Enamelled & Gilded Silver Scabbard End-Fitting or Chape

This fine, pierced, enamelled and gilded (gold-plated) silver chape would have been fitted to the end of a scabbard of a particularly fine dagger. It tapers from a pierced, crenulated upper section to a finial shaped as a leafy bud. One edge is flattened with a rib that has been enamelled in green.

The chape is decorated with bird and flower motifs in green, blue and green.

See Sharma & Varadarajan (2004, p. 60) and Keene (2001, p. 78) for related enamelled chapes, and Markel (2010, p. 204) for silverware with related enamel work from Lucknow.

There are no repairs, dents or splits. There are some minor losses to the enamel.