Hi Mykeris, you are right that you cannot fully understand everything through pictures and forum discussions. However, that is the limitation we have on this forum. Not everyone can go to N. Malaysia/S. Thailand to see and handle these things.
I know what you mean about buying through runners, but I would say ultimately, it is how discerning we are in selecting the gems from the dross.
If you know whoever is making tajong of the quality I have posted, please let me know, I would like to buy more of them.
I don't have an issue with people using modern tools, but even with modern tools, can the carvers these days turn up hilts of such quality? Or the bigger question - do they want to spend the time?
The Spirit of Wood illustrates some of the best examples of very good old tajong hilts. I highly recommend everyone who has an interest in tajong to look at it. Look at it enough, and you shd be able to tell what makes a good old tajong, vs a new made rougher one. Again, I'm not discriminating against new work. If it is done meticulously, it is worthy of accolades. If it is done roughly, then, it is just another piece of commercial work.
What is defined as 'old'? I don't want to make any representations about how old my hilt is, and I have used the words "older", "newer", as a general separating descriptor for what is churned out in the present compared to those made carefully in the past, which could have been not too distant (e.g. pre-WWII?).
If you do know whoever can make hilts of this quality, let me know! Thanks in advance.