26 November 2025–22 March 2026
Free exhibition
Exhibition Galleries

Discover swords of Lucknow in our free display, opening this autumn at the Wallace Collection.

Nearly a metre long and richly decorated with enamel and gold, these five swords reveal the splendour of eighteenth and nineteenth century Lucknow, a flourishing centre of power, artistry and cultural exchange.

They reflect the court of the Nawabs of Awadh, rulers of Iranian Shia heritage who presided over a diverse population and fostered a culture of luxury and ceremony. Swords such as these signified prestige, loyalty and masculine identity, serving as status symbols as well as weapons, and were also exchanged as diplomatic gifts.

Acquired by Sir Richard Wallace and the 4th Marquess of Hertford in the later nineteenth century, these swords also tell a story of European collecting at a time when military officers and dealers brought South Asian arms to the market.

This free display reinterprets part of the museum’s Asian, African and Ottoman collections, informed by new research for a catalogue to be published in February 2026.