Introducing...
 

...a piece of contemporary Balinese work - Bhairava.

Captures the essense, I think. :)

beautiful....

I showed this hilt to one of my colleagues, who worships Shiva, and she could recognize that the hilt represented Bhairava. She told me that Monday was Shiva's day (I don't know anything about this), and it so happened that the day I showed it to her was a Monday, so she was understandably happy about the coincidence. :)

She shared that the right foot turned backwards was a sign of demonic power. Since Bhairava is a wrathful aspect of Shiva, and kills demons, the posture was not inappropriate. Notice the demon face under that backward facing foot. The skulls of the demons he killed were strung together and worn round his neck and limbs. One of the skulls belonged to Brahma. He has a third eye which is usually closed, until the moment when he will destroy the world.

Notice that instead of Garuda behind his headdress, it is Kala. I believe Kala's creation was also related to Shiva. At the centre of the back of his belt, the motif looked like the one-eyed guardian - Bintulu.

The other thing I found out was from a website. It said that Bhairava ripped off one of the heads of Brahma with his left thumbnail. Looking at the long vicious looking thumbnails of this Bhairava, it seems possible. :)

I don't know the name of the mudra he is displaying.

Bali or Madura hit:confused:

But very very nice work :)

Bali or Madura hit:confused:

But very very nice work :)

Very nice work on this hilt. Is it bone or ivory?
Drd

I think i can safely say it is ivory Dr. D. I can see the grain patterns in the photos. I would say that they did a very nice job adding age color to this piece. Do you know what they used Kai Wee?
Marco, why do you think this is a Madura hilt?

It's ivory. I don't think this hilt qualifies as Madurese... :)

Tumeric! :) I have no idea why they stain it... maybe to make it look warmer. Anyway, as mentioned in the 1st post, this piece is contemporary (i.e. current period). :)

i'm pretty sure they stain it to give it a look of aged ivory. :shrug: :)

That is amazing. I may be an enthusiast of the swords of China, the simple and brutal machete-like blades of the archipelago, and the close quarters weapons of India.... but when I see something like this, I can see how there is more to a keris than a mystical, pointy dagger. Dagger-type side-arms don't need a hilt like that, keris do. I hope you hold onto that. It's a treasure and an antique of tomorrow's.

I think the hit (not selut) could be also a Madura hit for the very great quality of the carving that remenber me that some years ago i saw in Jawa some amazing ivory hit works full of incredible details (mybe too mach).
These hits had been made by a living artist in Madura . Some hits had Sumatra pattern, other Bugis and one (incredible :eek: carved on two/three different level from surface down in deep) Bali.
Of course this is only a my personal "flash" impression born seeing a "photo"

I'm a babe in the woods i can tell, I saw the grain you mentioned David but when I saw the color I thought if this is new ivory it shouldn't be that color :o
Tumeric really is an all purpose spice
drd

Yes, and that too... :) Haha :) But I have heard that at least in Sumatra and N Malay peninsula, some hilts were traditionally stained when newly made, to impart the desired colour. For e.g. tajong hilts may be stained black to look more aggressive, Sumatran ivory hilts may be stained dark brown, possibly for aesthetic reasons, and some of these hilts have lost their dark stain over time.

Hi Marco,

We need more artists of this level of dedication and talent. :)

A masterpice of carving this hilt, congrats!
Bali have still great artists of carving so this hilt don't need to be a Madura work.
sajen

Ah, i understand you better now Marco. Clearly this hilt is stylistically a Bali hilt. That is what i am referring to when i say that it is Bali. Where the artist actually lives might be another issue, but to me this is a Bali hilt regardless of the island it's maker live on because it seems clear that was the carvers intention. I do agree with Sajen that there are still many fine carvers on Bali. Perhaps Kai Wee knows more about the residency of the carver.

This hilt was brought over by a runner from Bali, so I guess we all concluded that it was from Bali. The workmanship ties in with what we have seen from Bali as well. We also agreed that this is not an old hilt, hence the contemporary tag. :)

I don't think there can be any doubt that this hilt is Balinese work.

The selut is certainly Balinese work. It is not a "look-alike". Madura work does not look anything like this selut.

The hilt itself does not seem to bear any of the indicators of Madura work. It has a flow and coherency that points to original work, rather than a copy. Madura carvers are very good at copying, if they have an original, they can copy it very well, but there is always a stiffness to the copy that is not seen in original work.

The very dark ivory hilt is an old Javanese one that came from a pedang --- it is a keris hilt, but it had been fitted to a pedang many years ago.

The yellowish ivory hilt is a copy of this original that I commissioned from Madura.

The two ivory carvings are whales teeth that I think bear ample evidence of the current skill of Balinese carving.

Ivory can be stained in a number of ways. Tumeric will do it, tea is a very old Chinese method, small pieces can be patinated by forcing a goose to swallow it --- forged netsukes are often done in this way --- but the most common method used in Jawa and Bali is by smoking the carving over a fire of coconut husks.

Wow! I love the Ganesha carving! The natural flow of the body parts and plants is quite amazing.

The Madurese copy of the Javanese original is very good too, almost indistinguishable. :)

Impressive work! :D

Other Bali hit

Impressive.

Simply beautiful!

Heavens above !!!
How is the gold attached to the ivory ?
Is it a sheet covering the carving that is then formed and crimped ?

Impressive work.

Great hilt! :)

I love the natural flow of the figure! And the gold work is very nicely done too. Selut looks very solid. :)

Was this based on the example in the Invincible Keris?

I don't know.... one indonesian friend showed me this hit two mounth ago during my last trip to Bali. The price was very very hight (gold 18 karat). I never have win a lottery :shrug: so...i did only some pics :D

In old examples of this type of work that I have seen the gold was held in place with jabung.

In newer examples a super-glue type adhesive was used, Alteco is a favourite.

The craftsmanship is lovely, but i'm not so sure that this work is to my tastes. So, is this an old ivory hilt that has more recently been adorned with gold and jewels. The ivory looks old with a nice patina, but the gold work looks new. Or perhaps it is all new and the ivory is just aged this way, but it doesn't seems so. If it is as i suggest, an older ivory hilt recently adorn that i have to ask why? Eye-candy for wealthy collectors? Personally i have the urge to scrape all the gold and jewels off to reveal the beauty of the ivory beneath. :shrug: :)