Keris from colonial collections - hilt rings missing

kai · 20th June 2005, 04:46 AM

Thanks for your ideas - I can see this happening with more elaborate Mendak/Selut of Java or Bali origin.

However, this seems to be as common with Bugis style Keris which most likely had a quite plain bronze Pendongkok. Neither a sailor nor local people would have gained much from reselling this part, I guess. Even if bought locally by an unsuspecting long nose, all what was needed in these days was a mere look at the translator's/local contact's waist to ascertain that such an akward gap was not an exotic design feature...

IIRC, even Keris gathered by the East India Company or its Dutch counterpart (sorry, name escapes me right now) for research/collecting purposes are not always complete.

Regards,
Kai

20th June 2005, 04:46 AM	#4
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Thanks for your ideas - I can see this happening with more elaborate Mendak/Selut of Java or Bali origin. However, this seems to be as common with Bugis style Keris which most likely had a quite plain bronze Pendongkok. Neither a sailor nor local people would have gained much from reselling this part, I guess. Even if bought locally by an unsuspecting long nose, all what was needed in these days was a mere look at the translator's/local contact's waist to ascertain that such an akward gap was not an exotic design feature... IIRC, even Keris gathered by the East India Company or its Dutch counterpart (sorry, name escapes me right now) for research/collecting purposes are not always complete. Regards, Kai