This tabar axe is made in the style of other examples seen from the Mughal Empire during the 17th-18th Centuries and due to its light weight was likely made for ceremonial purposes sometime in the 19th Century. Tabar axes were a very common weapon among the prized cavalry of the Mughal armies. The head is made mostly of brass which is finely engraved with gilded floral scroll on a punch dot background and a thin half-moon shaped steel blade is brazed into a slot on one side of the head while the other side ends in a lily shaped spike. The shaft appears to be made of a brass tube, which were sometimes hollow to accommodate a hidden dagger, and is sheathed in an intricate sleeve of gilt brass floral and vine motifs with pierced background revealing the tube within. The brass pommel is carved in the shape of a bestial head.

Fine, retains the majority of the gilded finish with the balance showing mostly an attractive antique patina on the brass, and the steel blade showing a mixture of grey and brown patinas. An attractive decorative piece!