Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Collecting:- opinions sought

A. G. Maisey · 30th April 2013, 01:41 PM

Thank you for your thoughtful contribution Kai.

Probably anywhere that we look at any kind of collecting activity we will find different approaches to that activity. What I said in my initial post was this:-

"I've been in Solo over the last couple of months, and have been in contact with a different collecting environment than the one which applies to many of the contributors to discussion in this Forum."

The total environment encompasses many divisions, and those divisions give rise to many different approaches to a number of activities, one of the activities is collecting. I did not mean to imply that there was only one approach to collecting in Jawa, rather I intended to address the environment wherein this activity was practiced. I had observed a number of different approaches to the collection of keris, by several different persons, virtually one after another on the same day, within the space of probably no more than four hours. I witnessed one of those approaches when I was called upon to advise the daughter of a recently deceased relative of my daughter's husband on the prices to expect when she was disposing of her father's collection. Her father had adopted an approach to collecting that was of immense comfort and value to himself, but one which did not result in him leaving very much of value to his family.

This man's approach to the keris was absolutely Javanese in nature, and would probably not be understood by anybody who was not absolutely traditional Javanese. It would certainly not be understood by the new wave of Indonesian collectors who address the keris as an art object. I most sincerely doubt that any collector from any western environment would even be aware of the existence of the foundation upon which the deceased gentleman constructed his collection:- this collection is a product of the Javanese environment.

Thus, it was the environment that I was focussed on, and the act of collection, rather than keris and one's personal approach to that, which possibly has as much detailed variation as there are collectors. In addition I was thinking of "collection" in the widest possible terms, not only in respect of weaponry and keris.

I recognise that different people have different interests in their field of collecting. Since we seem to be moving more and more towards discussion of the collecting of the objects for which this Forum caters, I'm going to stop swimming against the tide and talk about the collection of the keris.

Sixty years ago when my grandfather ignited my interest in edged weapons and in keris in particular by gifting his small collection of edged weapons to me, my primary interest was typical of probably most 12 year olds:- brandishing and skewering imaginary foes. I even revived some ethnic weapons as functional hunting weapons --- a khukri as a knife for hunting feral pigs over dogs, and knife from N.W. India as a general purpose belt knife ( I re-hilted that one in American white oak).
I developed an interest in the culture, society, history and art of Jawa at a fairly early age, but that wasn't driven by the keris, it was driven by a movie that I cannot remember the name of that featured lots of scenes of Surabaya and roving around the islands.

Then I went through the "I don't want much in life, only every keris that was ever made". It took me a long time to grow up. By the 1960's and 1970's I was obsessed with the technology of the keris and long before Empu Suparman took me under his wing I had learnt to weld pamor and had made a couple of weapons, including one small keris, that displayed pamor.

Then in the period between 1978 and 1982 two remarkable things happened:- Empu Suparman began to teach me about keris, and I experienced what can only be called a revelation as to the true nature of the keris. I worked on the knowledge given to me by Empu Suparman, and I put the revelation on ice. But those two things together pushed me in a completely different direction in respect of collection. Probably from that point I became primarily a collector of knowledge rather than a collector of keris, even though I have continued to acquire keris and associated objects.

I myself have been through a number of very different approaches to the collecting of the keris, and speaking strictly for myself, the more I have learnt, the more interested I have become. Had I not become involved in the process of learning, it is entirely possible that my collecting instincts may have turned in a different direction.

So in my case there can be no doubt that the acquisition of knowledge has fuelled the acquisition of keris, as each time there has been an increase in my knowledge my involvement with and understanding of the keris has increased.

But as Jussi has so clearly pointed out:- not everybody truly wishes to travel this road, and in some cases attempts to gain knowledge could well result in the destruction of dreams and the obliteration of desire.

I am reminded of the old saying:-

"be careful what you pray for, you just might get it"

In the case of keris knowledge that could very well apply.

30th April 2013, 01:41 PM	#17
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,704	Thank you for your thoughtful contribution Kai. Probably anywhere that we look at any kind of collecting activity we will find different approaches to that activity. What I said in my initial post was this:- "I've been in Solo over the last couple of months, and have been in contact with a different collecting environment than the one which applies to many of the contributors to discussion in this Forum." The total environment encompasses many divisions, and those divisions give rise to many different approaches to a number of activities, one of the activities is collecting. I did not mean to imply that there was only one approach to collecting in Jawa, rather I intended to address the environment wherein this activity was practiced. I had observed a number of different approaches to the collection of keris, by several different persons, virtually one after another on the same day, within the space of probably no more than four hours. I witnessed one of those approaches when I was called upon to advise the daughter of a recently deceased relative of my daughter's husband on the prices to expect when she was disposing of her father's collection. Her father had adopted an approach to collecting that was of immense comfort and value to himself, but one which did not result in him leaving very much of value to his family. This man's approach to the keris was absolutely Javanese in nature, and would probably not be understood by anybody who was not absolutely traditional Javanese. It would certainly not be understood by the new wave of Indonesian collectors who address the keris as an art object. I most sincerely doubt that any collector from any western environment would even be aware of the existence of the foundation upon which the deceased gentleman constructed his collection:- this collection is a product of the Javanese environment. Thus, it was the environment that I was focussed on, and the act of collection, rather than keris and one's personal approach to that, which possibly has as much detailed variation as there are collectors. In addition I was thinking of "collection" in the widest possible terms, not only in respect of weaponry and keris. I recognise that different people have different interests in their field of collecting. Since we seem to be moving more and more towards discussion of the collecting of the objects for which this Forum caters, I'm going to stop swimming against the tide and talk about the collection of the keris. Sixty years ago when my grandfather ignited my interest in edged weapons and in keris in particular by gifting his small collection of edged weapons to me, my primary interest was typical of probably most 12 year olds:- brandishing and skewering imaginary foes. I even revived some ethnic weapons as functional hunting weapons --- a khukri as a knife for hunting feral pigs over dogs, and knife from N.W. India as a general purpose belt knife ( I re-hilted that one in American white oak). I developed an interest in the culture, society, history and art of Jawa at a fairly early age, but that wasn't driven by the keris, it was driven by a movie that I cannot remember the name of that featured lots of scenes of Surabaya and roving around the islands. Then I went through the "I don't want much in life, only every keris that was ever made". It took me a long time to grow up. By the 1960's and 1970's I was obsessed with the technology of the keris and long before Empu Suparman took me under his wing I had learnt to weld pamor and had made a couple of weapons, including one small keris, that displayed pamor. Then in the period between 1978 and 1982 two remarkable things happened:- Empu Suparman began to teach me about keris, and I experienced what can only be called a revelation as to the true nature of the keris. I worked on the knowledge given to me by Empu Suparman, and I put the revelation on ice. But those two things together pushed me in a completely different direction in respect of collection. Probably from that point I became primarily a collector of knowledge rather than a collector of keris, even though I have continued to acquire keris and associated objects. I myself have been through a number of very different approaches to the collecting of the keris, and speaking strictly for myself, the more I have learnt, the more interested I have become. Had I not become involved in the process of learning, it is entirely possible that my collecting instincts may have turned in a different direction. So in my case there can be no doubt that the acquisition of knowledge has fuelled the acquisition of keris, as each time there has been an increase in my knowledge my involvement with and understanding of the keris has increased. But as Jussi has so clearly pointed out:- not everybody truly wishes to travel this road, and in some cases attempts to gain knowledge could well result in the destruction of dreams and the obliteration of desire. I am reminded of the old saying:- "be careful what you pray for, you just might get it" In the case of keris knowledge that could very well apply.