Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Keris

A. G. Maisey · 21st December 2012, 06:29 PM

Jean, one of my deficiencies is that I am somewhat of a dinosaur.

I very seldom use internet sources for serious research, and when I do, I look for reference works or citations attached to the net source.

Regrettably Wikipedia very often has neither and that is the case with this Malagasy reference you have directed me to. In essence, it is somebody's opinion, but we don't know who, and we don't know how reliable that opinion is.

But in any case, all of this is very much off to one side. There is plenty of evidence of far reaching Malay trade links, and even if the Malays themselves were not roaming hither and yon, other peoples from far west were wandering over to S.E.Asia. Lots of movement.

I do not deny the possibility of hippos contributing to keris accoutrements.

That is not at all what was in my mind when I began this chain of posts.

Two questions:-

1) who first raised the matter of hippo ivory being used in keris hilts, and when was this first raised?

2) what solid evidence exists that can substantiate that possibility and turn it into fact?

This is what I would like to know.

Until we have answers to these two questions, especially the second one, the possibility of hippo ivory used as material for keris hilts is just that:- a possibility. No more.

As an aside, there is a theory that everything in the world gradually moves to the east. I have bought genuine, excavated, Roman beads (authenticated) in Jawa. No reason why hippo ivory should not have moved to the east, along with a multitude of other things. That is possibility. What I would like to see is positivity.

Rasdan, I know there are dots in some hilts.

I also know that in spite of all the ivory I own, I know very little about ivory, certainly not sufficient to identify simply by looking and lifting whether something comes from one beast, or a different beast.

Accordingly, I am not arguing against the possibility of hippo ivory in keris hilts.

I am asking for two things, as above.

With those answers I can then begin to wonder why it is that I have never heard mention of hippo ivory until very, very recently. Did the old-timers not know from what beast the material their keris hilts came? Then there is the dealer question. Dealers are sharp. They pass up on nothing that might generate an extra few rupiah.

21st December 2012, 06:29 PM	#53
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	Jean, one of my deficiencies is that I am somewhat of a dinosaur. I very seldom use internet sources for serious research, and when I do, I look for reference works or citations attached to the net source. Regrettably Wikipedia very often has neither and that is the case with this Malagasy reference you have directed me to. In essence, it is somebody's opinion, but we don't know who, and we don't know how reliable that opinion is. But in any case, all of this is very much off to one side. There is plenty of evidence of far reaching Malay trade links, and even if the Malays themselves were not roaming hither and yon, other peoples from far west were wandering over to S.E.Asia. Lots of movement. I do not deny the possibility of hippos contributing to keris accoutrements. That is not at all what was in my mind when I began this chain of posts. Two questions:- 1) who first raised the matter of hippo ivory being used in keris hilts, and when was this first raised? 2) what solid evidence exists that can substantiate that possibility and turn it into fact? This is what I would like to know. Until we have answers to these two questions, especially the second one, the possibility of hippo ivory used as material for keris hilts is just that:- a possibility. No more. As an aside, there is a theory that everything in the world gradually moves to the east. I have bought genuine, excavated, Roman beads (authenticated) in Jawa. No reason why hippo ivory should not have moved to the east, along with a multitude of other things. That is possibility. What I would like to see is positivity. Rasdan, I know there are dots in some hilts. I also know that in spite of all the ivory I own, I know very little about ivory, certainly not sufficient to identify simply by looking and lifting whether something comes from one beast, or a different beast. Accordingly, I am not arguing against the possibility of hippo ivory in keris hilts. I am asking for two things, as above. With those answers I can then begin to wonder why it is that I have never heard mention of hippo ivory until very, very recently. Did the old-timers not know from what beast the material their keris hilts came? Then there is the dealer question. Dealers are sharp. They pass up on nothing that might generate an extra few rupiah.