Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

rasdan · 3rd September 2017, 01:13 PM

Hi Leif,

In my opinion the sheath and hilt of both keris are Peninsular Malaysia due to the shape (thicker sampir and a bit rounded shaft - North-East coast Malaysia, Terengganu, Kelantan and Southern Thailand style) and type of wood being used - kenaung if I'm not mistaken. The wood identified by the patterns in the wood. The sampir and hilt of shorter keris is probably from kemuning. It also can have patterns. How to describe the difference in detail, I have no idea. I think both actually are probably of the same species. To avoid lengthy discussions on the type of wood, it is safe just say both keris sampir and hilt are from kemuning.

The shorter keris hilt type I think is called Tapak Kuda (Horse's hoof). I forgot the name of the other hilt, I want to say Tangkai Labu (Pumpkin stem), but I think nobody will blame you if you say it is a variant of Tapak Kuda hilt.

The longer keris use a pendongkok of the gelugor type mainly used in Terengganu region. Material is probably brass with higher nickel content. Below is a photo of a gelugor fruit. There's a possibility that both keris blades are from Malaysia, but I am not sure.

3rd September 2017, 01:13 PM	#3
rasdan Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur Posts: 367	Hi Leif, In my opinion the sheath and hilt of both keris are Peninsular Malaysia due to the shape (thicker sampir and a bit rounded shaft - North-East coast Malaysia, Terengganu, Kelantan and Southern Thailand style) and type of wood being used - kenaung if I'm not mistaken. The wood identified by the patterns in the wood. The sampir and hilt of shorter keris is probably from kemuning. It also can have patterns. How to describe the difference in detail, I have no idea. I think both actually are probably of the same species. To avoid lengthy discussions on the type of wood, it is safe just say both keris sampir and hilt are from kemuning. The shorter keris hilt type I think is called Tapak Kuda (Horse's hoof). I forgot the name of the other hilt, I want to say Tangkai Labu (Pumpkin stem), but I think nobody will blame you if you say it is a variant of Tapak Kuda hilt. The longer keris use a pendongkok of the gelugor type mainly used in Terengganu region. Material is probably brass with higher nickel content. Below is a photo of a gelugor fruit. There's a possibility that both keris blades are from Malaysia, but I am not sure. Attached Images Last edited by rasdan; 3rd September 2017 at 01:52 PM.