Crowns on Aceh weapons revisited

[Loedjoe]

Many thanks, Willem, for your response. Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!)

Best wishes, Tim

[kai]

Hello Tim,

Congrats! I hope we didn't drove up the price too much back then!

Your rencong is certainly special with those 4 rows; it's noteworthy that in this siwaih configuration, usually the 2nd row is quite tall and more rounded as if leaning towards a glupa configuration (usually one large row with more or less rounded tips and tiny indentations at both sides of the tip; and another small row of wide triangles at the base) while the uppermost 2 rows are puco style (triangles with acute tips). Most nobility rencong with "crowns" exhibit the puco configuration while a few have glupa (and yours the siwaih "mix" ).

If you go back to Erik's pic at the very beginning of this thread, the rencong with the silver hilt (2nd from right) seems to also lean towards a glupa base with a single puco row on top.

Incidentally, the rencong on the right hand side has a similar suassa-covered bolster and also this backward-directed duru seuke (base extension of the blade) which I associate with Gayo rather than Aceh. OTOH, the enamel work in your example seems to suggest an Aceh origin though...

Regards,
Kai

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Loedjoe

Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!)

Till we find another one like this, we could consider it as unique!

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Maurice]

PS. Ever have seen anything like this? Suassa crowns, in the same style as the golden crowns?

Is this also unique, or "only" very rare? Are there others like this in someones collection?

[Loedjoe]

Thank you Kai for your interesting comments on crowns - I must look more carefully at examples in future. Not sure whether my example is Aceh with Gayo feature, or Gayo wth Aceh feature!

Thank you Maurice for the 'unique' comment - I think the same can be said of your sikin with the suasa crown - very nice indeed.

[Battara]

Nice example Maurice. Must say that I haven't seen on like this before.

[Maurice]

FYI: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...0&page=1&pp=30

[Loedjoe]

Here is another siwaih - not quite up to the high standard of many of the others shown in this thread.
Black wood hilt with highlights of reddish brown (ebony?), black wood sheath with dugong ivory tip and ivory projection. 42 cm, blade 27 cm (9 mm thick at the base), hilt 10.5 cm. A band presumably missing an inch or so below the top of the sheath.

[Battara]

Another wonder example, many thanks!

I would LOVE to have one of these!

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Loedjoe

Black wood hilt with highlights of reddish brown (ebony?),.....

Very nice example, like Jose I would like to have such an example in my collection! And yes, I think it's ebony. It's a worthy wood and not cheaper as akhar bahar or ivory!

Regards,
Detlef

[Battara]

I think you are right Detlef. As I re-examined the pictures, the material does look like makassar ebony at best (and purposely burned wood at the worst).

Almost makes me wonder if this was a replacement for broken akhar bahar or ivory.

[kai]

We really have to keep in mind that the most precious timbers can be more expensive and rarer than ivory or gold. In the good ol' days, the latter could be easily sourced if you had any decent amount of funds. Special wood like burl, especially with strong chatoyance, correct grain for carving, and possibly extra features needed to be searched for, cured for extended periods, and correctly selected by experienced artisans for the very task - it often wasn't at hand at the whim of the customer. If this hilt is antique, the selection of materials wasn't spurious...

I can't tell this wood from the pics. It seems to have rather large pores for any type of ebony. It might be one of the rarer hardwoods - tough to tell from pics!

Regards,
Kai

[asomotif]

Originally Posted by Loedjoe

Many thanks, Willem, for your response. Let us hope others will see my question, and perhaps come up with other examples. (Although, as this rencong is now in my collection, I hope it remains unique!)

Best wishes, Tim

Tim,

Congratulations. that is a very nice and rare piece.
Could you share some more pictures with us ?

Best regards,
Willem

[Loedjoe]

Dear Willem

Pictures posted here, with pleasure (they are the ones taken by the auction house; rather better than ones I would be able to take).
Measurements - 42 cm, blade 25 cm (9.5 mm thick at the base), hilt and collar 17 cm.
The hilt is hippopotamus ivory; on each of the four sides, immediately below the pommel, there is an incised flower (a lotus?) with the tip pointing towards the blade, all four very worn with age, the design on one side almost invisible.
The blade is slightly flexible towards the tip – the rencong was received slightly bent at the tip, and was able to be straightened. This seems to me a curious feature; surely it would be fairly useless as a weapon if the tip bends so easily – but perhaps as a status piece it was not really intended for use? Has anyone else come across rencong with bendable tips?
Collected for his private collection by a European businessman, Riccardo Salvini, the representative of the firms Transmarina Kompaniet Aktiebolag and Aktiebolaget Svensk-Engelska Oceankompaniet, in Stockholm, during his journey through India, the Dutch Indies and Batavia (Java) and the Far East between 1920 and 1921.
Does anyone know anything about Salvini and his collection? Information about him/it would be most welcome.

[Maurice]

Dear Tim,

I think people here are overwhelmed by the beautiness of your super high end rencong. That is why there is so little feedback amongst the forumites on this super piece?

Anyway, it is by far the most beautiful rencong I have ever seen, and I have seen (and handled) a lot of high end rencongs before!

Another great thing is that hippo ivory was very popular in the Gayo- and Alas areas!
So besides it looks breathtaking, it is also very interesting because it is unique and cross cultural ( Aceh at the other hand, and Gayo-Alas at the other hand).

Kind regards,
Maurice

[Battara]

Yes this is one of the most beautiful Gayo examples I have seen. I think I remember this fro Czerny's.

I also love gold and suassa.

[Sajen]

Agree, a very beautiful example! But sorry, can't help with Salvini.

Regards,
Detlef

[Maurice]

Golden crown in a hippo ivory hilt.