Seeking advice on Balinese keris hulu

Gustav · 7th June 2018, 07:34 PM

Actually besides the quite simplified Liking Pakoe figurine this hilt seems to lack also the petals on the domed base of this figurine.

(Attached a hilt made before 1894, the figurine lost.)

That's the problem with the updated dress - the meaning of features gets lost, they increasingly are seen as just an ornament, and finally disappear.

And that is exactly why older dress is valuable. It still contains traces, if perhaps only for ethnologists.

Besides that also the material of the hilt speaks for a more recent date of manufacture. Even around 1930 Jasper and Mas Pirngadie mention gold and ivory as materials for the hilt forms reserved for Trivangsa (and wood for Sudra). They doesn't mention silver as Balinese hilt material at all - anyway not the best choice of material for touching with bare hands, especially in tropic climate.

7th June 2018, 07:34 PM	#10
Gustav Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,273	Actually besides the quite simplified Liking Pakoe figurine this hilt seems to lack also the petals on the domed base of this figurine. (Attached a hilt made before 1894, the figurine lost.) That's the problem with the updated dress - the meaning of features gets lost, they increasingly are seen as just an ornament, and finally disappear. And that is exactly why older dress is valuable. It still contains traces, if perhaps only for ethnologists. Besides that also the material of the hilt speaks for a more recent date of manufacture. Even around 1930 Jasper and Mas Pirngadie mention gold and ivory as materials for the hilt forms reserved for Trivangsa (and wood for Sudra). They doesn't mention silver as Balinese hilt material at all - anyway not the best choice of material for touching with bare hands, especially in tropic climate. Attached Images