KRIS HILTS by Ghiringhelli

[Jean]

I have a dedicated copy of this book and I love it!
The collection and the pictures are fantastic in my opinion. I had the privilege to meet the author and the owner who is not a kris specialist but an art collector with an excellent eye (he got his pieces from top notch galleries only).
Now I can understand a bit the reaction from Semar, most the pieces shown are very rare and antique and therefore dificult to identify and describe (I was solicited by the author but not very helpful). Accordingly I consider that the text is as good as it could be.
IMO this is not a book for an ordinary kris collector but rather for an ethnographic art lover.
Regards

[David]

Originally Posted by Jean

Now I can understand a bit the reaction from Semar, most the pieces shown are very rare and antique and therefore dificult to identify and describe (I was solicited by the author but not very helpful). Accordingly I consider that the text is as good as it could be.
IMO this is not a book for an ordinary kris collector but rather for an ethnographic art lover.

This is exactly what i do like about this book. Some very unusual hilts depicted here, ones i have not seen before. Obviously, the very best way to examine and study them would be in hand, but of course that is not possible. So these very detailed and well photographed images are the next best thing.

[A. G. Maisey]

I received a copy of this book today.

As already noted by others the photographs are exceptionally beautiful, and the hilts photographed are universally excellent examples. Truly fine works of art. I will reserve comment on the text.

David, the photo on P.16 is of PBX.

This photo was presented by his brother, Pangeran Ario Mataram during an audience with with Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Emma on 15 July 1898 at Soestdijk Palace. The photo was taken by Charlers & Co. of Semarang. It is a very well known photograph of PBX as a young man. PBX ruled from 1893 to 1939, in later life he became very corpulent, totally unrecognizable as the slim young aristocrat in the photograph.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I received a copy of this book today.

As already noted by others the photographs are exceptionally beautiful, and the hilts photographed are universally excellent examples. Truly fine works of art. I will reserve comment on the text.

David, the photo on P.16 is of PBX.

This photo was presented by his brother, Pangeran Ario Mataram during an audience with with Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Emma on 15 July 1898 at Soestdijk Palace. The photo was taken by Charlers & Co. of Semarang. It is a very well known photograph of PBX as a young man. PBX ruled from 1893 to 1939, in later life he became very corpulent, totally unrecognizable as the slim young aristocrat in the photograph.

Yes, i was pretty certain that the ID was correct and it was the date that was off.
As for the writing on the specific hilt i too will reserve comment, but will still recommend this book solely based upon the finely photographed hilts from this collection. The detailed images in this book can allow us to make our own observations independent of the author's ideas.

[drdavid]

I got my copy of this book a last week. Personally I think the photos are outstanding, although at times the captions can be a slightly difficult to line up with the photos as they are often on separate pages. These are beautiful hilts and there is much to ponder in the images. For me this is a worthwhile book although it is not packed with written fact.
DrD