Hilt Mendahk

[HughChen]

In my memory, there was a thead discussing this type of hilt structure, but I can't find it anymore. Could anyone provide it?

[David]

I assume you mean the selut, which is situated on the base of the hilt just above the mendhak. I don't remember if we have had a thread dedicated just to the selut, but if you enter the word into our search engine you will find 12 pages of threads where the selut is at least mentioned.

[A. G. Maisey]

This does not answer your question Hugh, but it might be useful to you.

This is a selut of Surakarta style in the njeruk keprok form, it was most probably made in Purwokerto.

The material could be either silver or tin & a selut of either material will have a similar value, the white stones are probably yakut (rose cut rock crystal), the red one probably garnet.

This is not a high quality selut & you might find that the stones are held in place with adhesive, rather than being mechanically set.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by David

I assume you mean the selut, which is situated on the base of the hilt just above the mendhak. I don't remember if we have had a thread dedicated just to the selut, but if you enter the word into our search engine you will find 12 pages of threads where the selut is at least mentioned.

Thank you David, I find the thread I mean. It's not all about the selut, some discussion is concerned with the form of the selut. Some mentions that if the upper rim is curved or scalloped, the keris will be of high quality. https://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showt...=chinese+deity

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

This does not answer your question Hugh, but it might be useful to you.

This is a selut of Surakarta style in the njeruk keprok form, it was most probably made in Purwokerto.

The material could be either silver or tin & a selut of either material will have a similar value, the white stones are probably yakut (rose cut rock crystal), the red one probably garnet.

This is not a high quality selut & you might find that the stones are held in place with adhesive, rather than being mechanically set.

Thank you Alan, Why silver and so many stones can not make the selut a high quality one? Many similar hilts don't even have a selut, just hilt plus a small mendahk.

[A. G. Maisey]

Quality of workmanship & quality of materials are two different things Hugh.

This is not a bad selut, but it is a very long way from what we might consider to be "good", it is fair average pasar quality.

The white stones are very probably yakut, there is virtually no monetary value in these stones, the red stone probably garnet, again no real monetary value.

The metal might be silver, or it might be tin, either material will cost within a few dollars of each selut's price. In fact, for this sort of selut many people prefer tin because it does not tarnish and when worn, it looks like silver anyway.

The workmanship in this selut is again not bad workmanship in the section we can see, but it is very long way from good, it is also a very long way from the lowest cost selut that can be obtained. Even though this is just FAQ, it still has a value in the market place that would be comparable to a low value keris.

Any selut at all is not a low cost item. If we have a well carved iron selut on a well carved hilt with some age, we could say that the iron selut alone makes up half the value of the hilt + selut, and that value will be comparable to the value of a pretty decent keris.

If we compare a selut such as the one you have shown us, we are not looking at big money, but it will still cost as much as a low level keris, or maybe a bit more.

Now, if we go to very good selut, made as a bespoke item by a good jeweller from 22ct gold and set with brilliant cut diamonds and rubies, then we are looking at the cost of a new middle quality small motor car.

In a good quality dress keris, the value of the selut alone can exceed the combined value of all other components that make up the complete keris.

Between the bottom of the market, & the top of the market there are many graduations of value, which means that just about anybody can have a selut as a part of his keris, if he wants it.

The seluts that we see today developed from plain iron ferrules that were intended to stop a hilt splitting under pressure, & in very old keris that did use an iron ferrule, not every keris had one.

The early keris of modern form and the even earlier Keris Buda, had a metuk, just like a tombak metuk, rather than a mendak. As the use of a keris as a required part of formal dress increased, so did the complexity and elegance of keris dress increase, & the metuk was replaced with a mendak.

Early mendak were cast, sometimes bronze, or brass, or any other suitable material, but that solid cast mendak was gradually replaced by a fabricated mendak that tended to collapse under pressure, thus acting as a sort of shock absorber when a strike encountered bone or perhaps a belt buckle.

The mendak & selut is a rewarding field of study.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Quality of workmanship & quality of materials are two different things Hugh.

This is not a bad selut, but it is a very long way from what we might consider to be "good", it is fair average pasar quality.

The white stones are very probably yakut, there is virtually no monetary value in these stones, the red stone probably garnet, again no real monetary value.

The metal might be silver, or it might be tin, either material will cost within a few dollars of each selut's price. In fact, for this sort of selut many people prefer tin because it does not tarnish and when worn, it looks like silver anyway.

The workmanship in this selut is again not bad workmanship in the section we can see, but it is very long way from good, it is also a very long way from the lowest cost selut that can be obtained. Even though this is just FAQ, it still has a value in the market place that would be comparable to a low value keris.

Any selut at all is not a low cost item. If we have a well carved iron selut on a well carved hilt with some age, we could say that the iron selut alone makes up half the value of the hilt + selut, and that value will be comparable to the value of a pretty decent keris.

If we compare a selut such as the one you have shown us, we are not looking at big money, but it will still cost as much as a low level keris, or maybe a bit more.

Now, if we go to very good selut, made as a bespoke item by a good jeweller from 22ct gold and set with brilliant cut diamonds and rubies, then we are looking at the cost of a new middle quality small motor car.

In a good quality dress keris, the value of the selut alone can exceed the combined value of all other components that make up the complete keris.

Between the bottom of the market, & the top of the market there are many graduations of value, which means that just about anybody can have a selut as a part of his keris, if he wants it.

The seluts that we see today developed from plain iron ferrules that were intended to stop a hilt splitting under pressure, & in very old keris that did use an iron ferrule, not every keris had one.

The early keris of modern form and the even earlier Keris Buda, had a metuk, just like a tombak metuk, rather than a mendak. As the use of a keris as a required part of formal dress increased, so did the complexity and elegance of keris dress increase, & the metuk was replaced with a mendak.

Early mendak were cast, sometimes bronze, or brass, or any other suitable material, but that solid cast mendak was gradually replaced by a fabricated mendak that tended to collapse under pressure, thus acting as a sort of shock absorber when a strike encountered bone or perhaps a belt buckle.

The mendak & selut is a rewarding field of study.

Hello， Alan， in close examination, I find the setting technique employed is bezel setting rather than gluing. Does this make it a high quality one?

[A. G. Maisey]

One small detail like that most certainly does not compensate for all other work, but it does mean that it is probably marginally better than it looks in the photos.

[A. G. Maisey]

Here is photo of some somewhat better than usual seluts published in "Keris Jawa".

I have seen and handled several seluts that were far, far better & correspondingly more expensive, than the seluts in my photo.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Here is photo of some somewhat better than usual seluts published in "Keris Jawa".

I have seen and handled several seluts that were far, far better & correspondingly more expensive, than the seluts in my photo.

Thanks for showing those beautiful pics. Are stones in the first pic also crystal and Garnet?

[A. G. Maisey]

I do not know Hugh, but I believe it is highly likely that the red stones are rubies and the white stones are low quality diamonds.

The caption reads:-
selut Krawangan (open work) tretes (set with precious stones) seling (spaced with mirah) bentuk (shape) njeruk keprok (small mandarin), the word mirah means ruby, but it can also be applied to any other red stones

So taking into consideration the overall quality of this selut, my guess is that we are looking at rubies & diamonds, but these would not be high quality stones.

The stones in the selut alongside this first one uses the word "byur" which simply means "sparkling", but they look like diamonds, however, if this selut is recent work, which it probably is, they are just as likely to be cubic zirconia, which in the trade are referred to as "American Diamonds".