....first let me say I bow my head in shame at what my "southern brutha from anotha mutha"(RSword) said above!!....good lawd Rick!
As for restoration I agree with the "leave it be" crowd. Were a portion of the cockatou missing, I'd say go for it, but in this case you would be essentially rebuilding the most "artsie" part of the hilt, making it "new". This would only be for some one intending to keep the barong for a very long time, accepting its restored features. Once such a change is made the collectiblity of the barong will go down in the eyes of many....one, because of its new addition, regardless of quality, and secondly because there is no guarantee the restoration is correct to what the original hilt actually had..
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