Restored Tajong

[VVV]

Here is my latest restoring project - the hilt I found in UK 6 years ago, the sheath and blade in US 3 years ago and 2 weeks ago a goldsmith friend of mine finished the missing suassa details.

Michael

[asomotif]

Nice work :)

Did he make the suasa himself ?

Best regards,
Willem

[BluErf]

Nice restoration, Michael. It was a long journey indeed! The swasa wrapping around the bottom of the buah pinang would look more appropriate if it was about half its height. :)

Beautiful blade btw.

[BluErf]

I like the understated elegance of the early-mid period hilt too. V nice catch!

[Battara]

Nice restoration! I do love suassa! :D

[Marcokeris]

Amazing :eek: :)

[VVV]

Thanks all,

Yes, he made the suassa himself after a receipe I gave him. But he told me that he sometimes used similar alloys himself because it's more durable than gold but didn't know that it had a name.
Kai Wee, the reason it's so high is that we had to restore the buah pinang.
Here is the old version of the hilt as I found it.

Michael

[David]

I am curious now that i see the hilt in original condition. Is it likely that the hilt originally had similar suassa decoration and if not would this be more correctly considered a "upgrade" rather than a "restoration"?
Very nice indeed either way... :)

[VVV]

David,

You can see that the parts were the suassa is now had another colour/patination than the rest of the hilt in the old version. That's a sign of that there once had been something else on top of it. If it was originally suassa or silver however is impossible to say.

Michael

[BluErf]

The lighter coloured parts most likely indicated the presence of old silver/swasa decorations. However, the seemingly lack of pegging holes suggest that the decorations were added during a period when adhesives were available, and swasa nail pegs were not used. Still, it was an old "upgrade", and Michael restored that. :)

[Battara]

How do the mounts stay on - glue?

[VVV]

Yes, he used some kind of special glue for gold alloys.

Michael

[Tok Janggut]

great tajong. i like the overall look of this keris.