Old Bali keris

David · 14th April 2011, 01:56 PM

hmmm....if this hilt isn't a "match" for this sarong i don't know how you would go about finding one that matched better... I think this hilt looks fine. Have you removed it yet. It is possible that there might just be something up top of the hole that prevents the hilt from coming down more. If not it's easy enough to bore the hole a little deeper for a better fit. As for a uwer, a nice one is easily obtainable. Some very ornate hilts sometimes do not seem to need them. IMO this ensemble would look better with one. I am not convinced that all the Bali keris that we find without uwers were always that way. I think sometimes they may have been sold off along the way (if precious metals and jeweled) or damaged and not replaced. Certainly we see more elaborate hilts where a uwer would just be too much, but with a standard everyday dress like this it seems more appropriate.
Also IMO, the practice of collectors to so freely trade up for need hilts and other parts is a strange one to me. Unless something is damaged or out of place it is my general tendency to preserve the ensembles as they are. After all the keris comes to us with a certain amount of history and this hilt is part of that history.

14th April 2011, 01:56 PM	#5
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,228	hmmm....if this hilt isn't a "match" for this sarong i don't know how you would go about finding one that matched better... I think this hilt looks fine. Have you removed it yet. It is possible that there might just be something up top of the hole that prevents the hilt from coming down more. If not it's easy enough to bore the hole a little deeper for a better fit. As for a uwer, a nice one is easily obtainable. Some very ornate hilts sometimes do not seem to need them. IMO this ensemble would look better with one. I am not convinced that all the Bali keris that we find without uwers were always that way. I think sometimes they may have been sold off along the way (if precious metals and jeweled) or damaged and not replaced. Certainly we see more elaborate hilts where a uwer would just be too much, but with a standard everyday dress like this it seems more appropriate. Also IMO, the practice of collectors to so freely trade up for need hilts and other parts is a strange one to me. Unless something is damaged or out of place it is my general tendency to preserve the ensembles as they are. After all the keris comes to us with a certain amount of history and this hilt is part of that history.