Crudely Carved Hilt - Seeking Information - Buta Nawasari?

[Jean]

Thank you Alan for the interesting discussion about Nawa Sari, and no apology needed

[elsquibble]

Very interesting information, thanks for taking the time to write all that. I'm glad I picked it up now if only to initiate an interesting discussion.

[Mickey the Finn]

So that's what he's holding. Based primarily on photos of fine hilts taken from sub-optimal perspectives, I had become convinced that it was the amputated lower leg of a cloven-hoofed animal he was either using as a back scratcher, or holding poised to deliver a mighty overhand swing.
I've seen many a hilt which, to me, convey the impression that the carver had arrived at a deadline, and, ready or not, that hilt was now going up on the block as-is.
This particular hilt is actually quite a good model of how I might begin roughing out a Buta Nawasari myself.
I really can't help but wonder: why didn't he finish it, or, at least put some more time into it? His return would surely have been much greater. I can think of only one possible explanation, which presupposes that the hilt was not originally carved for the purpose of selling it.

[GIO]

May I propose an alternative view?
This "hilt" well represents an abstract form of art. It could have been carved by Picasso some 80 years ago. Please refer to the worldwide known painting "Guernica"to see what I mean. However I advise to keep this carving well hidden in a drawer: in 100 or 200 years it could end up in a museum as an example of an "old artistic expression"....

[Rick]

I am on the same page you are on, Gio.
I just checked in here this morning and, yes Picasso came to my mind also, including Guernica.

[A. G. Maisey]

OK, so Picasso did it on one of his visits to Bali --- probably lazing on Kuta beach in between surfing (he was brave man).

Or maybe it was Antonio Blanco.

But lets just pretend that Picasso was not involved and Antonio was too busy with building his little palace.

We are all accustomed to seeing beautiful, artistically carved hilts flowing from Bali. For a long time these hilts have been produced either by fully professional artists or by talented amateurs. We tend to forget that in early Maritime South East Asia one of the measures of the sensitive nature of a man was his ability to carve his own weapon hilt and scabbard. This was the societal balance of a woman's ability to weave.

Men : carving; women : weaving.

This same measure could still be seen in operation amongst the Dyak peoples as late as the 1970's. It was one of the ways that a man or woman demonstrated their fitness for marriage.

In rural Central Jawa men will still, today, make their own keris fittings, not to demonstrate fitness for marriage, but to save money that they they cannot afford to spend.

In April of last year a Balinese gentleman gave me a hilt that he had carved, it was rather crude, he had painted it with gold paint. He was not a hilt carver, a craftsman, yes, but he did not carve hilts. In Bali, people other than professional hilt carvers also carve hilts.

My immediate impression when I first saw this hilt was that it was a learner's first attempt, or it was the product of somebody who could not afford to pay somebody else to work for him.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

This same measure could still be seen in operation amongst the Dayak peoples as late as the 1970's. It was one of the ways that a man or woman demonstrated their fitness for marriage.

Examples of nice Dayak carvings and weavings...