Rencong

[Sajen]

Hi Martin,

Thank you for the pics! Handle material could be wood when I look at the attached picture.

Regards,
Detlef

[Pendita65]

Hi Detlef,

i won't scrape the patina with a scalpel to find out, but i am allmost certain it's horn.

whenever your in Amsterdam your welcome and i show it to you.

Regards,

Martin

[kai]

Hello Martin,

Thanks for the additional pics and details!

The hilt could be from albino waterbuffalo; however, judging from the surface where polished (as well as more matte optics where more patinated) and the visible pores & grain structure I believe I can make out, I'm siding with Detlef in guessing this might be wood, indeed!

Why haven't you polished the remaining metal ring?

More comments tomorrow...

Regards,
Kai

[Pendita65]

Hi Kai,

i didn't polish it yet because i also need to fasten it again. it's loose so i need to re-glue it. And from very close inspection with magnification you can see similar lines that are in horn. As a teacher in restoration of furniture and wooden objects i know my materials.

I only used a soft cloth for silver to rub the sleeve and the tip, i am still in doubt if i will use some Nikco a very fine polish material for precious materials.

Regards,

Martin

[kai]

Thanks, Martin!

from very close inspection with magnification you can see similar lines that are in horn. As a teacher in restoration of furniture and wooden objects i know my materials.

Ok, that should settle it - under magnification it's usually very obvious.

I only used a soft cloth for silver to rub the sleeve and the tip, i am still in doubt if i will use some Nikco a very fine polish material for precious materials.

Sure, no full-out polish needed nor advisable - a conservative approach of light touching up without material loss will be best IMHO.

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Hello Detlef,

Handle sleeves are common with North Sumatran weapons, see for example a co jang from my collection or two of the rencongs I've shown.
So is also the sleeve by the sikin panjang you found on the net rather plain but embossed (I guess) while your rencong has a crown like sleeve in combination with a plain sleeve.

The asymmetrical decor found on status gliwang is a different beast IMHO. BTW, it seems to be a mainly ceremonial luju alang (vs the longer peudeueng panjang).

A proper saruek ulat is worked into a scale-like 3D structure by embossing (on both sides) and its margins bridged by some decor elements. With this rencong, the base of the gold saruek ulat was covered by a flat calyx-like ring of suasa and the other end, too (possibly another calyx or plain ring - too little left nor imprints to verify, it seems). While most likely also originally based on the lotus symbolism, these flat, undecorated rings are a far cry from the full-fledged calyx/crowns in puco or glupa form.

I don't know whether any simple, ferrule-like ring adjacent the blade bolster (as in your rencong) would also be referred to as saruek ulat in the originating cultures (if pressed, I kinda doubt it).

Regards,
Kai

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by kai

The asymmetrical decor found on status gliwang is a different beast IMHO. BTW, it seems to be a mainly ceremonial luju alang (vs the longer peudeueng panjang).

A proper saruek ulat is worked into a scale-like 3D structure by embossing (on both sides) and its margins bridged by some decor elements. With this rencong, the base of the gold saruek ulat was covered by a flat calyx-like ring of suasa and the other end, too (possibly another calyx or plain ring - too little left nor imprints to verify, it seems). While most likely also originally based on the lotus symbolism, these flat, undecorated rings are a far cry from the full-fledged calyx/crowns in puco or glupa form.

I don't know whether any simple, ferrule-like ring adjacent the blade bolster (as in your rencong) would also be referred to as saruek ulat in the originating cultures (if pressed, I kinda doubt it).

Hello Kai,

I want to exprss exactly the same you stated, a sleeve isn't a saruek ulat so we can't compare the sleeve from the from Martin posted luju alang with the saruek ulat from the rencong in question!

Regards,
Detlef