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Source Description
The sheath is entirely decorated at its drop-shaped tip with spirals, rosettes, and rhombic appliqués. The upper part displays arabesque leaves and tendrils and the buckle as well as lower tip is decorated with rhombic and rosette-shaped appliqués. The back of the upper part is blank. Thuma daggers were produced only for the Zaydi Muslim elite. They were very precious, and kept in families for generations.On the back of the sheath is an Arabic stamp with the name of the ruler and a date: al-Mansur 115x. The stamp belongs to Imam al-Mansur al-Husayn, who lived from AH 1139 to 1161 (AD 1775-1809).An engraved inscription in Hebrew names the silversmith: H(arun) Kasil. It is possible that H(arun) Kasil was the same Kasil who lived also under al-Mahdi al-"Abbas, see Walters 57.2319.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
80930
label
Sheath of a Thuma
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
4
Source metadata
id
80930
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Sheath of a Thuma
description
The sheath is entirely decorated at its drop-shaped tip with spirals, rosettes, and rhombic appliqués. The upper part displays arabesque leaves and tendrils and the buckle as well as lower tip is decorated with rhombic and rosette-shaped appliqués. The back of the upper part is blank. Thuma daggers were produced only for the Zaydi Muslim elite. They were very precious, and kept in families for generations.On the back of the sheath is an Arabic stamp with the name of the ruler and a date: al-Mansur 115x. The stamp belongs to Imam al-Mansur al-Husayn, who lived from AH 1139 to 1161 (AD 1775-1809).An engraved inscription in Hebrew names the silversmith: H(arun) Kasil. It is possible that H(arun) Kasil was the same Kasil who lived also under al-Mahdi al-"Abbas, see Walters 57.2319.
provenance
Mr. Derek Content and Mr. Benjamin Zucker [Zucker Family Trust] London and New York, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by gift.
date
1139-1161 AH/AD 1775-1809
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
daggers
sheaths (cases)
imageCount
4
pageCount
4
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
24
height
7
dimensionsRaw
L: 9 7/16 x W: 2 3/4 in. (24 x 7 cm)
Source extras
cul
Zaydi Muslim
inscriptions
[Stamp] In Arabic: al-Mansur 115x; [Engraved] In Hebrew: H(arun) (?) Kasil
reign
Al-Mansur al-Husayn (1139-1161 AH/AD 1775-1809)
med
silver with remains of gilding
creator_ids
18951
collection_ids
ARM
SAY
exhibition_ids
3181
3562
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
35408ac1ddd2e53e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
0e426236ec2d64ae
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
e834a6d47aa9b4b2
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
a98aebcd11c68f3d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no