c. 350-100 BCE
5.5 × 1.5 × 36 cm (2 3/16 × 9/16 × 14 3/16 in.)
Lead
Lead
Blade: 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 centuryFrenchCopper alloy
2nd millennium BCEEuropeanBronze
ChineseSteel
17th-18th centuryIndianCopper-lead-arsenic alloy
2nd millennium BCEAnatolianBronze
2nd-1st millennium BCENear EasternIron
JapaneseWatered steel, gold
17th centuryPersianBronze with turquoise inlay
Chinese
Bronze, iron
4th century BCE