Cast bronze hilt

GIO · 12th December 2022, 04:54 PM

The Etnology museum in Leiden has a keris with a similar hilt, but made of brass instead of bronze. The aspect is clearly that of a cast object, not that of an embossed metal sheet. Obviously this kind of hilts can be considered a rarity, because of the weight and consequent unbalance of the keris and the difficulty of melting the material. Enclosed please find a scanned photo of low quality because of the big size of the book.

GIO · 12th December 2022, 05:03 PM

Sorry for the upside-down image

GIO · 12th December 2022, 05:10 PM

Please apologize, I cannot fix the problem

kai · 12th December 2022, 09:18 PM

There are genuine hilts cast from bronze/brass. I haven't seen any solid ones - only with fillers like clay or cutler's resin.

The one shown in the first posting apparently was never in use (obstructed pesi hole; freshly cut base after casting); it also exhibits casting flaws at the front which (in addition to its heavy weight) make a real use as hilt unlikely IMHO.

From the pic, the one from Leiden does not look like a high quality example either (again, IMHO).

Regards,
Kai

kai · 12th December 2022, 09:22 PM

And Gio's pic from Leiden for better viewing...

sirek · 13th December 2022, 05:27 PM

thanks for your comments,
the strange thing for me was that casting bronze is not easy and is quite expensive.
And a traditional hilt maker is not familiar with this, so I thought maybe it was made by one of the local statue makers?

12th December 2022, 04:54 PM	#1
GIO Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 313	The Etnology museum in Leiden has a keris with a similar hilt, but made of brass instead of bronze. The aspect is clearly that of a cast object, not that of an embossed metal sheet. Obviously this kind of hilts can be considered a rarity, because of the weight and consequent unbalance of the keris and the difficulty of melting the material. Enclosed please find a scanned photo of low quality because of the big size of the book. Attached Images

12th December 2022, 05:03 PM	#2
GIO Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 313	Sorry for the upside-down image Attached Images Last edited by David; 13th December 2022 at 03:45 PM.

12th December 2022, 09:22 PM	#5
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,221	And Gio's pic from Leiden for better viewing... Attached Images

12th December 2022, 05:10 PM	#3
GIO Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 313	Please apologize, I cannot fix the problem

12th December 2022, 09:18 PM	#4
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,221	There are genuine hilts cast from bronze/brass. I haven't seen any solid ones - only with fillers like clay or cutler's resin. The one shown in the first posting apparently was never in use (obstructed pesi hole; freshly cut base after casting); it also exhibits casting flaws at the front which (in addition to its heavy weight) make a real use as hilt unlikely IMHO. From the pic, the one from Leiden does not look like a high quality example either (again, IMHO). Regards, Kai

13th December 2022, 05:27 PM	#6
sirek Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 166	thanks for your comments, the strange thing for me was that casting bronze is not easy and is quite expensive. And a traditional hilt maker is not familiar with this, so I thought maybe it was made by one of the local statue makers?