Bali Hilts

[A. G. Maisey]

Three more, whale's teeth.

Teeth bought in Sydney in 1970's, salvaged from the sea bed rubbish dump of a whaling station in Western Australia. The teeth were taken to Bali and carved there. I did not order specific motifs, and left this to the carver.

[rasjid]

Just in case someone surprise that these one are newly made...

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Three more, whale's teeth.

Teeth bought in Sydney in 1970's, salvaged from the sea bed rubbish dump of a whaling station in Western Australia. The teeth were taken to Bali and carved there. I did not order specific motifs, and left this to the carver.

Hi Alan,
Very nice specimens of hilts made from marine ivory! How long ago were they made and who was the maker if you agree to tell us?
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

They were done about 3 or 4 years ago.

I do not know who carved them.

Jean, I have found that to get the best possible result from ordered work, at the best possible price, in Jawa and Bali it is best to go through a third party.

Going back 20 or 30 years I used to deal directly with craftsmen, and this works fine if you can be there while the job is being done. You can visit daily, supervise, create a socially binding relationship and at the end of the day you can finish up with a satisfactory result.

However, when you deal directly with a craftsman, place the order and then come back 6 or 12 months later to collect it you are setting yourself up for every possible variation of disappointment, failure and rip-off.

The way to get a good result on the long term order basis is to form a solid business link with a reliable third party:- business people are motivated by money; artists are motivated by emotion and personal contact.

However, if you use an agent to place and manage your order, you often do not know exactly who did the work.

In Solo I mostly know who the craftsman is who did the work, exactly what his personal situation is, and exactly what he charged for it.

In Bali I know nothing, except how to get the best possible finished product.

[rasjid]

Agreed Alan, from personal experience any where in the world would be similar situation...

[Battara]

Alan, great carvings - reminiscent of older work IMHO.

2 questions:

• If I were to send a piece to get gold Achenese mounts, should I do what you did in the case with Bali?
  
• Do Balinese ivory keris hilts use mounts made of silver, or would gold also work?

[A. G. Maisey]

Battara, I'm sorry, but I must reply to these questions with a PM.

Edit regarding metal.

In respect of gold or silver. Gold is always better. Culturally gold is a substance of respect. In traditional Javanese and Balinese value systems silver is really no more highly prized than brass or copper --- it may be more expensive, but traditional Javanese people would probably prefer nicely polished copper or brass to silver. Its all about the visual impact. Same reason royal ornamental objects---keris and other--- will often use glass and pastes instead of natural gemstones.

Modern values are different, very high quality keris dress is now more often done in silver than in any other material, but the cultural roots dictate gold. I know a number of very, very traditional Javanese people, people who come from rural backgrounds or working class backgrounds. These people do not value silver at all, for one of these women to wear silver jewellery is a certain indicator that she cannot afford gold, so she would prefer to wear brass or copper that has been polished and possibly lacquered. Any spare money these people have is almost invariably saved as physical gold.

On the other hand, people of the modern generation in Jawa and Bali have to a large extent adopted western values, and for them, high quality work is best done in silver if they cannot afford gold.