Ottoman Golden Inlay Steel Scythe, 19th Century  Footnotes:  The richness of the design and decoration suggests that this was a ceremonial mace made for a significant court figure.  Though originally of purely military purpose the e of maces as symbols of office at the Ottoman court had be well established by the sixteenth century.  The lavishness with which this example is decorated and its impracticality as a weapon, suggests that this example was intended for a purely symbolic role.  For an earlier, plainer and more lethal version of the form in Topkapi Sarayi Müsezi, see Riyadh 1996, no.84 iv., p.98. Examples of richly decorated maces are extant from the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, such as the example from the Topkapi Palace (inv. no.2/715; see Atil 1987, p.151, no.85) and the tradition seems to have continued.  Examples of Ottoman maces with ornamented flanged heads date from at least as early as the sixteenth century (see Alexander 1992, p.118, no.63; and Atasoy 1992, p.105).  A further example with gem-set flanges is in the Historisches Meum, Dresden (Pope 1939, pl.1432D). The niello'ed decoration on the shaft of the present example is of such fine quality that it could well be seventeenth-century work.   The fleshiness of the foliate scrolls could well suggest the influence of craftsmen from the Eastern European provinces of the Ottoman empire.  The inlaid decoration of the agate flanges is also in a seventeenth-century style, though this could be accounted for by a revival of interest in these designs, notably in arms, in the eighteenth century. The similarity between the decoration of this example and Mughal craftsman attests to artistic and other contacts between the Ottoman and Mughal empires.   Certain features though, such as the mounting of the gems, are carried out in a distinctly Ottoman manner. Length:43 cm  Blade-end: 30.5