Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 28th September 2009, 11:33 PM

To begin I will say this:-

I have never been to Sumbawa.

I have not investigated Sumbawa keris in any depth.

My only knowledge of the type of keris used and worn in Sumbawa comes from old photos in general travel books, and keris that I have handled that were supposedly collected from Sumbawa. I say supposedly because the people who owned these keris were not close friends and I had no way of knowing if I was being lied to or if I was being told the truth. My feeling at the time was that in all cases I was being told the truth.

The type of keris that I understand to be a Sumbawa keris is one with a blade of no remarkable quality, rather inferior material with a sand-like texture, no distinct ada-ada, lacking the flat blade faces of a Bugis keris, but of a generally Bugis type appearance. Blade section is like rotan, the gandik somewhat indented to accomodate the kembang kacang.

There is a tangguh that is known as "Kupang". This does not mean that the blades come from Kupang, but only that they come from far to the east of Bali. The people who searched for antiques and etc to sell to dealers in Bali used to call these keris "Kupang" in the pre-1960 period, and that is where the people in Solo picked up the terminology from, when they would visit Bali they learnt from keris people there that this type of keris was "tangguh Kupang".

The characteristics of tangguh Kupang are:-

heavy, sand-like texture, usually no pamor, when it occurs it is only found in large keris, the steel is thick and well heat treated, the pawakan is large and approaches that of a Bali keris, the gonjo is wide & large & ugly, if there is greneng it is crudely executed, the gandik tends to be high, there is often a janggut, the kembang kacang is small & the lambe gajah is set deeply into the gandik, the blumbangan is very shallow, sometimes it does not exist at all, a sogokan is extremely rare when it does exist it is shallow, pointed and thorn-like, an ada-ada is extremely rare, the cross section is like rotan, there is no kruwingan, the waves when they exist are unharmonious and ugly, the wadidang is almost straight.

Remembering the keris I have seen that were reputed to come from Sumbawa, these indicators would in general fit.

The dress that these keris wore was of a general Bugis style.

I consider a keris to be a Sumbawa keris if the blade was actually made in Sumbawa and the dress is of the type usually worn in Sumbawa.

A number of keris have been shown in this thread and identified as being from Sumbawa.

Can anybody who has already shown these keris with a Sumbawa attribution substantiate that origin of Sumbawa?

28th September 2009, 11:33 PM	#16
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,700	To begin I will say this:- I have never been to Sumbawa. I have not investigated Sumbawa keris in any depth. My only knowledge of the type of keris used and worn in Sumbawa comes from old photos in general travel books, and keris that I have handled that were supposedly collected from Sumbawa. I say supposedly because the people who owned these keris were not close friends and I had no way of knowing if I was being lied to or if I was being told the truth. My feeling at the time was that in all cases I was being told the truth. The type of keris that I understand to be a Sumbawa keris is one with a blade of no remarkable quality, rather inferior material with a sand-like texture, no distinct ada-ada, lacking the flat blade faces of a Bugis keris, but of a generally Bugis type appearance. Blade section is like rotan, the gandik somewhat indented to accomodate the kembang kacang. There is a tangguh that is known as "Kupang". This does not mean that the blades come from Kupang, but only that they come from far to the east of Bali. The people who searched for antiques and etc to sell to dealers in Bali used to call these keris "Kupang" in the pre-1960 period, and that is where the people in Solo picked up the terminology from, when they would visit Bali they learnt from keris people there that this type of keris was "tangguh Kupang". The characteristics of tangguh Kupang are:- heavy, sand-like texture, usually no pamor, when it occurs it is only found in large keris, the steel is thick and well heat treated, the pawakan is large and approaches that of a Bali keris, the gonjo is wide & large & ugly, if there is greneng it is crudely executed, the gandik tends to be high, there is often a janggut, the kembang kacang is small & the lambe gajah is set deeply into the gandik, the blumbangan is very shallow, sometimes it does not exist at all, a sogokan is extremely rare when it does exist it is shallow, pointed and thorn-like, an ada-ada is extremely rare, the cross section is like rotan, there is no kruwingan, the waves when they exist are unharmonious and ugly, the wadidang is almost straight. Remembering the keris I have seen that were reputed to come from Sumbawa, these indicators would in general fit. The dress that these keris wore was of a general Bugis style. I consider a keris to be a Sumbawa keris if the blade was actually made in Sumbawa and the dress is of the type usually worn in Sumbawa. A number of keris have been shown in this thread and identified as being from Sumbawa. Can anybody who has already shown these keris with a Sumbawa attribution substantiate that origin of Sumbawa?