This is of ivory, and the carving ranges from the deeply undercut figural elements at the top through elaborately scrolling foliate ornament in the middle register to a plain lower tang of circular section that would have been fitted with a mendak and inserted into the blade assembly.
The figure at the top is a Raksasa whose curling hair or headdress, facial features with bulging eyes and open fanged mouth, and the foliate elements surrounding the body all show the slightly exaggerated modeling that characterizes mature Balinese ivory carving at its best. Comparing this hilt with the raksasa hilt of K02 (in dark reddish hardwood) is instructive. Both depict the same iconographic type and both belong to the Balinese tradition, but the materials impose different carving strategies. Ivory, with its fine grain and capacity for deep undercutting, allows a more delicate articulation of detail; while the hardwood of K02 reflects simpler modeling.
