel blade is short in comparison to the long, nephrite seven-sided handle. To make a clean cut in a hard reed, the blade had to be sharp. Penknives were important elements in the calligrapher's toolset, and their handles were often elaborately decorated like this one. This blade and handle are decorated in gold on both sides and the handle is ornamented with small emeralds and rubies. In the shape of a leaf or small tear-drop is a stamped maker's mark of the smith on the blade.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
14364
label
Penknife from the Gun Set of Mahmud I
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
14364
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Penknife from the Gun Set of Mahmud I
description
Included in the so-called "Turkish Hunting Set," this penknife is part of the writing set that is contained inside of the pen box (Walters 51.78) which in turn fits into the butt of the Ottoman gun (Walters 51.87). The knife's steel blade is short in comparison to the long, nephrite seven-sided handle. To make a clean cut in a hard reed, the blade had to be sharp. Penknives were important elements in the calligrapher's toolset, and their handles were often elaborately decorated like this one. This blade and handle are decorated in gold on both sides and the handle is ornamented with small emeralds and rubies. In the shape of a leaf or small tear-drop is a stamped maker's mark of the smith on the blade.
provenance
Robert S. Pardo, Constantinople; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1903; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
date
ca. 1732 (Ottoman)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Gold, Silver & Jewelry
penknives
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
0.8
height
1
depth
15.1
dimensionsRaw
H: 5/16 × W: 3/8 × L: 5 15/16 in. (0.8 × 1 × 15.1 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Mark]
med
steel, gilded silver, gold, emeralds (or beryls), rubies (or spinels), nephrite
creator_ids
2431
collection_ids
ISL
exhibition_ids
2759
3334
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
32d1c95088957fac
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
1940701f8d03c2af
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
14a19fd9df37f186
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no