Old vintage silver inlaid opium left hand harvest tools & poppy pod cutter
Fantastic rare old antique silver damascened traditional wood chips handle opium harvest tool & pod cutter. Up for sale very rare & beautiful collectibles Mughal rajput silver damascened traditional harvest tool & pod cutter.
Grip & handle decorated fine pure silver damascened Mughal creeper floral design on handle & bolster, it have steel. This is very beautiful piece. It has nice aging patina. These tools are used in the cultivation and harvest of opium from poppy plants throughout Asia, the Middle East, and now Central and South America. When the poppy seed pods mature, they are cut with a scoring tool (bottom left) which acts as claws and scratches the skin of the pod in rows. The milky sap in the pod oozes out over hours and days. As the sap thickens, it is harvested using a flat scraping tool (top right). The sap, or opium gum, is laid out to dry and thicken. Historically, the opium gum was smoked, but has also been processed into morphine and heroin. These same tools are still in use today and opium harvests are still mostly conducted by hand. I have described the item best as per my knowledge. Please check the picture carefully, it's part of description.