Figural horn (possibly rhino) hilt

[David]

Originally Posted by Gustav

Regarding wear, the most sensitive place on these hilts is the nose, and here it is very similar to some wooden specimens from Krisdisk.

Actually, from my experience the place on these buta hilts that tend to receive the most amount of wear is along the backside as this is the area most often positioned into the palm of the hand when holding the hilt. You can see the extensive wear in this very old example from my collection below.
Of course we can only use wear as guide to age in a very approximate fashion and in the end it all depends on how much any particular piece has been handled in its lifetime. If it was collected early in its life and taken out of daily use it could still be old and not show as much wear. But it is really impossible to tell one way or the other, isn't it? I don't see any particular indicators in the style of this buta hilt that would definitively place it in the 17th century. Carvers have been producing this right up into the 20th century, though perhaps not in rhino horn. I can see why you suspect it might be rhino, but for me at least, i would not say that a definitive conclusion could be reached on that assessment based solely on these two photographs. It's a shame we don't have more detailed shots, especially a good close-up looking down on the grain from the top. Otherwise i think we are only guessing at this material. Hopefully, if the auction price went high on this piece as , the winner's gamble was rewarded.