The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Sword with scabbard

1700s–1800s

India, perhaps Deccan

Watered steel blade with iron hilt inlaid with gold; velvet lining with leather straps; wooden scabbard with velvet case and metallic threads
Overall: 99 cm (39 in.)
Gift of S. D. Wright 1930.706
Location: Not on view

Description

Straight swords were typical of those used among military and aristocratic circles in the southern regions of the Deccan, in contrast to the curved swords favored by Central Asian equestrians. Increased contact between the Mughal north and the Deccan south during the 1600s led to the appearance of the Deccan-style sword in courtly portraits made during the time of Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and later.
  • ?–1930
    Samson D. Wright [1866–1938], Cleveland Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1930–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Part II. Fifteenth Annual Report of the Cleveland Museum of Art 1930.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 18, no. 2, 1931, pp. 1–128. Mentioned: p. 33 25137366
  • Martial Art of India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 21, 2022).
    Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Sword with scabbard|url=false|author=|year=1700s–1800s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.706