Yes, there is a noticeable difference in sharpness of detail between the head and the body of the hilt, but before I put it down to execution I would need to have it in my hand.
Balinese carving is rarely the work of a single person, it is usually a group effort, with people of varying degrees of skill being assigned different asks in completion of a whole, so what we are seeing here could well be because of that group involvement. Something to be expected, that does not speak against Balinese origin, but rather gives weight to that opinion.
Still, for me I still have a question in my mind about the lion head. Yes, there is similarity with that well known kastane for. No argument. But browsing pics of other SE Asian art works does not yet convince me that the model for that hilt was of Ceylonese origin.
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