Malay Buckle (Kris worn with it?)
 

http://malaysilverbuckle.blogspot.com/

Was wondering what kris may have been worn with a buckle like the pictured in the above link. Any information you may have about this buckle would be appreciated. Information on blog is mostly from Powerhouse Museum.

rand

Dear Rand,

The buckle is called Pending in Javanese & Malay. In Malay custom, pending is only worn by palace courtiers. Due to its big size, I would suggest that it was meant to protect the wearer's abdomen from the thrusts of arrow, spears and of course, another keris. The pending wearer will also wear the keris on his left waist to protect his left side of the ribs with the keris's broad sampir .The Malays / Buginese believe that man is short of 1 rib on the left side. I cant provide a link or other proof however, about this as this is another oral tradition's belief :) .

penangsang

Welcome to the forum Rand. :)
I am not sure that this buckle has any direct relationship to keris other than it being worn as a part of formal dress. Is there some reason you believe there is a connection.
Belts that are used to hold keris in Jawa often have highly decorated buckles, but this seems to come from some other region. The Jawanese buckles look very different. Can't say i have seen any pictures of buckles like these used in connection with keris. Perhaps someone else has seen it. :shrug:

Any Malay keris will do (panjang not included). :D

Click here for examples on how it is worn.

Great Info- Thanks
 

Great information guys, thanks. Was surprised that it was worn by palace courtiers, had thought this was something a village chief may had worn. The photo of the group wearing a similar buckle was very cool and enlightening. Was thinking about getting something to display with this buckle, I had thought it for a formal occassian and maybe a more dress kris would be worn with it, but I see now the two have no relation to each other...

Thanks,

rand

I've added more info and pics in my site. see it here. :D

Pending
 

The Pending buckle you have Alam is very nice, thanks for posting your information. It seems the all silver pending slighty predates the silver niello work and the brass buckles even earlier.

Thanks Again,

rand

Hey Shahrial, who's that handsome fellow third from the right in that first picture? :D
So what i can't tell for sure in these photos...is the keris actually held by the belt that these buckles fit on, or is it held in the sarong?

Yeah... thanks, that guy is just one of the average collector.
The keris can be held in the sarong... or held by the belt... a matter of choice.
Some like it hidden from view, some like it prominent, a matter of preference and whom you are, I suppose. ;)

Example 1 ; Example 2 ; Royal Examples. ;)

Thanks Shahrial...great pictures! :)

David, you're welcome... ;) :D.

Btw, the average warrior-class normally like to keep their piece hidden from view, including the hilt... but then again... they normally do not wear a buckel either. Royalty prefers to display their keris and they are the ones more likely to wear a pending (belt-buckle).

A picture of a Minangkabau chief... the only person in picture wearing Pending (and keris in a very showy way/behind the Pending)... and shoes :)

Here is Rand's original image from the link for further reference just incase that link goes bad. I have noticed that Shahrial's examples are no longer connected with the links he posted. Perhaps you still have access to these photos and can directly post them. This is why we strongly encourage all photos to be uploaded directly to the threads. :)

And the size for later reference ; This buckle is 9" wide and 4 1/4"