Hello David,
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1) I'm not sure why this is necessarily a Western repair. The hilt seems asian and may well have been added by an asian owner.
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Asian-inspired quite possibly so. Unless you can show me a reasonably matching antique hilt from anywhere in Asia, I'm sticking with my opinion that this hilt is a non-traditional fantasy piece. If so, it doesn't really matter how old it is or where it was crafted (IMO).
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2) The hilt seems to have some age and to have been in place for some time.
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I don't see any wear that would suggest that the sword was actually used with this hilt (other than hanging on a wall) - just a few scratches. The twine used for the grip also looks machine made to me.
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3) Though untraditional it is not particularly unattractive.
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Sorry, I beg to differ.
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4) It seems to have been attached well and securely. I can't tell from the photos though if the baca-baca is engaged/attached to the hilt. If it is that is an extra point for leaving it as is.
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From the pics it looks like the metal strip was soldered to the ferrule? Lets wait for some extra pics from Dave.
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5) I don't think we will ever know exactly when, where or why this hilt was added to this kris. Some assumptions have been put forth, but i believe that conjecture is a bit meaningless in this case.
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Dave hasn't received the kris yet - we are just warming up for a party in a CIS lab.
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It seems to me that we are often all too interested in "creating" our own perfected/ideal artifacts, upgrading this and changing that to meet our own expectation of what we want out collectable to be. History isn't perfect or ideal. I am not opposed to conservative approaches to restoration, but from my perspective i believe that sometimes we should simply accept a weapon for what it is, especially when we have no direct knowledge of it's history or how or why it has become what it is.
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I'm with you to err on the safe side if things can't be verified. I'm fairly confident that a bit of research will help in making an informed decision regarding this hilt though.
Regards,
Kai