I am reviving this thread because i have finally added one of these chunkier donorika hilts to my collection. The carving is good, but we certainly have much better already posted here. However, i am curious about one particular element in the carving that i have yet to see on these and i wonder whether there are any other examples of this motif out there that we have yet to see. It might just be my imagination, but i have showed this to 4 different people who without the slightest hesitation identified the lower carving on the back of this donorika as a skull. The one above it also looks like a styled face/mask, but it is the skull that really interests me. I have never seen a skull motif on these before, but it seems pretty intentional to me. What do you folks think?
Though not quite pertinent to this thread i also posted a close-up of the pelet wrongko simply because it is one of the most attractive ones i have ever seen. The same stringy pattern continues down the stem invoking all kinds of interesting imagery.
Also, i am curious Alan, if you ever spoke to your other Madurese source regarding the word "donoriko". We never returned to that subject and i think there is still a lot to be learned about these hilts and their possible symbolism.