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Originally Posted by Yanni
As Mr. T_C stated, and I agree, "with all the work that went into the blade, the handle dress would be somewhat more lavish. The finishing touches of the handle don't match the craftsmanship of the blade."
What do you members imagine for this blade as a manner of dress for the hilt?
Would perhaps a one piece, minimally carved mahogany, with silver wire highlights? I would like to keep the same simple utilitarian profile.
Would something like this be true to the tribal region?
All opinions and recommendations will be valued and considered.
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My recommendation would be
not to change the hilt dress at all. Whether this once had more elaborate dress or not is not the issue for me. If you choose to change this and make it more elaborate to match the work of the blade then you will be firstly, only guessing at what you think it should be judging from a place outside the original culture, and secondly, removing a perfectly authentic wrap done by the one-time original indigenous owner that is in good condition and should probably be preserved, not replaced. This hilt is fair more valuable to me "as is" from my personal collecting POV than any more "correct" restoration you might do as a collector. I cannot see the advantage to removing part of the history of this kris in order to present a more "perfect" envisioning of how we as collectors feel it might have once looked. There is a time for restoration and a time for preservation.
