MADURA ornamental hilts

[VVV]

Thanks for sharing Ganja and Marco!
Somebody else with a variation of this hilt?

Michael

[A. G. Maisey]

I possibly may be able to show some other variations, but I have not had the time to look at my Madura hilts, nor to photograph them.

Many years ago a friend who was associated with the kraton in Sumenep told me that hilts bearing the flying horse were Suminep origin, and hilts that bore the crown were Pamekesan origin.

Hilts that bore neither of these symbols could be from anywhere, and were probably the property of people who were not associated with either Suminep or Pamekesan.

[A. G. Maisey]

I have now had time to select a few Madura hilts for posting here. I've had a look at something more than 100 Madura hilts, and I have selected a few that I consider to be a little different to most, in some way or another.
Each hilt is shown in two dimensions and each hilt is the subject of a separate post.

[A. G. Maisey]

Hilt 2

[A. G. Maisey]

Hilt 3

[A. G. Maisey]

Hilt 4

[A. G. Maisey]

Hilt 5

[COYOTE]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Hilt 3

Very impressive and rare shape, very creative too. I guess that the balance in the hand is perfect. Madura actually has a unique and exquisite carving art.

[BluErf]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Hilt 2

Many beautiful hilts! Thanks to all for sharing. I've always wondered how come there are so many loose Madurese hilts around, and so little of them attached to Madurese kerises?

Regarding this hilt 2 from Alan, I would like to ask if the selut/mendak is a Madurese style?

Thanks.

[A. G. Maisey]

The selut + mendak on #2 is made in one piece, that is, the selut is not separate to the mendak.The mendak section of this fitting is similar to some Madura mendak that I have. However, although this fitting is old, it does not appear to be as old as the hilt, and the patination under the selut seems to indicate that originally a different selut may have been fitted.I do not think that this fitting can be regarded as typical of a Madura style, even though it does give some indication that it is of Madura manufacture.

[David]

I believe i showed some of these before, but in a different context.

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Many years ago a friend who was associated with the kraton in Sumenep told me that hilts bearing the flying horse were Suminep origin, and hilts that bore the crown were Pamekesan origin.

Thank you, Rick. Not only cock'c head. Sometimes I see a horse head hilt too. And the ornament bearing figure of flying horse as Alan mentioned, called by maduran: "kuda panolih" (picture below), and also crown ornament in another one...

[ganjawulung]

And this picture below, a contemporary Maduran hilt, a horse-head hilt...

[VVV]

Thanks all for sharing.

I am puzzled by the bird-headed Janggelan hilts (# 3, 11, 15 of Alan's hilts).
It's strange that I haven't seen them represented in the European old collections.
Could they be later than the other variations, did they became more popular after independence or are they just much more rare?

Michael

[A. G. Maisey]

Pretty scarce things, Michael. Some of the hilts I've posted here are about as rare as you can get, I've got well over 100 Madura hilts, I've been collecting hilts for as long as I've collected keris. A couple of what I've shown here are probably not going to be seen anywhere else.I can assure you that you are not looking at recent hilts.

[Marcokeris]

Here another (Maybe the pattern of the top of this kind of Madura hits comes from a parrot's beck )

[VVV]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Pretty scarce things, Michael. Some of the hilts I've posted here are about as rare as you can get, I've got well over 100 Madura hilts, I've been collecting hilts for as long as I've collected keris. A couple of what I've shown here are probably not going to be seen anywhere else.I can assure you that you are not looking at recent hilts.

Well, that answers my question.
I also find your hilt #7 quite unusual as it, IMHO, resembles a Ganesha hilt?
Or is it just the picture angle?

Here is another unusual Madura ornamental hilt, but of the Janggelan family.

Michael