keris borneo

[David]

Semar, just about all the keris that i see from Kalimantan these days are new keris made mostly for the tourist market. The true antiques that i see from this area are mostly sundangs, not regular sized Indo-style keris. I see quite alot of new panjang style keris described as having Kalimantan origin. I have also seen the crudely painted sheaths with teeth ornaments described as originating in Borneo. These usually have fairly junky trade blades from Java or elsewhere. Frankly i doubt that any of these other than the actual antique sundang from the area have any true ethnographic bearing or application. I have never, for example, seen any old photographs showing someone in Borneo wearing one of these painted teeth decorated sheaths as a part of any traditional dress. I have seen no evidence that there was any particular traditional manufacture of keris from this area other than the sundang. If the standard Indonesian styles of keris were indeed used in this area traditionally i have a feeling that the origins of those keris most probably are from other areas of Indonesia. I don't think that we will find a traditional style that originates in Borneo.