Figural horn (possibly rhino) hilt

[kai]

Hello Alan,

the high quality hilts made by m'ranggis use patterns and models that have been in the craftsman's family for generations. Certainly, these vary, but they vary in accordance with what one m'ranngi's family carves, as opposed to what another family carves.

Do you possibly have any examples (carved during the last 100-200 years by traditional mranggi families) of these archaic styles/patterns that appear to be characteristic of the "Kunstkammer" keris? While I realize that traditional pre-WW2 (or possibly even extant) hilt carving is (often) based on very old patterns, I have gained the impression that the early hilts had features that got obsolete (possibly culturally inappropiate or, less likely, merely out of fashion) in the following centuries.

As Gustav (and Karsten) already pointed out, there are only a few extant examples that appear to be early collected. If you know of any similar ones from later periods, this would certainly be really important for the current working hyotheses.

Regards,
Kai