KRIS HILTS by Ghiringhelli

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I received a copy of this book today.

As already noted by others the photographs are exceptionally beautiful, and the hilts photographed are universally excellent examples. Truly fine works of art. I will reserve comment on the text.

David, the photo on P.16 is of PBX.

This photo was presented by his brother, Pangeran Ario Mataram during an audience with with Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Emma on 15 July 1898 at Soestdijk Palace. The photo was taken by Charlers & Co. of Semarang. It is a very well known photograph of PBX as a young man. PBX ruled from 1893 to 1939, in later life he became very corpulent, totally unrecognizable as the slim young aristocrat in the photograph.

Yes, i was pretty certain that the ID was correct and it was the date that was off.
As for the writing on the specific hilt i too will reserve comment, but will still recommend this book solely based upon the finely photographed hilts from this collection. The detailed images in this book can allow us to make our own observations independent of the author's ideas.

[drdavid]

I got my copy of this book a last week. Personally I think the photos are outstanding, although at times the captions can be a slightly difficult to line up with the photos as they are often on separate pages. These are beautiful hilts and there is much to ponder in the images. For me this is a worthwhile book although it is not packed with written fact.
DrD