I don't think there can be any doubt that this hilt is Balinese work.
The selut is certainly Balinese work. It is not a "look-alike". Madura work does not look anything like this selut.
The hilt itself does not seem to bear any of the indicators of Madura work. It has a flow and coherency that points to original work, rather than a copy. Madura carvers are very good at copying, if they have an original, they can copy it very well, but there is always a stiffness to the copy that is not seen in original work.
The very dark ivory hilt is an old Javanese one that came from a pedang --- it is a keris hilt, but it had been fitted to a pedang many years ago.
The yellowish ivory hilt is a copy of this original that I commissioned from Madura.
The two ivory carvings are whales teeth that I think bear ample evidence of the current skill of Balinese carving.
Ivory can be stained in a number of ways. Tumeric will do it, tea is a very old Chinese method, small pieces can be patinated by forcing a goose to swallow it --- forged netsukes are often done in this way --- but the most common method used in Jawa and Bali is by smoking the carving over a fire of coconut husks.
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