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Old 11th July 2009, 10:15 AM   #1
karset
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Default gold hilt

http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=140710&View=LRG

nice and rare.
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Old 11th July 2009, 11:16 AM   #2
erikscollectables
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Yes there are some great kerisses and hilts in musea all over the world.

Here in Holland we have obviously many many superb pieces in musea that unfortunately are rarely on display.


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Old 11th July 2009, 11:57 AM   #3
Sajen
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Thank you Karset,

very nice hilt!

sajen
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Old 11th July 2009, 03:11 PM   #4
David
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Very nice. Let's just put it up here. You never know when these linked sources will just disappear.
The information on this site says the hilt is gold and cinnabar. This confuses me a bit because AFAIK cinnabar is a mineral that is basically the ore for mercury. I am not sure how it can be used to make a hilt. Any ideas?
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Old 11th July 2009, 06:51 PM   #5
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cinnabar is a blood red mineral that carves well and is used in conjunction with gold to produce jewellery.


could this be a gold cover on a cinnabar stone core? any red bits showing on th other side perhaps? i find it hard to believe they'd make that of solid gold. aside from the expense it'd make the keris quite heavy to carry if it were and the balance would be terrible.

or more regionally correct an indonesian talisman container made of gold, silver and cinnabar


you can just make out the dark red-brown stone behind the gold scrollwork.

Linky it's actually from the same site as the hilt.


another indonesian item from the same site. cinnabar more obvious. moluccan

buginese disks, gold alloy filligree over cinnabar, islamic

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Old 11th July 2009, 08:57 PM   #6
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Ah, thanks, i didn't realize they used it this way. The hilt most probably is not solid gold, though if it were it would be a matter of status and not a fighting blade so balance would not be an issue.
I think it is fairly clear though that the gold is overlaid on something for this hilt. I would imagine if it is cinnabar that it was a mighty big chunk and is probably pretty heavy as well.
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Old 13th July 2009, 05:42 PM   #7
khalifah muda
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Very nice. Let's just put it up here. You never know when these linked sources will just disappear.
The information on this site says the hilt is gold and cinnabar. This confuses me a bit because AFAIK cinnabar is a mineral that is basically the ore for mercury. I am not sure how it can be used to make a hilt. Any ideas?
a very good example of eastern artifact i should say. nice & popping my eyes...pheeww
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