First the disclaimer:-
I do not collect, nor do I study mandau, I understand very little about them.
An excellent source to assist in an understanding of the people of Borneo is:- "Naga dan Burung Enggang (Hornbill and Dragon)", Bernard Sellato, ISBN: 979-8112-00-8
In this book there are a number of photos of mandau hilts that are identified by tribe.
The people of Borneo retained Maritime SE Asian traditions for much longer than people in most other areas, because of this we can now understand the roots of some practices in other parts of MSE Asia. For instance, in respect of mandau, although the blade was made by skilled craftsman, the hilt and scabbard were normally made by the owner. The carving of the hilt in particular was an important function of display for younger men, it served as the male equivalent of the female attribute of weaving, and demonstrated that the carver did have a finer side, apart from his required ability to take heads. There have always been skilled carvers and unskilled carvers:- quality of workmanship in a hilt is not necessarily an indicator of age.
Dyak women were/are like women everywhere:- they want a provider and defender but they also want that provider and defender to be able to recite Lord Byron and play a lute --- well, so to speak. The taking of heads was evidence of one, the carving of the hilt was evidence of the other.
Considering Jawa, in much earlier times the hilts of keris would have been carved by the owners of the keris, not by specialised craftsmen. Apart from the display function, there was also the consideration of tribute to an ancestor, both of these functions outweighing the obvious economic benefits of carving one's own hilt.
Taking of heads may have been outlawed a long time ago, but it was still a common practice in Kalimantan during the 1960's and 1970's, and during the 1990's the Madurese settlers who were relocated to Kalimantan (the Transmigrasi policy) were also subjected to having their heads transferred to Dyak ownership
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