This beautiful handle, most probably Syrian, is graciously shaped, its hooked top curving gently and culminating in an ovoid finial. The surface of the handle is Damascened. Damascening is the ancient process by which one metal is inlaid into another—typically steel. In this instance, gold has been inlaid into iron. The gold inlay is beautifully formed, arranged into a variety of geometrical and scrolling arabesque forms—and this above the dark ground of the base iron. The piece is an excellent, and unusual, example of this metalworking technique.