Keris Sundang Melayu with a parrot hilt

Newsteel · 31st October 2008, 10:28 AM

Hi Michael,

No I do not suggest he carved this hilt. I do not have any good source about Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook. What was known is that he is a well-known mastercarver at Terengganu. He is also mentioned in the book 'Spirit of the Woods'. If I'm not wrong, he is the first to carve kakaktua (parrot) hilt for keris, only meant for the sultan. This form soon got attention and a lot more carvers tend to follow it.

As for the blade, it is hard to actually pin point the exact region. Most malay sundang would have a smaller size and the metal preference is high carbon steel which tends to look more greyish black. But this is not a main factor when identifying malay sundang. We have example which looks Javanese with sogokan and tikel alis. But surprisingly came from Sulu. Picture below taken from Bill Marsh collection.

31st October 2008, 10:28 AM	#8
Newsteel Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 132	Hi Michael, No I do not suggest he carved this hilt. I do not have any good source about Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Wook. What was known is that he is a well-known mastercarver at Terengganu. He is also mentioned in the book 'Spirit of the Woods'. If I'm not wrong, he is the first to carve kakaktua (parrot) hilt for keris, only meant for the sultan. This form soon got attention and a lot more carvers tend to follow it. As for the blade, it is hard to actually pin point the exact region. Most malay sundang would have a smaller size and the metal preference is high carbon steel which tends to look more greyish black. But this is not a main factor when identifying malay sundang. We have example which looks Javanese with sogokan and tikel alis. But surprisingly came from Sulu. Picture below taken from Bill Marsh collection. Attached Images