Hello Johan,
I'm with Detlef: Keep this hilt as is - it's a genuine rencong from the 19th century.
I agree that this hilt started out as hulu meucangge; at some point the extension got removed and the remaining hilt smoothed out most likely for continued use during its working life as evidenced by the old patina (even if less than that of the remaining horn surface).
While it may have been done as a repair of a hilt that got broken, it may also be an attempt for easing concealed carry. Apparently the Dutch banned wearing of a rencong during their early exploits in northern Sumatra and I remember a claim that many hilts got cut down to bypass persecution - need to find the reference though.
BTW, hulu meucangge constructed from 2 parts are known from ivory and akar bahar. However, this doesn't make sense for horn (which is bend after heating to obtain a structurally sound hilt from a single piece of horn). And a modern replacement will always look off!
As already mentioned, there is quite some diversity of hulu pungtung: Many have decorative carving on the distal pommel while others are plain with just evenly rounded pommel. While some of the latter may indeed be cut down examples, there are a good number carved from akar bahar (as Willem's shown above) or from horn in original configuration as evidenced by its grain. Thus, also these plain hilts are a legitimate type.
Regards,
Kai
|