Wooden hilt cup and composite wood hilt

[David]

Originally Posted by RobT

Hi All,

When I got this Bali keris it had this wood selut fitted to the horn kocet kocetan hilt and I added the uwer. I don’t know if the selut is original to the piece but looking at it from the new perspective caused by this thread, I can see the selut working on a Bugis keris with a Garuda hilt. Not to hijack this thread but, if the selut is inappropriate, I would appreciate seeing examples of what would be correct.

Sincerely,
RobT

Yes Rob, i agree with Alan that this is not unusual. Here is an example i own with a similar wooden "selut".

[adamb]

Thanks all for your insight. I do wonder now if the wooden hilt cup on my Bugis keris is indeed original and that the use of wood instead of metal has some meaning or significance. I’m aware that wood and wooden objects can have spiritual power for the Bugis and Makasar in South Sulawesi; for example, I was once given, by a Bugis person, a piece of lightweight, whitish-yellow coloured wood about 30 cm long and that looks like a section of thin tree branch with bark removed - this innocuous looking object is said to be a very dangerous weapon that can cause a person’s death simply by touching them with it. There’s also this lightweight wooden “sword” (picture attached), a component of a back-strap loom used for weaving textiles: I’m informed by Bugis/Makasar people that these are objects of particularly dangerous spiritual power used by women as weapons - men fear them. They are kept as revered pusaka, though they seem to be uncommon.

So perhaps the use of a wooden hilt cup, though evidently rare, is meaningful.