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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
One does not learn the keris by trying to study the keris, but rather by a study of the culture, society, art, & history of the places where it is found. It can help a lot if one also has at the very least an understanding of Bahasa Indonesia.
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Indeed! I find myself reading the history of Southeast Asia, to better understand the context in which the keris evolved and existed, and it adds immense colour to the collecting of kerises. It is rewarding for me to draw the linkages between the kerises across time and geography through the lens of history. Gradually, different major keris archetypes "fall into places", and I see how they have turned out the way they have, from trade, political and ethnic influences. Right now, I am trying to draw the linkage and evolution pathway between the tajong keris and the Cirebon kerises, which I believe is the prototype of the former.
Internalizing the aesthetics of a region is also key to appreciating a keris from a region more deeply, not to mention help with identifying imitations. I find that it is very difficult to do this for the entire keris archipelago, so I can only focus deeply on one keris region at a time. For now, it is the Northern Malay keris world.