Material used for decoration, could it be mamas?

[milandro]

I was debating this with a friend about these decoration I have on a modern Bugis keris.


I recently visited a Dutch dealer who just got a shipment with at least a dozen of Bugis krises showing material with looked pretty much the same.


Now , I always thought it was embossed on a sheet of aluminum but both my friend and the dealer told me it was Mamas, although Mamas often shows a " golden" sheen .


Sorry about the quality of the images they are a cropped image

[A. G. Maisey]

Impossible to know what it is from a photo.

However, to the best of my knowledge, mamas has not been used in Jawa since the 1930's and I have only seen mamas used in Jawa.

[Sajen]

I agree with Ian, I have seen mamas only by Javanese and Lombok items, never by Bugis blades. I guess that it could be a modern nickel alloy but like Ian stated it's impossible to judge from pictures.

Regards,
Detlef

[milandro]

thanks, I don't think this is nickel or an alloy with nickel because they are generally very hard and brittle and wouldn't take gently the embossing or perhaps better called chasing .


This has to be a soft material anyway.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by milandro

thanks, I don't think this is nickel or an alloy with nickel because they are generally very hard and brittle and wouldn't take gently the embossing or perhaps better called chasing .


This has to be a soft material anyway.

Mamas is also a nickel alloy!

[David]

I have obviously seen mamas and have quite few examples in my collection, but is there a strict and exacting make-up to this alloy, or does the formula vary somewhat?
Milandro, i don't recall mamas necessarily always having a golden sheen.