Wooden hilt cup and composite wood hilt

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for those pics Adam, yes, the various materials used are now quite clear, and you're dead right, it would have been a lot of work, but if one is a skilled worker in wood, such a job would not be at all difficult. For example, my own father was expert in the art of marquetry, and for him, a job like this would be no effort at all. On the other hand, for me it would be very difficult.

If a new hilt is not able to be obtained, the repair of the old hilt is necessary, but in my experience, such a repair would never be done in the areas of SE Asia with which I am familiar.

My opinion is that this hilt was repaired outside the culture of origin of the keris.

I'm pleased to hear that something has come down in price, those gloves were really very expensive back in the 1980's. I do not believe I gave any advice in respect of the use of those gloves in combination with wood working tools, I only related my own experience with them.

[adamb]

I've just noticed that the wooden hilt of another of my old Bugis keris has two patches of different-looking material (shaded areas in this schematic illustration) in more or less the same places as the other one I posted above, with lacquer over both the patches and the original wood - but this time, the repair work, if that is what it is, seems to have been much less expertly done.

Has anyone else seen this with Bugis keris hilts before?

[David]

Originally Posted by adamb

I've just noticed that the wooden hilt of another of my old Bugis keris has two patches of different-looking material (shaded areas in this schematic illustration) in more or less the same places as the other one I posted above, with lacquer over both the patches and the original wood - but this time, the repair work, if that is what it is, seems to have been much less expertly done.

Has anyone else seen this with Bugis keris hilts before?

I'm pretty sure what you see on this second hilt is just a variation in the colour of the wood.

[adamb]

"I'm pretty sure what you see on this second hilt is just a variation in the colour of the wood."

David, it is not a variation in the colour of the wood or some sort of natural inclusion within the wood prior to carving the hilt.

The attached photos at x1.2 magnification clearly show that this material overlies the wood of the hilt and that it comprises some kind of orangey-coloured resin that has been carefully moulded to match the form of the hilt, and then both resin and wood have been coated in lacquer.

One of the photographs I've attached here shows where the resin has cracked.

To me it looks like a carefully done repair job, as per Alan's suggestion for the other Bugis keris handle.

If so, the question is: why would someone go to so much trouble to patch up a damaged hilt when it would probably have been easier to get a new one.