A bronze Keris hilt - help needed to identify figure etc.

Bjorn · 18th July 2019, 06:11 AM

It seems the question of the mudra was never resolved.
From the photos - and perhaps on item-in-hand as well - it's difficult to see the exact positioning of the fingers.
As fas as I can tell, the middle and ring fingers are extended.
The thumb is visible, though I can't see what the index finger is doing.
And the pinkie seems a little strange to me. It gives the appearance of being bent (due to the thickening of the material), but going by length that doesn't make sense.

Of course it could be that the casting was imperfect. Perhaps only 4 fingers were cast. Perhaps the design of the mudra was not carefully considered by the maker.

18th July 2019, 06:11 AM	#1
Bjorn Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Netherlands Posts: 188	It seems the question of the mudra was never resolved. From the photos - and perhaps on item-in-hand as well - it's difficult to see the exact positioning of the fingers. As fas as I can tell, the middle and ring fingers are extended. The thumb is visible, though I can't see what the index finger is doing. And the pinkie seems a little strange to me. It gives the appearance of being bent (due to the thickening of the material), but going by length that doesn't make sense. Of course it could be that the casting was imperfect. Perhaps only 4 fingers were cast. Perhaps the design of the mudra was not carefully considered by the maker.