AN INDIAN SACRIFICIAL SWORD (RAM DAO), LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY, BENGAL OR NEPAL,

AN INDIAN SACRIFICIAL SWORD (RAM DAO), LATE 18TH/19TH CENTURY, BENGAL OR NEPAL, with characteristic heavy, curved single-edged blade inlaid on each face in brass with a series of lines, diamond-shaped panels and a running pattern of foliage along the back-edge, a monsterhead and the eye of Durgā at the tip, a stylised mask at the forte and two further brass lines, perhaps a devotees arms, one face of the blade inlaid with a brass flower and cut with a brief inscription, tapering beneath and incorporating a cylindrical ferrule, turned wooden grip and brass pommel (areas of pitting), 115.0 cm overall The inscription reads Bhadrakali for the Hindu Goddess Mahakali. Rām dāo were used to decapitate sacrificial buffalo in commemoration of the slaying of the buffalo demon, Mahisha, by Durgā whose eye is engraved on the tip of the blade to watch over the sacrifice. A set of three sacrificial weapons decorated in a closely related manner is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. No. 36.25.1286).