Introducing...

[A. G. Maisey]

I don't think there can be any doubt that this hilt is Balinese work.

The selut is certainly Balinese work. It is not a "look-alike". Madura work does not look anything like this selut.

The hilt itself does not seem to bear any of the indicators of Madura work. It has a flow and coherency that points to original work, rather than a copy. Madura carvers are very good at copying, if they have an original, they can copy it very well, but there is always a stiffness to the copy that is not seen in original work.

The very dark ivory hilt is an old Javanese one that came from a pedang --- it is a keris hilt, but it had been fitted to a pedang many years ago.

The yellowish ivory hilt is a copy of this original that I commissioned from Madura.

The two ivory carvings are whales teeth that I think bear ample evidence of the current skill of Balinese carving.

Ivory can be stained in a number of ways. Tumeric will do it, tea is a very old Chinese method, small pieces can be patinated by forcing a goose to swallow it --- forged netsukes are often done in this way --- but the most common method used in Jawa and Bali is by smoking the carving over a fire of coconut husks.