Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Two 17th century Keris at the Power and Fashion Exhibition in Dresden

A. G. Maisey · 9th June 2017, 01:13 AM

What I will write here is from memory, I do not have time to check references at the moment.

In respect of the Chinese style ornamentation, I think that was actually done in Europe, possibly Germany, or maybe Vienna?

In any case, it is not original ornamentation out of the East. If Gustav tunes into this thread, he will be able to expand on this.

I do have notes on everything I handled, but those notes are targetted at specific things that I was looking at and for, they are not comprehensive notes. I had one day to examine and photograph a very large number of keris, in fact I had less than a day because I lost time through a mixup with meeting the curator. I used a Canon S95 for the photos, natural light through a window, no bounce boards, no tripods. I did record photos purely for research.

I do not recall handling the Bugis keris. I do recall that I missed handling, I think, two of the Dresden holdings, they were on display in the Rustkammer at the time of my visit, Maybe that gold Bugis keris was there.

Edit

The keris with Oriental ( Chinese in style but probably influenced by Japanese examples used for study by Schnell) ornamentation is to be found on P.13, Chapter 5 of "Keris Disc", it is attributable to the workshop of Martin Schnell, Dresden, circa 1720.

Schnell studied Japanese lacquer work in the possession of Augustus II (1670-1733), the lacquer work on this scabbard has been applied over original Javanese red laquer work. This new lacquer work was probably carried out for Augustus II.

The original hilt on this keris was gold, it was sold by Augustus II, probably after the Seven Years War (I was advised after the Thirty Years War, but that War ended in 1648 and Augustus II was born in 1670).

The hilt now fitted to this keris was carved in Dresden as a replacement and has an integral mendak, it is noted in records from 1757.

The sirah cecak is Mojopahit form, but overall, other characteristics indicate that the keris itself is of Mataram form, but most likely made in East Jawa.

This keris is probably not original to the wrongko.

9th June 2017, 01:13 AM	#10
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,698	What I will write here is from memory, I do not have time to check references at the moment. In respect of the Chinese style ornamentation, I think that was actually done in Europe, possibly Germany, or maybe Vienna? In any case, it is not original ornamentation out of the East. If Gustav tunes into this thread, he will be able to expand on this. I do have notes on everything I handled, but those notes are targetted at specific things that I was looking at and for, they are not comprehensive notes. I had one day to examine and photograph a very large number of keris, in fact I had less than a day because I lost time through a mixup with meeting the curator. I used a Canon S95 for the photos, natural light through a window, no bounce boards, no tripods. I did record photos purely for research. I do not recall handling the Bugis keris. I do recall that I missed handling, I think, two of the Dresden holdings, they were on display in the Rustkammer at the time of my visit, Maybe that gold Bugis keris was there. Edit The keris with Oriental ( Chinese in style but probably influenced by Japanese examples used for study by Schnell) ornamentation is to be found on P.13, Chapter 5 of "Keris Disc", it is attributable to the workshop of Martin Schnell, Dresden, circa 1720. Schnell studied Japanese lacquer work in the possession of Augustus II (1670-1733), the lacquer work on this scabbard has been applied over original Javanese red laquer work. This new lacquer work was probably carried out for Augustus II. The original hilt on this keris was gold, it was sold by Augustus II, probably after the Seven Years War (I was advised after the Thirty Years War, but that War ended in 1648 and Augustus II was born in 1670). The hilt now fitted to this keris was carved in Dresden as a replacement and has an integral mendak, it is noted in records from 1757. The sirah cecak is Mojopahit form, but overall, other characteristics indicate that the keris itself is of Mataram form, but most likely made in East Jawa. This keris is probably not original to the wrongko. Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 9th June 2017 at 07:35 AM.