[A. G. Maisey]

Gustav, just to set the record straight, what I wrote in post # 8 was this:-

"--- Stylistically this hilt seems to be Majapahit.
Personally, I would not question it---"

I have restricted my comments to stylistic attributions.

I have made no attempt to affix a date to this hilt, and I will not do so.

Why?

Because in my opinion this is close to absolutely impossible.

Stylistically it may be attributed to Majapahit, but the year of manufacture could be any time from the early 1300's through to the modern era.

In my initial post of several years ago I was very cautious in my reluctance to commit to any actual dates, and my attitudes on trying to affix dates in the Western sense to some Javanese artefacts have only become more inflexible since I wrote my first post.

I'm not going to get involved in the game of providing indicators in order to support my opinion that this hilt is stylistically Majapahit. This is not at all the way in which I form an opinion on what I believe to be the applicable style for any Javanese art or architecture. I have my own area of speciality, and that speciality does not include in depth training in Javanese art history, thus, when I wish to form an opinion in respect of the particular style of any Javanese artefact, with the exception of the keris, I use the works of people who are recognised authorities in this field. John Miksic is one such authority.

I have no intention at all of getting involved in any defence of Miksic's ideas, however, I will mention in passing that his stylistic attributions do not seem to be at variance with most of the other recognised authorities in this field.

If you believe that you have found a way to demonstrate that his stylistic attribution of this hilt to Majapahit is incorrect, why not write to him? Over the years I have written to a number of recognised authorities in a number of fields, in fact I have even phoned them, and in general I have found these very well known people to be quite receptive to new ideas. I believe that one of the indicators of a believable and reliable authority is that he or she has the ability to change his or her mind as new evidence becomes available.

If you have new evidence, present it to Miksic and suggest that he consider it.

Edit --- Just an after-thought Gustav:- rather than approaching John Miksic, you might find Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer a better bet.
I believe her level of expertise in Old Javanese stylistic differentiation is probably about as good as it gets.