Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Cleaning and polishing my bali-keris

A. G. Maisey · 25th January 2010, 09:37 PM

Yes Rick, that's pretty true, especially with figures that are current era production.

If we go back to before about the 1930's, I think we probably see figures in Balinese carving that are more readily identifiable with specific entities, but when we move into the current era we find a more free interpretation by carvers, and a lot of figures that could be regarded as generic representations.

I'm not talking just about keris hilts, but about Balinese carvings of all shapes, sizes and qualities.

In the case of this hilt under discussion, I feel that what we have is a generic demon --- the fangs --- so let's call him a raksasa.

25th January 2010, 09:37 PM	#26
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,731	Yes Rick, that's pretty true, especially with figures that are current era production. If we go back to before about the 1930's, I think we probably see figures in Balinese carving that are more readily identifiable with specific entities, but when we move into the current era we find a more free interpretation by carvers, and a lot of figures that could be regarded as generic representations. I'm not talking just about keris hilts, but about Balinese carvings of all shapes, sizes and qualities. In the case of this hilt under discussion, I feel that what we have is a generic demon --- the fangs --- so let's call him a raksasa.