Kris of Sumatra?
 

Until today it lasted 73 years that I convinced myself to be ready to buy my first kris. Today it arrived, I like it very much and here are the fotos to invite comments.
Total length 570mm, length of blade 370mm.
corrado26

Hello,

I am probably one of the less knowledgeable on this forum but I think you got a typical example of a tourist/souvenir keris. Sorry!

But maybe I am wrong... hopefully!
:shrug:

Hello Corrado,
I am also 73, the ideal age for collecting krisses! :)
This is a very modern kris made in Madura.
Best regards

funky...
 

While I might quibble with Jean about the ideal age for collecting keris (I believe all ages are fair game... ;) ), I agree with the assessment given so far, sorry.

Aside from the non-Madurese mendak and low-quality hilt, there does not seem to be a traditional part on this piece. Contemporary art.

Regards,
Kai

Thanks for the comments not too posive, but I am not disappointed because I bought it for decoration and it was really cheap.
corrado26

You started your collection with one of them... I started with two very similar with yours.
;)

But be careful, because if you get bitten by the "Keris Bug" you will be doomed forever and start collecting them. It's not deadly, though... ;)

I'm afraid i must agree with the gang here. I try not to use the term "tourist keris" very often, but with this extravagant variation on the Madurese ladrang dress i am afraid i do not see too many cultural applications where this keris would be considered appropriate. I glad you are not to disappointed and i hope it does not dampen your interest.

Spectacular dress, Corrado, and spectacular blade. But the word spectacular does not bear witness to genuineness. At least it was really cheap, you said.

Me, I was 70 when I got my first keris! Take heart. :D

Johan

Hello Jean,

wouldn't call it keris! Keris similar object describe it much better IMVHO!
;)

Regards,
Detlef

Hello Kai,

I really see no art by this piece! :shrug: Sorry Corrado.

Regards,
Detlef

Hello Detlef,
I agree with you but apply the recommendation from Alan that we should encourage our beginning members, and I remember that one of my first "krisses" was similar to this one although a little less eccentric... :)
Corrado, the attached pic shows a correct type of Madurese kris for reference.
Regards

Hello Jean,

I don't want to deject Corrado from collecting keris but when I understand him correct he was looking for a wall decoration and he stated that he is happy with his buy. But we should say the truth and I think the truth is that this isn't a keris in the truest sense of the word.

Regards,
Detlef

Yes Detlef, I agree, it is not a keris.

But it is a good sort of a keris-like object to hang on the wall, and as has already been said, that is why Corrado bought it, apart from the fact of low price.

In fairness, it is craft-work that uses the same skills that are used in making a keris:- the blade has been forged, it does have pamor, it is very extravagantly ornamented with kinatah work, the scabbard and hilt have been carved.It does bear a somewhat better than average mendak.

I think this is a good start to collecting keris:- it tells Corrado what not to buy, but at the same time demonstrates the skills used in producing what he should aim to acquire.

David doesn't like the term "Tourist keris" , and neither do I. In fact there never have been many keris that were made specifically to sell to tourists. The only ones I can think of were the Bali things of the '70's & '80's that had flat iron blades and "pamor batik" (patterned blades created by covering with wax, drawing a motif, and soaking in acid).

This keris of Corrado's is not in any way "tourist", it is decorative craft-work, and an urban Indonesian could use it as a wall decoration, just as Corrado has done.

Very interesting and many thanks
corrado26

Hello Alan,
yes, I agree, this is maybe the best part of this piece.

Agree complete with you.

Like you and David I also don't like this term and I agree with you that this blades with "pamor batik" could be termed as best "tourist keris".

Here I don't agree complete, also an Indonesian could be a tourist in his own country. The complete execution of this piece is more as roughly worked, the blade and special the wood carving, not nearly in the way what Madurese craftsmen are able to do. So when the term "tourist keris" could be used it would fit by this piece as best IMVHO.

Regards,
Detlef

Yes Detlef, you're right, this is rough work. No doubt about it.

Rough work = low price. Its decorative, and even when somebody from Jakarta or Surabaya does go into Jawa Tengah to visit the kratons and candis, their pockets are not lined with gold. If they do buy a souvenir they weigh the cost of the kenang2an against what they need to cut from the budget to buy it. This decorative item is pretty much exactly what ordinary middle-class people buy to take home to a house in the suburbs of Jakarta, Surabaya etc. So yeah, if we're thinking Indonesian tourists, maybe that's legitimate.

But in the tourist centres of Kuta/Legian. or Sanur, or Ubud, or Jogja, the trade in keris and other weaponry sold to tourists collapsed about 20 years ago. As terrorism rose, all countries tightened restrictions on import of all sorts of weaponry, and the citizens of these countries got some pretty restrictive ideas on what they might be able to take home.

For people such as you and I, well, speaking for myself I know exactly what I can take into Australia, and over the years I have needed to educate more than one aggressive Customs officer. I've never had a loss nor a seizure, but I have seen other people who had no knowledge of the law being bullied by Customs officers into surrendering legitimate items.

Word gets around, so these days most people who are outside The World of Sharp, Pointy Things simply will not buy anything at all that they think might cause them a problem. Result:- people from outside Indonesia very, very rarely buy keris & etc as souvenirs these days. The sort of thing Corrado has is actually produced for the domestic market as a decoration. like a plaque, or a wall vase, or a painting.

But, as you point out, there can be local tourists as well as international tourists, so maybe "tourist keris" fits, but I personally prefer "decorative item", and leave the identification of a potential buyer blank.

My take is that a worthy keris is a combination of genuineness and true craftmanship, together with the cultural canny of the empu, so that the symbolics are correctly understood and presented. I know this little "definition" might invite lots of comment, but my point is that once a collector has seen & handled very many good kerisses, he forms a norm in his mind. All kerisses he subsequently sees, are compared to that norm. It works that way for a good hunting rifle, or Roman coinage, if I may use two very different interests.

When I saw Corrado's pics of that attention-grabbing scabbard, my first impression was: "Hey, I don't have the skill to sculpt a gambar like that!" But my second thought was: "The guys are going to shoot this dress, and that blade, down in flames!" And that's what happened - good naturedly, of course. Bully for Corrado that he knew what he was getting. And his pics were very good - thanks for that.

Interestingly, in coinage we have this saying: You don't study a fake to learn what the real thing looks like. You study the real thing to get to know what a fake looks like!

(Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that Corrado's wall hanger is a fake. I don't think very many keris replicas are made with the intent to deceive. If that were the case, they could be called fakes. - my two cents worth.)

Johan

mendak could be use for real keris :)

Hello,

you are long enough member that you should know that it is forbidden to discuss items which are current offered for sale! ;) :rolleyes:

Regards,
Detlef