This rare beauty sold at an auctionhouse. Would like to add it to thi sthread just for later reference.
Akar Bahar (black coral) hilt with gold and enamel

Best regards,
Willem

fantastic piece of "black coral" :eek:
I'm crazy for it ... as well as almost all divers :p

before, I had never seen such big branch
it's really "a rare beauty" ;)

à +

Dom

Here is my crowned rencong with black coral:

I believe this thread was started to investigate the crowns on aceh weapons.
So to stick with the topic i have this Siwai that is in the "Wereldmuseum" at Rotterdam. The hilt is a really huge piece of akar bahar.

Ps. there are no sizes mentioned, but this one is in the exposition of the museum and believe me. it is huge. easily twice the diameter of a rentjong hilt.

A nice one!

It's interesting that the Aceh and Gayo daggers come in so many sizes for each model.

Michael

Today I found a variation of the rentjong hilt that I did not see before.
At the Gemeente Museum Den Haag.
(The Museum where President Obama went to see Mondriaan's "Victory Boogie Woogie" ;) )

I can not recall another hilt with such a heartshaped decoration.
A gold strip goes all around the hilt.

What an interesting variation. And gold and enameled all around the strap. I also noticed the coral is polished as well.

Thanks for posting this.

Yes, it looks indeed like akar bahar in a very smooth finish.
Here a enlargement of the previous picture.

Best regards,
Willem

I would rather have had it in my hands to determine the material :D ;)
But it indeed looks like polished akar bahar.
Here is an enlargement of the previou picture :

Looks like akar bahar to me......

I'm with Jose on the pommel being from polished AB.

Thanks for another great example, Willem!

The "heart" looks like another variant of the tree of life motif.

Regards,
Kai

Happily gathering pictures I remembered this variation.
I am not sure where it was taken, the website says "Tropenmuseum" (Amsterdam)

I photo edited the pictures to better see them. Notice on the rounded one that there are concentric circles indicative of coral.

Here is a siwar that was sold by Michael Backman. He states that it belonged to a sultan. The gold mounts have gems on them and the hilt is black coral and the scabbard tip is ivory. Silver bands are go down the scabbard and the top piece is also ivory.

I also included the picture Michael Backman provided of Sultan Muhammad Daud Syah Johan Berdaulat with a similar sitar for context.

Not to hog this thread, but here is my sikim and close ups of the crown.

Nice, looks a lot like the one in post #10 ;)

It does, don't it?

This one was sold today by 1300 Euro in a german auctionhouse! I think gold, suassa and silver, unsure about the stones.

Great piece Detlef, thank you for posting this. I agree: I see low gold, suassa, and silver. The stones do look like cabochon rubies, but close ups (if available) would help determine what they really are for sure.

Now the crown: on the one hand it looks like it could be old dirty low carat gold, but hard to determine for sure. If gold, then it would be low carat to have patina like this on it.

By the way, what is the name of the German auction house?

Sorry, this have been the only pictures posted. :shrug:

Re-reading this interesting thread, it looks like brass crowns are more rare as golden ones, as I don't see any depicted here.

Are there rentjongs with brass crowns in forumites collections to add here?

Maurice

Wendl! :)

Ps. it is now on the market again. cleaned and looking better than on Wendls website.

Let's not discuss that particular item until it is no longer for sale, please.

This particular item is now sold by Michael Backman (all cleaned up and made of silver, gilt silver, suassa, and gems):

All cleaned up it is a nice status piece.
But let's compare it with the other one in post #74
The crown of the piece with the akar bahar hilt has a much more elaborate crown. gold with enamel, instead of gilded silver crown with simple decortions on the piece with the suasa hilt.

Thank you, for posting the pictures.

Oh no question. The akar bahar example has a crown that not only is gold in stead of gilded, but also has the traditional green and black enamel on the surface.

Here 2 pictures of a rentjong with a complete golden handle.

For later reference a comparing.

Asomotif, this last one you posted is on my wish list, but alas I wasn't in a position to acquire it, unfortunately.......... :(

A nice variation with gold crown and suasa in the same style as the previously posted siwai's.