Aceh Sikin for coments

kai · 3rd August 2008, 11:46 PM

Hello Fernando,

A smooth area near the base of the hilt (close to the blade) might be original in finished condition: At least the typical hilt of pedeueng pasangan does come with such a smooth area (it's grip is thicker though and the widening area between bolster and grip is usually smooth - thus, it may not be comparable). I don't recall a pedeueng panjang grip with such a smooth area - would need to screen my sources...

Also, horn hilts in low humidity are prone to shrinking and you often see a gap between hilt and blade.

However, in your example there is a kind of iron spacer between the bolster with inlay and the horn hilt. It looks pretty unfinished to me - at least, I wouldn't expect such a thing to be originally exposed to view in such a status weapon! OTOH, it looks like a perfect attachment for a crown IMVHO - I'd guess this may have looked like in the 2 left examples on the pic from Ben's collection (i. e. not being of the spiky version). To me, this also seems to be supported by the horn hilt having a much smaller diameter than the bolster -something I wouldn't expect to see in quality workmanship either!

Actually, I have a rencong with inlaid bolster which once had a crown of the spiky variant: This is clearly shown by the marks visible at the base of the horn hilt (as Ben already mentioned). I'll try to post a pic soon.

Regards,
Kai

3rd August 2008, 11:46 PM	#7
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Fernando, A smooth area near the base of the hilt (close to the blade) might be original in finished condition: At least the typical hilt of pedeueng pasangan does come with such a smooth area (it's grip is thicker though and the widening area between bolster and grip is usually smooth - thus, it may not be comparable). I don't recall a pedeueng panjang grip with such a smooth area - would need to screen my sources... Also, horn hilts in low humidity are prone to shrinking and you often see a gap between hilt and blade. However, in your example there is a kind of iron spacer between the bolster with inlay and the horn hilt. It looks pretty unfinished to me - at least, I wouldn't expect such a thing to be originally exposed to view in such a status weapon! OTOH, it looks like a perfect attachment for a crown IMVHO - I'd guess this may have looked like in the 2 left examples on the pic from Ben's collection (i. e. not being of the spiky version). To me, this also seems to be supported by the horn hilt having a much smaller diameter than the bolster -something I wouldn't expect to see in quality workmanship either! Actually, I have a rencong with inlaid bolster which once had a crown of the spiky variant: This is clearly shown by the marks visible at the base of the horn hilt (as Ben already mentioned). I'll try to post a pic soon. Regards, Kai