mid 17th century
This exquisite little fish, made of beautifully patterned watered steel accented with gold overlay in the koftgari technique, is also a practical and useful tool. It would have held gunpowder, dispensed from its mouth by pressing on the end of the lever. Attached to the lever are two rings, which would have allowed the fish to be suspended upside down from a belt. Notes from the Glory and Prosperity exhibition, Feb - June 2002.
15.88 cm (6 1/4 in.)
Bronze
6th-5th century BCEGreekIron
ScythianCopper alloy
2nd millennium BCEHittiteLead
GreekIron
JapaneseBronze
2nd millennium BCEGreekBlade: steel with gold-filled incised decoration and inscriptions; handle: braided brass wire over fabric on a wooden core; guard: cast brass and gilt bronze, with profile portrait of Lafayette enframed in draped flags; lion-headed pummel: cast brass with gilt bronze decoration
18th centuryFrenchBronze
13th-11th century BCEChineseCopper
15th-13th century BCEHittiteIron
ChineseMalachite- and azurite-encrusted bronze blade; greenish, brown jadelike guard
5th-3rd century BCEChineseNephrite
Chinese