Collection of the Rietberg Museum Zurich

[Sajen]

I was recently in Zurich and visited the Rietberg Museum, which has a truly extensive ethnographic collection. Unfortunately, ethnographic weapons are in the minority and are mostly kept in storage, although this is open to visitors. In addition to a few edged weapons from Indonesia, there are also a few keris there, although they can only be seen in their scabbards. However, they do have a fairly extensive collection of hilts. Here are a few not-so-good photos I'd like to share with you.

[Sajen]

A few more! In post #1 is one pic twisted, here it's again correctly shown.

[David]

Thanks for showing these. Seems a strange way for a museum to display both the keris and especially the hilts. Simple stands to display all these hilts upright is not a large cost and they would look much better.

[Rick]

The mass of hilts probably came from a person who collected only them.
Detlef, are we looking at one shelf of handles or are there two shelves there?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Rick

The mass of hilts probably came from a person who collected only them.
Detlef, are we looking at one shelf of handles or are there two shelves there?

Hello Rick,

Very good possible, a lot of their objects coming from private collections. There are two shelves.

Regards,
Detlef

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Rick,

Very good possible, a lot of their objects coming from private collections. There are two shelves.

Regards,
Detlef

Please let me know if they ever have a de-accession sale or auction.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

Thanks for showing these. Seems a strange way for a museum to display both the keris and especially the hilts. Simple stands to display all these hilts upright is not a large cost and they would look much better.

Hello David,

The "display" is the storage room which is free for visitors. But agree, they would look much better on stands.