This hilt occupies a distinctive position within the H series as a whole. The material is naturally figured ivory or dense bone with warm tonal variation across the surface; the figuring is intrinsic to the material rather than produced by carving or applied color. The form is the standard recurved pistol-grip ukiran, but the pommel resolves into a simplified figurative element that reads as a hooded or cowled head — a human or semi-human form in which the face is largely suppressed within the mass of the hood, leaving only the suggestion of a downward-inclined visage. This treatment is neither the fully elaborated raksasa of H08 nor the purely abstract form of H10; it occupies a middle position, retaining iconographic reference while subordinating it to material and form.
The mendak is plain dark iron, its severity a deliberate foil to the warm tonal richness of the ivory or bone above. This contrast of materials — warm organic above, austere iron below — is a compositional choice that situates the hilt in a tradition that values contrast and restraint over the additive elaboration visible in the Balinese figural group. Within the H series, this entry provides an important link between the fully plain material hilts and the more elaborate figurative examples.
