Antique Sinhalese Spear Head Patisthanaya Partisan 19th Century Ceylon Sri Lanka

Antique Sinhalese ceremonial brass spearhead Partisan - Patisthanaya, in the form of the European partisan, 19th century, Sri Lanka – Ceylon.
Details: exceptionally well cast in solid brass and hand-chiseled with fine and crisp details, with a double-edged tapered blade supported by a pair of perched Buddhist mythological birds - Hamsa, shaped in openwork and hand-chiseled in relief.
The head has an integral tapering fluted octagonal socket, richly chiseled in tendrils design, bordered on the top and bottom by two ribbed collars.
These types of brass spearheads of various shapes and forms were carried by Sinhalese aristocrats and the ruler’s palace guard as ceremonial pole-arm during the 19th century.
Patisthanaya was designed on the image of a European polearm - partisan, which was carried by the guards of European monarchs during the 16th- 19th century.

The Hamsa (Sanskrit: हंस, haṃsa or Hansa) is an aquatic bird of passage, which various scholars have interpreted as the goose, the swan, or even the flamingo. Its icon is used in Indian and Southeast Asian culture as a spiritual symbol and a decorative element. It is also used in a metaphorical sense with the bird attributed the ability to extract milk from a mixture of milk and water. In Hindu iconography, Hamsa is the vahana (or vehicle) of Brahma, Gayatri, Saraswati, and Vishvakarma.

MEASUREMENTS: Overall length: 39 cm (15.4 inches)

CONDITION: signs of age and use with minor scratches.

Since the pictures were taken in the studio lighting, the partisan in daylight is darker and not as glitter as the photos.