Untitled
Ceremonial dagger with light-green jade hilt
- Dated: 17th century (hilt)
- Culture: Indian, Mughal
- Measurements: L: 40.3 cm
Daggers of this type, inlaid with gold and with rubies and emeralds set in gold, were made for the ruling upper class. The cut-and-thrust weapons of high-ranking Indian officials, and especially their daggers, were embellished with great imagination with precious stones, enamel, and – as here – with entire hilts made of carved semi-precious stones. Knives of this kind were considered jewelry for men and were often used as princely gifts.
Source: © The David Collection
Left-hand Dagger
- Carried by the Trabantenleib-Garde of the Prince Elector of Saxony
- Dated: late 16th century
- Measurements: Blade 36 cm. Overall length 50 cm
- Provenance: The Saxon Electoral Armouries, Dresden
The dagger comes with a tapering double-edged blade of flattened diamond section cut with a narrow fuller on both sides below the hilt. It features an iron hilt retaining most of its original bright blue-black finish, strongly arched forward-swept flat quillons with fluted widening tips.
It also has a ring-guard filled with a sprung-in plate pierced with a bold pattern involving pairs of conjoined opposing C-scrolls, domed octagonal pommel rising to a button, and the grip retaining its original binding of patterned wire between narrow “Turk’s heads”.
Source: © Hermann Historica
I would like to know who, at the Paris Review, took the photograph above, showing me (on, it need hardly be said, the right) and some random fellow on the left.
Yes, the “gestalt” of the image is clear: books “lift” one up out of the parochial stuntedness (spell check protests but I assure it, it is a word) of one’s and everyone else’s limited perspective. But lost in the photo, I fear, is an acknowledgment of how much actual physical labor it cost me to find and stack the books.
Well, never mind. I am used to such neglect. What does not kill me makes me stronger, unless it wounds me, in which case it makes me weaker. Meanwhile, now we know what librarians mean by “the stacks.”
Do not be surprised that I remain
Yours as ever,
The Narrator
(via chroniclebooks)
Jimmy “Rent Is Too Damn High” McMillan is Running for NYC Mayor
A music video is always the best way to start off any political campaign.
How to Tell a Person’s Profession by the Size of Their Glasses
Eyes are the window to the soul. Glasses are the window to your soul-crushing job.
