Odd Ghost on Bugis Gandar
 

Hi All,

As you can see, a pretty straight forward Bugis keris (9 luk, 14.24” [36.195cm] blade) with a missing buntut. The thing that puzzles me is what appears to be the ghost of a metal band at the bottom of the gandar. Since there is no rebate at the bottom of the gandar, the band would have stood proud of the wood. I have provided photos of both sides of the gandar. The change in color is more pronounced on one side than on the other but it is visible on both sides. I plan to replace the buntut and want to match what was originally there. In order to do so, I would like to have the questions below answered (pictures would be great also).
Did Bugis sheaths ever have a metal band incorporated with the standard Bugis buntut foot?
If there were bands, where were they soldered, back or side (which side)?
If there were bands, were they plain and/or engraved?

Sincerely,
RobT

You can find all kinds of treatments for the stem of a Bugis sarong, depending upon the origin. Sometimes there is just a buntut of wood or ivory, but sometimes there are bands or even a full pendok. Usually when i find a band at the bottom end like this there are also other bands along the gandar or at least at the throat. They can be relatively plain or highly decorative. But there may have been just the one on the bottom here or it is also possible that the buntut was a piece that slide up over this part of the gandar.

Thanks for The Info
 

David,

Not only does your response show how common a ferrule at the bottom of the gandar is, it shows that I have a good degree of design latitude for making my reproduction. The one thing that all your examples show is that the metal band at the bottom is always accompanied by one just below the wranka. My sheath doesn’t show a ghost of this. I will try online searches to see if the metal at the bottom is always paired with one below the wranka.

Sincerely,
RobT