"Bawar" hilts from Aceh

[erikscollectables]

Gustav - the picture and your story originally come from the book: De tocht van Lt Col Van Daal naar de Gajo, Alas en Bataklanden door . (book by Lt Kempees)
On of the most infamous expeditions by the Dutch East Indies Armies and a very interesting read. These kerisses were given to the local Gayo leaders as a symbol of their office and therefore locally very important that were passed on generation after generation. Will try to look up the original text in the weekend or after if that is of interest to you.

Regards, Erik

for those that read Dutch about this expedition:

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atjeh-o..._Daalen_(1904)

http://www.acehbooks.org/pdf/ACEH_00343.pdf

Originally Posted by Gustav

Dear All

in Tammens "de Kris III" there is a picture (Nr. 173) of a planar hilt. In the description (page 205) he writes:

"Very old wooden copy of the silver "Bawar" hilts, which were donated centuries ago by the Sultan of Aceh to the Kampong leaders in the Gayo and Alas countries."

In the recent thread about Sajens sheath I posted an old picture (between 1890-1920), where two keris from Aceh with very similar hilts are depicted. The surface looks like worked with a white metal.

Is somebody able to confirm Tammens' information or add something?

Has somebody an example of such hilt? My only sources are Tammens and this picture, and when I saw it for the first time I was really perplex.